The World and Everything in It: August 11, 2023

The World and Everything in It is made possible by listeners like me. Dara Lynn Rieger. My family and I live outside Atlanta, Georgia and I work with Elon Ministries, an organization that ministers to the church in Iran. I'm also a recent grad of the Colson Fellows program and I have this podcast to thank for introducing me to the Colson Center's John Stonestreet on Culture Fridays. I hope you enjoy today's program.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: Affirmative care, encouraging the transcendent, and fighting the loneliness epidemic. We’ll talk about all these topics on Culture Friday today with John Stonestreet.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also, Schoolhouse Rock! turns fifty years old…Collin Garbarino has a nostalgic review.

Plus, podcast recommendations for creative parents who want to keep their hobbies going into the school year.

Some chefs actually recommend salting your meat up to a day in advance and letting it set in the fridge overnight. But in my simple kitchen, that generally doesn’t happen.

And Commentator Kim Henderson on the stories hiding in plain sight at her daughter’s wedding reception.

BUTLER: It’s Friday, August 11th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Paul Butler.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

BUTLER: Up next, Kent Covington with today’s news.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR:

Hawaii » The Pentagon has deployed more than 130 National Guardsmen to Hawaii … where wildfires have killed at least 36 people.

Brigadier Gen. Pat Ryder said that includes support for the state’s emergency management agency …

RYDER: Support to local law enforcement and two Army National Guard CH47 Chinook helicopters to support wildfire response operations and search and recovery teams.

The death toll rose sharply on Thursday after authorities searched the charred remains of neighborhoods on the island of Maui.

One survivor said he drove through what looked like a “war zone.”

MOS: I had to drive through flames. There was a van and a house already on fire, the smoke was going over the road. I literally don’t know what’s on the other side of me. Just hoping and praying I don’t hit anyone, I don’t hit a car and get stuck - the van next to me doesn’t explode.

A flyover of the historic town of Lahaina showed entire neighborhoods reduced to ash. The town dates back to the 1700s and is the biggest community on the island’s west side.

Iran detainees » Iran has agreed to release five Iranian-American detainees in an exchange with the United States. WORLD’s Josh Schumacher has more.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Iran transferred four Americans from prison cells to house arrest. A fifth prisoner was already under house arrest.

Iran is expected to free prisoners… in exchange for the release of $6 billion in assets frozen in South Korea.

Some Republicans on Capitol Hill say that while they’re happy to see the hostages go free … they feel the White House is paying an irresponsible price. Republicans say the massive cash payout will fund Iran’s terrorism in the Middle East.

One lawmaker called it a “ransom” payment.

For WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

Trump legal » Donald Trump’s attorneys Thursday entered plea of not guilty on his behalf … to charges related to his possession of classified documents.

Two Trump employees are co-defendents. Trump’s valet Walt Nauta pleaded not guilty … while Mar-a-Lago property manager Carlos De Oliveira’s plea was delayed … as he does not yet have a local attorney.

Prosecutors accuse both men of scheming with Trump to delete video footage at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort in an effort to obstruct the Justice Department’s investigation.

Biden bank records » House Republicans have released what they say are bank records from years earlier … demonstrating billions of dollars in payouts to the Biden family from foreign business partners.

House Oversight Commitee James Comer says that as his panel interviews more witnesses …

COMER: I think we’ll find more communication with Joe Biden, but we’ve already found more than enough to know that he has lied to the American people over and over again.

He says the newly released records shoot more holes in President Biden’s claims that he had no connection to his son Hunter’s business dealings.

GOP politics » The annual Iowa State Fair is underway, and while it’s always fun for the kids … once every four years, it takes on much greater meaning.

It has long been a popular event for White House hopefuls … looking to score points with voters in the first-in-the-nation GOP caucus state.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum addressed fair-goers on Thursday. He pointed to a credit rating firm downgrading U.S. credit rating last week.

BURGUM: That’s going to affect you, your kids, and your grandkids, because we’ve got so much debt piled up. You know, lower bond ratings are going to mean higher interest rates.

The 10-day event runs through August 20th …

… ending just a few days before the first Republican debate in Milwaukee.

Ukraine » Ukrainian officials have ordered more than 11,000 citizens around the eastern town of Kupyansk to evacuate … as Russian forces advance on the region.

SOT: soldiers helping citizens evacuate homes as bombs go off in the background.

Soldiers are aiding in evacuation efforts … escorting citizens into armored vehicles … as the ground shakes from incoming missiles.

Officials are evacuating 37 settlements…and as of Thursday, Russian troops were reportedly less than 5 miles from the city.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: Culture Friday with John Stonestreet.

Plus, recommendations for creative listening.

This is The World and Everything in It.

BUTLER: It’s the 11th day of August 2023.

Glad to have you along for today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning, I’m Paul Butler.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. It’s Culture Friday.

Joining us now is John Stonestreet, the president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint Podcast. John, good morning.

JOHN STONESTREET, GUEST: Good morning.

BROWN: John, the board of directors of the country’s largest professional association of pediatricians….the American Academy of Pediatrics… voted recently to reaffirm its support for transgender interventions in minors. We’re talking puberty blockers and everything else that goes under that so-called “affirmative care”.

At the same time the AAP board agreed to take on a systematic review of the evidence on these medical interventions for young people.

Those who are against these invasive procedures don’t seem ready to call it a victory just yet, but they do consider the decision to take a closer look as a step in the right direction. How do you see it?

STONESTREET: Well, I mean, look, the ability to actually or the willingness to actually take a closer look is better than the willingness not to take a closer look. And that's really how this whole thing is advanced up until this point, basically, these incredibly dramatic conclusions were assumed to be a particular way. And any evidence that was presented against it, as it continued to stack up were considered to be an episode of bigotry, or hatred, or anti-trans whatever. And the whole thing was progressed around, you know, these kinds of super creative and hugely damaging language games. I mean, even as you put it, so-called affirmative care, I mean, so affirmative care is actually care which intervenes in the normal development of a body that actually doesn't affirm a body or a gender, but actually violates it and leads to damage, and the natural progression of that body, and maybe even in long term, to a surgical mutilation, that will forever wound that body. That's what we call Affirmative, and so-called Conversion care, is actually taking someone who is clearly male or female, and affirming that they're male and female. So it's, it's an example of language that was turned upside down. And anyone who brought any of this up, where it's immediately considered hateful and bigoted and tolerant, and, and so on,

It's just been a bizarre episode. It's an episode that I think, you know, 150 years from now, when all this has kind of come back to normal we're looking at and go, yeah, that that really, you know, fits into the like, I've made this argument on Breakpoint before that this will fit into the category of lobotomies, you know, a treatment quote, unquote, that was widely accepted from a diagnoses that was, you know, pre determined, and against, without any evidence, and and I think in this case, even against evidence, we affirmed a particular way of going forward, which is going to look increasingly bizarre, the more and more people actually do look into it.

I think it's really, really interesting. There's an an Atlantic article, just this past week, saying that this whole conversation is really backpedaling in England. And of course, there are those who have already embraced this way of thinking and are not open to considering any other evidence that are saying England is, you know, kind of an island of trans hate. But you have all of these professional organizations and politicians on both the right and the left saying we got to, we got to at least come back to the center on this at least a little bit. We've got to at least mitigate this wholehearted acceptance, that so clearly is based on a social contagion. And that's really what you have here you have evidence against transgender ideology. And you've got real evidence that suggests that there's a whole lot of psychological disorder when you talk about the explosion in numbers and other things. And that's just got to be taken seriously. So look, I don't know how far this will go. I don't know if this is just kind of an illusory step, designed to make people kind of feel better. But I'll tell you what, it is a dangerous, dangerous thing, when you have doctors pre-concluding what the outcome should be. And then that makes it a really, really vulnerable hard place for a parent. And so, you know, they're kind of the last defense for the protection of their children. And that's, that's really how much is at stake here. When a group of pediatricians basically jumped to the side before the evidence is all considered so let's hope they mean what they say here.

BUTLER: John, earlier this summer California’s Saddleback Church, parted ways with the Southern Baptist Convention over the status of women with regard to pastoral leadership and ministry.

The church is making headlines again. Here’s an audio clip that explains why.

ANDY WOOD: Well, hi Bo Peep.

STACIE WOOD: Hey Woody, Good to see you.

ANDY WOOD: Good to see you, too. Are you at church?

STACIE WOOD: Yes, we are. Welcome to Saddleback everybody.

Saddleback senior pastors Andy and Stacie Wood walked on stage dressed as Little Bo Peep and Woody from the film Toy Story. They explained they were in the middle of a summer series on movies.

Now they’ve taken a lot of heat online over this…including from WORLD Opinions writer Carl Truman. It may well have been well intentioned, but Truman and others see it as yet one more example of a larger problem—mainly trivializing worship. How might we remain a welcoming place for those exploring a relationship with Christ while also holding on to the transcendent?

STONESTREET: You know, I always hesitate a little bit to take a clip, and then, you know, make a judgment on what was happening, although I admit completely to not being completely clear on what was happening. But look, I think the more fundamental question is, what kind of place ought the church to be? You know, it is striking to me, Paul, that this story kind of emerged, at the same time that we're getting more and more data coming about how the church is becoming less and less significant to people's lives, that church attendance is down across the board. And, you know, why, why is that the case? I think one of the reasons that it's the case is that we fundamentally misunderstood church, we've fundamentally kind of seen church as a, according to a kind of a common see model, they come in and see what we're doing here, come in and see what kind of coffee we have come in and see, you know, what kind of set and cool things that we're doing.

And this was just one of actually, you know, many churches that kind of embraced a summer at the movie series. And part of that has to do with what was happening in the culture, which is movies, we're kind of back this summer for the first time. But then to see that through the lens of a church model that is a come and see come and see then it's like, oh, we can use this as a leverage point to get people in the door. I think fundamentally, the church model is not a come and see, it's a go and proclaim, it's a what happens in the church is an equipping so that the ministry can be done by those who are called out to go into different parts of the culture, and different places where God has put them to testify to the Lordship, and the salvation available in Jesus Christ. So it's fundamentally backwards.

So then, you know, I think it's completely valid to look at films. But I do think that there's a difference in seeing in film and in stories and in novels, and in television programs and series and, and popular music, kind of a clue to how our culture is approaching life and its meaning, a clue to how the world understands what it means to be human and basic human relationships, and basically trying to do this as kind of a gimmick. And that's unfortunate, because I think too many churches that have a come and see model, as opposed to a go and proclaim and go and live model tend to see what's happening in the culture is gimmicks in order to advance what's happening inside. Obviously Saddleback has a lot of conversations up in the air right now about male pastors and female pastors. And I don't want to speak further than this than what I know, which was just a clip that came across as a little bizarre, but I do think that there's a whole lot of other stories here that are that are clearly important. First, is this unsustainable model for churches, second, the fundamental reversal from go and proclaim and go and live and go and tell to come and see come and see come and see. And then our understanding of Church itself. And this has to do with the people in the pew. I said this at the beginning of COVID. I'm way less concerned about state officials calling the church not essential than I am about the number of church members who seem to think the church is not essential. And I think that now has carried itself out among Gen Xers and among boomers, not just among millennials and Gen Zs.

BROWN: John, I’d like to turn your attention to what the United States Surgeon General calls the latest public health epidemic: loneliness.

The CDC says 1 in 3 adults in this country, aged 45 and older feels lonely.

To be clear, we’re not debating that. What is at issue is legislation introduced by Senator Chris Murphy, a democrat from Connecticut… His bill would create a White House Office of Social Connection Policy….what amounts to a government program to help solve loneliness. What are we missing here?

STONESTREET: Well, I fear what we're missing here is the wrong idea of the scope of government. So there's things that the government can do and the things that government can't do. And the government can't get into the precision that is required, not only to properly diagnose what is clearly an epidemic of loneliness, and meaninglessness that we struggle with, in American culture, particularly among the middle age, and especially among young men, but that to provide solutions. Look, the government does surgery with a chainsaw, it can't be precise. It's an insane thing to think that they actually that the state actually can do something about this. So the only way that a government office could actually help solve loneliness is by actually actively invest in creating space and freedom, and encouraging, and helping fund finance without strings attached, the sort of social institutions that cure loneliness, which of course, are the family and the church. And of course, you could also point to voluntary associations and neighborhoods and commerce and that sort of stuff. Now is Senator Murphy pointing out something that is a big problem? You bet. And the social cost and the financial costs are going to be astronomical. And we haven't even begun to see the full consequence of this epidemic of loneliness. Will the office of social connection policy pull it off? Color me skeptical, I'm not even close to thinking that they'll have the right framework to approach this much less the right strategy, much less the right execution. After all, this was the same government that gave us the TSA.

BUTLER: John Stonestreet is president of the Colson Center and host of the Breakpoint podcast … thanks, John!

STONESTREET: Thank you both.

BUTLER: Today is August 11th, 2023.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Paul Butler.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown.

It’s that time of year when many kids head back to school. But today, we’re going to take a look back at Schoolhouse Rock!

BUTLER: Many of us have fond memories watching those three-minute educational clips that aired during Saturday morning cartoons. Would you believe that Schoolhouse Rock! turned 50 years old this year. Time flies, doesn’t it?

BROWN: It certainly does. Here’s arts and culture editor Collin Garbarino to talk about the iconic series.

COLLIN GARBARINO: Thanks to that first episode of Schoolhouse Rock! everyone in my generation knows that three is a magic number.

SINGER: Yes it is. It’s a magic number

We learned the multiples of three up to 3 times 12. We also learned it takes three legs to make a tripod, and every triangle has three sides, and that when a man and a woman have a little baby, they have three in the family.

In the spring of 1973, Schoolhouse Rock! began airing on Saturday mornings on ABC. That first season was all about numbers and multiplication.

CHILD: Hey, Dad. How many animals on this old ark, anyway? Huh?

SINGER: Elementary, my dear. Two times two is four. Elementary, my dear. Two times three is six.

The show got its start because David McCall had noticed his son was having trouble remembering multiplication tables.

SINGER: 2 times 1 is 2 of course and it must occur to you…

But he also noticed his son didn’t seem to have trouble remembering the lyrics to popular songs. McCall partnered with musician Bob Dorough to write some songs that might help his son remember those multiplication tables.

SINGER: If school is where you are, aw, that’s not hard. Let me show you something. You multiply 7 times 1, I’ve got 7 days to get that problem done.

The songs proved so catchy they pitched them as brief cartoons to ABC television.

After teaching kids to multiply by all the numbers from two to twelve, Schoolhouse Rock! started a second series that fall focusing on grammar.

SINGER: Conjunction Junction, what’s your function?

SINGER: Hookin’ up words, phrases, and clauses.

The goal of Schoolhouse Rock! was to teach children some basic educational concepts through silly songs. But the genius of Schoolhouse Rock! was that it didn’t talk down to children. The lyrics possess some smart turns of phrase, and the music sounds like what you’d hear on the radio in the mid-1970s.

SINGER: That’s an additive like “this and that.” But. That’s sort of the opposite: “Not this but that”

Besides light rock and roll, we also get some disco and blues.

The third season started in the fall of 1975, running through the summer of 1976.

SINGER: The British are coming! The British are coming!

To celebrate America’s bicentennial, Schoolhouse Rock! focused on America’s founding and the distinctive features of its government.

SINGER: And the shot at Lexington heard ‘round the world.

One of my earliest memories from Schoolhouse Rock! comes from this third season. I distinctly remember sitting riveted watching as a bill tried to become a law.

BILL: I’m just a bill. Yes, I’m only a bill. And I’m sitting here on Capitol Hill.

In the episode, a bill explains how he must pass Congress and get the president’s signature in order to become a law.

BILL: It’s a long, long wait while I’m sitting at committee

After watching that episode when I was four or five years old, I understood how the process worked. It really prepared me for my high school civics class.

I’m not the only person “I’m Just a Bill” made an impression on. The song gets reused in pop culture fairly often. Probably one of the funniest spoofs is from the Saturday Night Live skit in 2014 that mocks then President Obama for executive overreach.

KID: President Obama, what’s the big idea? That bill was trying to become a law!

OBAMA: I realize that but you know, son. There’s actually an even easier way to get things done around here. It’s called an executive order.

EXECUTIVE ORDER: I’m an executive order, and I pretty much just happen.

This children’s series helped shape the way a generation of Americans saw the world. Sifting through Spotify to listen to Schoolhouse Rock! covers from Gen-X musicians is almost as much fun as revisiting the original cartoons.

The mid-70s had its share of problems. The sexual revolution was in full swing, and America had plenty of economic and political difficulties. But these three-minute kids’ music videos hearken back to some traditional values. The episodes teach basic lessons, while promoting patriotism and positive images of families. One episode even tells the Biblical story of Noah. You’re not likely to find that on ABC these days.

We’re so cynical these days. Maybe after 50 years, Schoolhouse Rock! still has something to teach us.

ALBERT ANDREAS ARMADILLO: You see a pronoun was made to take the place of a noun ‘cuz sayin’ all those nouns over and over again really weigh you down.

I’m Collin Garbarino

BUTLER: Most episodes of Schoolhouse Rock! are available to stream on Disney+.

And If you're interested in getting reviews and entertainment news delivered to your inbox, you can subscribe to Collin’s weekly Muse newsletter at wng.org/newsletters.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Next up on The World and Everything in It: Keeping the creative juices flowing.

With back-to-school busyness, it can be tricky for parents to find time to tackle their personal hobbies. Today, WORLD reviewer Bekah McCallum has a few podcast recommendations to help keep parents…and the rest of us… inspired.

BEKAH MCCALLUM, REVIEWER: That’s how Wendy Hornback opens each episode of her podcast. Her episodes are short, but they’re chock full of tips about homemade cooking. For listeners interested in growing their own produce, she recommends companion planting, or growing certain plants with your fruits and vegetables.

HORNBACK, EP23: So for instance, marigolds and basil deter, among other things, they deter aphids which can attack those homegrown tomatoes and other plants, aphids are terribly destructive.

Hornback brings her Christian faith into the program even when she’s talking about practical things…like how to make sourdough starter, also known as leaven.

HORNBACK, EP24: Maybe you’ve heard the quote, "A little leaven leavens the whole lump." This is actually a verse from the Bible where the Apostle Paul is using it as a metaphor to talk about allowing sin into your life. But looking at it literally, a small amount of sourdough starter is enough to make an entire loaf of bread.

For Hornback, you don't have to be a Michelin-star chef to enjoy making nourishing food for your family. Not everyone will agree with all of her opinions—for instance, she prefers salt that doesn't have iodine. But for the most part, Hornback sticks to practical tips, and she’s realistic about what families actually have time for.

HORNBACK, EP11: Some chefs actually recommend salting your meat up to a day in advance and letting it set in the fridge overnight. But in my simple kitchen, that generally doesn’t happen. It’s just too much.

All in all, the From Scratch Cookery podcast makes home cooking more accessible, and that’s something that a lot of families can appreciate.

The next recommendation is for listeners who want to learn more about visual arts, specifically storybook illustration. The 3 Point Perspective podcast is hosted by Will Terry, Lee White, and Jake Parker.

EP162: All three of us are professional illustrators. We’ve all worked for all the major publishers in the business. Together we’ve published somewhere around 75 children’s books, and we’ve all taught illustration at university art schools.

These illustrators offer mature advice about how to create and sell art. They even have an episode dedicated to self-publishing. Using a publishing company has its perks, but giving them authority over your book might not be worth it.

EP153: What if they change the story to a story that I don’t like? Right, that’s the big one. Yeah.

They also discuss how technology is changing the game for artists, especially when it comes to Artificial Intelligence.

EP166: Any computer can generate a story handcrafted for your taste, right? The only problem though is that it’s all based on stuff that’s previously been created. And it lacks, I think it’ll lack that x-factor. That, "Oh, wow. I did not see that coming."

I’ve only listened to a fraction of the more than 150 episodes. But the only problematic content I’ve encountered so far is one mild swear word. Still, keep in mind this isn’t a Christian podcast, and it might be a good idea to listen with headphones if kids are in the room.

ROCK STAR PASTORS EPISODE: Welcome to the Mortification of Spin. I’m your host Carl Trueman.

Finally, if you like reading, the Mortification of Spin podcast offers thought-provoking author interviews. The podcast is put out by the Alliance of Confessing Evangelicals, and two hosts head the ship—first, Todd Pruitt, who serves as a pastor in Virginia, and second, Carl Trueman. He’s an author and professor at Grove City College and a contributor to WORLD Opinions.

SOCIAL CONSERVATISM EPISODE: Many of the questions pressing on us today are questions connecting to ethics and morality. Whether we’re talking fertility treatments, sexuality. The big questions a lot of pastors are facing are not theological directly, they’re ethical. And so it’s a great pleasure to introduce my friend, Andrew Walker.

The podcast began in 2013, so there are plenty of episodes to choose from. And you’ll quickly notice it’s not all business. The guys often keep things light.

SOCIAL CONSERVATISM EPISODE: "I’m standing with my wife in an elevator next to an elk." [LAUGHTER] I pull into the parking lot of our hotel. At first, I think is it college game day somewhere? Because I’m looking at what I think are mascots until I realize, oh no, I’ve read about these people. And they were by the hundreds!

But the podcast does tend toward conservative writers and ideas. Author Amy Byrd was once a host on the show. Her departure back in 2020 underlines the point that not all Christians will agree with their views. That said, these hosts routinely offer insights and recommendations worth taking seriously

KIDS TALK CHURCH HISTORY EPISODE: I was so encouraged to be reminded of the deep rootedness of what we’re apart of. We’re not a part of something that just came on the world scene, but we’re part of a big story that God’s been writing and that was really encouraging to me.

The back-to-school season can be a busy one for families. But parents may want to take note of these three podcasts—From Scratch Cookery, the 3 Point Perspective, and Mortification of Spin. They can help you keep learning and growing, even on the go.

I’m Bekah McCallum.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is August 11th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

PAUL BUTLER, HOST: And I’m Paul Butler. It’s been a while since we heard a commentary from WORLD’s Kim Henderson. But today, she comes to us on loan from our editors at WORLD Magazine. If you enjoy Kim’s writing, don’t forget to look for her work there on a regular basis.

BROWN: Today, though, she shares a few thoughts with us worth savoring after her daughter’s recent wedding.

KIM HENDERSON, COMMENTATOR: Disposables have never been high on my likes list. I’m a mom who put cloth diapers on her babies and cloth napkins on the dinner table. So when it came time to plan for our daughter’s wedding reception, the debate went something like this:

Plastic plates? I don’t know . . .
Well, they look different these days. Really nice.
Who notices what they’re eating on anyway?

This went on for several weeks, me against everyone, including the caterer, who actually rolled her eyes when I mentioned we might want to use real stuff. Yep, that’s how it was going until the one person with enough clout to turn the tide took my side – the bride.

“Of course, I want to use china,” she announced one afternoon within hearing distance of the whole family, as if she’d never thought of doing anything else. Suddenly, it wasn’t just me. It was my daughter and me. And the hunt was on.

It took us to backwoods flea markets, estate sales, and sketchy thrift stores. At a 60,000-square foot picker’s paradise just south of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, a gentleman clued us in on the fact that we weren’t the first event planners to shop his wares.

“What do you folks do with all this china when the weddings are over?” he asked, eyeing the stack of breakables in my cart.

“Sell it to your competitors,” I smiled. He didn’t laugh.

During one of our rummages, a store owner informed us that fine china is making a comeback up North, if indeed it has ever truly lost our affection. She says it indicates a new trend in consumer tastes – one for goods with a nostalgic quality.

Maybe. Most sellers we ran into had little regard for nostalgia. Instead, they sold us their family’s heirloom Lennox and Noritake like it was going out of style (and I guess they thought it was).

One afternoon, it was someone’s grandmother's nearly complete set with delicate gold rims and exquisite hand-painted florals. I felt guilty hauling that purchase out to the car. I could almost see that grandmother as a young bride, blushing as she received one of the plates as a wedding gift. Who were we to have it now? That’s when I started to realize what we were actually gathering in this hunt of ours . . . a collection of other brides’ wedding china.

So in the end, guests who watched our daughter and her new husband make their covenant before God eventually found themselves eating on china with a history—a history of love stories, Sunday lunches, Christmas dinners, and whatever else the filigree and raised edges caused their imaginations to conjure up.

I like to think plastic couldn’t accomplish that.

So when the cake crumbs settled, leaving me 426 pieces of china to scrub, there were no regrets (audible ones, at least). I did sigh a few times. Who wouldn’t after sharing such a quest with a daughter, then ending it at the sink. Alone. Missing her.

But in an age when marriages seem to be as disposable as paper plates, maybe having the real stuff – the kind that requires a bit of extra effort - was a symbolic step in a different direction.

I’m Kim Henderson.

BUTLER: Well, it’s time to say thanks to the team members who helped put the program together this week:

Mary Reichard, David Bahnsen, Steve West, radio intern Alex Carmenaty, Emma Freire, Andree Seu Peterson, Leo Briceno, Onize Ohikere, Myrna Brown, Janie B. Cheaney, Leah Savas, Mary Muncy, Cal Thomas, John Stonestreet, Collin Garbarino, Bekah McCallum, and Kim Henderson.

Thanks also to our breaking news team: Kent Covington, Lynde Langdon, Steve Kloosterman, Lauren Canterberry, Christina Grube, and Josh Schumacher.

Plus, breaking news interns Tobin Jacobson, Johanna Huebscher [HOOB-sure], and Jeremy Abegg-Guzman [AH-beg GOOZE-mon].

And thanks to the guys who stay up late to get the program to you early … Johnny Franklin and Carl Peetz.

BROWN: Our producer is Harrison Watters. Our production team includes Kristen Flavin, Benj Eicher, and Emily Whitten.

Anna Johansen Brown is features editor, and Paul Butler is executive producer.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Psalmist writes: The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice. The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip. Psalm 37:30-31

Be sure and worship with your brothers and sisters in Christ in church this weekend. Lord willing we will meet you right back here on Monday.

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.