Powerlessness

A black bear broke into the Knoxville Zoo in Tennessee. NBC News reported the following story: "A neighbor called the Knoxville Zoo late Monday night and alerted a ranger, saying there was a bear in a nearby park, according to a zoo official. A short while later, the ranger saw what he presumed to be the same bear climbing over a fence and into the zoo.

It was unclear where, exactly, the ursine interloper wound up. The ranger had to wake up the zoo's four resident bears on Monday to conduct a 'nose count.' “They weren't too happy with us." It's fairly common for zoos to encounter smaller animals like dogs, cats, or squirrels trying to break over or around or through the zoo's walls.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Apparently, the bear in this story couldn't handle all that freedom and wanted to return to comfort of captivity. Sound like a familiar story? How often do people attempt to turn away from the sin that has them in spiritual bondage, only to return to it again? (Prov. 26:11; 2 Pet. 2:22).

When Letitia Bishop ordered three Subway sandwiches at her local gas station, she probably expected a four-figure receipt – as long as the last two were after the decimal point. But that’s not at all what happened. After her purchase, she later checked her debit account and found a charge for $1,021.50.

After getting over the sticker shock of her purchase, Bishop said she tried contacting Subway’s corporate offices, but couldn’t get through to an actual human being. And when she went back to the store, she found that the store had been closed down.

It took seven weeks for her to get her money back, during which time she could barely pay for groceries and was forced to live off credit cards. Bishop said, “I had to make sacrifices during these two months. It was very difficult. I have never had to feel like we're going to have to get spaghetti, and that's going to be that.”

Bishop contacted a local news affiliate and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau in Connecticut (where Subway’s corporate offices are located). That’s when a Subway representative put her in contact with a regional manager that owns the gas station and the Subway franchise. That regional manager opted to give Bishop cash back and made her sign a receipt.

But that wasn’t the end of her headache. Apparently, the irregularity of the large cash deposit caused her local bank to flag the transaction, which meant she couldn’t immediately use the funds to pay her bills, causing further grief for Bishop. She said, "I just honestly don't have the emotional space to deal with this because literally it's stressing me out so much.

Possible Preaching Angle

Mistakes are a part of life, but those who do not own up to them cause a lot of harm to the innocent when justice is delayed.

Mike Huddleston was traveling for a training. He had flown from Maryland to San Francisco and needed to get to a rental car agency. But because of a degenerative neuromuscular condition that weakens his muscles, he wouldn't be able to climb the stairs of the shuttle bus. Instead, the car agency sent someone to pick him up.

But as he was walking outside to meet them, he fell. And due to his condition, he couldn't get up. "I remember sitting there in the middle of the sidewalk in front of San Francisco Airport, thinking, 'What in the world am I going to do?'"

"[Then] out of nowhere I heard, 'What can I do to help?'" Huddleston turned his head to see a man in his late thirties standing behind him. "I said, 'Are you kidding?' He said, 'No. What can I do to help you, man?'"

Huddleston described what the man could do to help him get off the ground. Once he got him up, the man fetched Huddleston's baggage, which had rolled a few feet away when he fell. "He asked me if I was good and I said, 'I am because of you. So, thank you very much.' He just said, 'No problem,' and turned and walked away."

This encounter struck Huddleston. Not just because of the man's kindness, but also because of the way he offered that kindness. His unsung hero didn't step in and start helping when he saw Huddleston on the ground. He took a moment to ask Huddleston how he could help.

Different people who need assistance may need it in different ways. So, asking them how you can help them is amazingly helpful. It allows the individual who's in need of assistance to maintain a sense of self, to maybe feel a little less helpless, and maybe even a little less vulnerable.

It's been more than 20 years since Huddleston was helped up, but he continues to think about it to this day. "His willingness to help me — and the compassion he showed in a very challenging situation — for me is something I will never forget."

Editor’s Note: This story is part of the “My Unsung Hero” series on NPR, from the Hidden Brain team, about people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else.

Possible Preaching Angle:

This story sheds new light on the question that Jesus often asked, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Matt. 20:32; Mark 10:51; Luke 18:41). On reading the accounts, it might seem obvious what the person needed, but now we have better insight into why Jesus would ask this question. It is not only to allow the person to express faith, but to give them a “sense of self.”

Muscular dystrophy, spinal injury, and other medical issues can cause progressive weakness and loss of muscle mass in a patient’s arms. Over time, muscle weakness decreases mobility, making everyday tasks difficult. But, a pioneering set of “wearable muscles” with a profile like a shoulder sling, could increase mobility and strength in the arms of people who have lost it. As algorithmic intelligence advances, engineers are attempting to design prosthetics to replace lost mobility, but many are large, bulky, or extremely expensive.

Michael Hagmann has a rare form of muscular dystrophy called Bethlem myopathy, but his muscular output was increased 61% thanks to a kind of exo-tendon called “Myoshirt.” Smart algorithms detect the user’s movements and the assistance remains always in tune with them. The mechanical movements can be tailored to their individual preferences, and the user is always in control and can override the device at any time.

The Myoshirt is a soft, wearable exo-muscle for the arms and shoulders. It is a kind of vest with cuffs for the upper arms accompanied by a small box containing all the computer technology. At the moment, the box containing the motor and computer parts weighs close to 9 pounds. So, the team’s first priority is to develop a full prototype with an even more discreet profile to allow people to use it in day-to-day life.

Possible Preaching Angle:

In the spiritual realm, believers have a disabling weakness due to the “disease” of sin and often do not have the strength they need to do the will of God. However, God’s strength can provide all the spiritual power we need to obey and serve him. “He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak … but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength …” (Isa. 40:29-31).

On August 27, 1883, a blast in Indonesia sent sound waves that ripped across the face of the earth. A volcanic explosion, 10,000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb, tore apart the Indonesian island of Krakatoa. People heard the sound as far away as Bangkok, Manila, and Australia (2,000 miles distant). As the sky turned red and rained rock, church goers on nearby islands shuddered, fearing it was the end of days.

The blast killed over 36,000 people, destroying more than 3/4 of the island. The entire planet experienced a raft of environmental effects. Dramatic sunsets and strange phenomena in the sky took place for months. Fire brigades were called as far away as North America. The sky itself looked as if it was on fire.

As news of the explosion ricocheted across the planet, the global public was fascinated. The world was in the grip of the industrial revolution and the rapid growth of technology had elevated belief in human power and potential. For the first time in history, it felt as if nature was tamed. However, the scale of the eruption of Krakatoa awed the world. The modern age again became frightened, reminded of the limits of human ability and the terrifying potency of nature. In an instant, the island of Krakatoa was changed.

For many of us, that is what the world feels like now. The pandemic, cultural change, political polarization, and technological disruption have rapidly altered the world we live in at a breakneck speed. The sheer weight of change has left many of us disoriented. We, too, have realized that we are not as in control as we thought.

When Disney CEO Bob Chapek was fired and replaced by his predecessor Bob Iger, many of Disney’s most vocal fans rejoiced. One of them is Len Testa, a computer scientist who once did a master’s thesis using math to optimize his ability to see as many Disney theme park rides as possible.

Testa wrote a column in the NY Times about why he felt Chapek was unfit for his previous leadership position. In the column, Testa claimed that Chapek violated the spirit of founder Walt Disney, his penchant for hospitality, and his appreciation of childlike wonder.

In his August 2022 earnings call, Mr. Chapek reported that Disney’s theme park, experiences, and products division had generated $7.4 billion in revenue in the third quarter, up 72 percent from the same time a year prior. He could have acknowledged Disney’s theme park guests for the stunning results.

Instead, a news release suggested that earnings would have been greater but for an “unfavorable attendance mix” at Disneyland. The company was essentially saying that too many annual passholders were visiting from nearby instead of out-of-towners, who stay at Disney hotels and eat at Disney restaurants more often. Some fans responded by creating T-shirts emblazoned with the phrase “Unfavorable attendance mix” and wearing them in the parks as in-jokes to other fans.

Testa says that fans interpret a recent uptick in extra theme park fees and surcharges as a lack of appreciation for generations of fans whose loyalty helped to build Disney into the corporate behemoth it is today. Furthermore, he says that influencers and freelance writers have made a cottage industry out of providing tips for people going through the process of booking a Disney trip because of how byzantine, confusing, and expensive it has become.

Testa ends his piece by suggesting that if Mr. Iger wants to experience the park from the perspective of one of the fans, he should try navigating Disney’s reservation system to book a theme park stay on a middle-class salary. Testa said, “When he’s overwhelmed by the cost and complexity, I know many fans who’d be happy to talk him through it. No charge.”

In 2021, several psychologists made an in-depth study into what drives people to political and social extremes. This can result in beliefs in a wide range of unsubstantiated and sometimes harmful conspiracy theories. The research paper was titled “Some People Just Want to Watch the World Burn.”

According to the study, bout 5% of Americans are considered "chaos-seekers." They feel marginalized and have "an intense need for social dominance; they’re angry that they’re not on top." There is a growing sense of anxiety that in a time of rapid change, ideological conflicts, and social unrest, they "feel their prospects in life have tanked. People who believe the system isn't working for them." They gravitate toward extremist views and include those on the political Right and Left.

The researchers named the model for extremism a “significance quest.” Many Americans "need to feel they matter and that their lives have purpose. These needs intensify when they feel powerless, as in times of stress and uncertainty or after a serious loss or humiliation. People will do nearly anything to restore meaning in their lives. All too often, meaning comes in extremist packaging."

Many of the people studied reported being simply bored with their lives. "People who are adrift are likelier to seek exciting, risky pursuits that give them a sense of purpose and meaning. Diehard ideologies fit the bill." The search for meaning led some to be "more sensation-seeking and more willing to support ideological violence."

Tech companies often make public statements in favor of affordable housing in the context of public acts of philanthropy. But the sincerity of these pronouncements can be tested by examining responses from the same executives confronted with actual affordable housing developments in their neighborhoods. And right now, many of them are failing this simple test.

Top executives at Netflix, Apple, Google, Facebook parent-company Meta, and others, have publicly opposed a recent housing development plan in Atherton, California, a wealthy Silicon Valley enclave just north of Stanford University. It’s a trend that housing analysts call NIMBYism, which stands for “Not In My Back Yard.”

Jeremy Levine, of the Housing Leadership Council of San Mateo County said, “Atherton talks about multifamily housing as if it was a Martian invasion or something.” Atherton, like many wealthy towns its size, is zoned almost exclusively for single-family dwellings. But the meteoric rise in tech-related jobs has put the state of California on an unsustainable housing trajectory. Simply put, there are far too many people with too few affordable places to live.

To ameliorate this issue, the state of California requires cities to submit housing plans that account for the projected growth in their communities. In Atherton, that meant carving out a zoning exception for several multifamily townhouse sites. Almost immediately, many town residents saw this potential development as a threat to their way of life. One resident said that having more than one residence on a single acre of land would “MASSIVELY decrease our home values, the quality of life of ourselves and our neighbors, and IMMENSELY increase the noise pollution and traffic.”

Atherton mayor Rick DeGolia is sympathetic and said, “Everybody who buys into Atherton spent a huge amount of money to get in.” Urban Planner Ralph Robinson was blunter saying, “People are less sympathetic.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

In contrast to this attitude, the family of God is to be open to everyone, and not exclusively reserved for a wealthy few.

One key discovery is that self-control is an exhaustible but buildable resource. A psychologist demonstrated this with a clever experiment. He had college students skip a meal, so that they felt hungry, and then sit at a table. The table had freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, candy, and radishes.

The first group of students—the lucky ones—could eat whatever they wanted. Of course, they only ate the sweets. The second group had the same food in front of them, but they were told to leave the sweets alone, and they could only eat the radishes. The third group had no food in front of them at all. (It was the control group.)

After the students sat at their tables for a while, they were given a complex geometry problem to solve. The trick was that the problem was unsolvable; what mattered was how long they worked on it before giving up. The students in Groups 1 and 3 worked for about 20 minutes. But, the students in Group 2 worked only about 8 minutes. Why such a big difference? The students in Group 2 had already used up a lot of self-control resisting the sweets, so they had less energy left over for working on the geometry problem. Researchers call this ego depletion.

Does this mean that self-control, once it’s used, is gone forever? Not at all. It recharges with rest. In fact, the more often self-control is used, the stronger it gets. Self-control is like a muscle. It weakens immediately after use but strengthens with frequent use.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The strategy is simply being aware of our capacity for self-control and willpower throughout the day. Keep an eye on the gas gauge. Knowing our willpower level tells us when it might be a good time to take on new challenges, or when we should stop and refill. It lets us know when we are most vulnerable to moral failure.

The rich talk a good game but often don’t live up to their convictions. Many affluent Americans whose politics are on the liberal left are being exposed as hypocrites in regards to housing, taxation, and education. The New York Times, which in many cases is the flag-bearer for the left, is displaying integrity and courage in criticizing and exposing their own.

Just one example given is the San Francisco area adding 676,000 jobs in the last eight years but only having 176,000 housing units. The City Council attempted to re-zone a certain area to allow for the construction of a 60-unit affordable housing complex. The overwhelmingly liberal residents of Palo Alto voted to repeal the decision, eventually resulting in the construction of a few $5 million single-family homes.

The New York Times lead writer on business and economics, Binyamin Appelbaum, comments:

I think people aren’t living their values. You go to these meetings in these neighborhoods where they’re talking about a new housing project, and it’s always the same song. And it goes like this. “I am very in favor of affordable housing. We need more of it in this community. However, I have some concerns about this project. We have the hearts to do this. But we’re doing it wrong. And we’re dictating harm onto the neighborhoods.”

And then off we go with the concerns. And then nothing ever gets built. This is happening all over California. And the result is that these neighborhoods are so expensive that they keep anyone out who isn’t a part of this small group of superrich residents, many of whom bought their properties decades ago and who spend their time fighting vigorously to keep the value of their real estate assets superhigh.

You can watch the video here.

Software engineer Cher Scarlett is helping to shine a light on discrimination and sexual harassment at Apple, where she works. In an interview Scarlett said, “Apple does not care about its employees. It cares about money. Maybe that’s capitalism, and that’s just the way corporations are. But I can’t live my life further accepting it and not saying something about it.”

Scarlett is motivated to speak up because she knows what it feels like to be powerless; not long ago she herself was the one in need of advocacy. That’s because before she taught herself to code, Scarlett struggled with a pill addiction after surviving sexual abuse and dropping out of high school.

Scarlett teamed up with Apple Maps program manager Janneke Parrish to organize an initiative with the hashtag #AppleToo, encouraging employees to share their stories of workplace discrimination. Parrish says, “It is an incredible story. She’s a deeply inspiring figure.”

Scarlett has become accustomed to telling her story to her many followers on social media:

I’m not a corporate shill, but I’m also not throw-away-my-job idiotic. I have to feel good about what I’m putting into the world, whether that’s in my job or on social media, whatever. I have to feel good about it. And if I don’t, I have to remedy it immediately.

Possible Preaching Angle:

The gospel has the power to transform people from victimhood to victory. Not only that, but God allows us to go through trials, not just so that our faith is tested, but that once we have overcome, we can also help others going through similar trials

Sally-Lloyd Jones, the author of the popular Jesus Storybook Bible for Children, tells the following story about visiting the Museum of Modern Art in New York City:

A few years ago, I overheard someone commenting on a piece of [modern] non-representational art. I think it was a Rothko [a 20th century American abstract painter]. "My child could to that!" someone said. I take that as a compliment.

“My child could do that.” But really, isn't that the point? Artists like Rothko were specifically drawn to children's art. Picasso once said, “It took me four years to paint like Raphael, but a lifetime to paint like a child.”

The power of a child's art is defined by what they can't do--by their lack. They know they can't do it. And as a result, their art is not about showing off skill or expertise. It's coming from somewhere else. It's all heart ... A child is physically not able to master [pencil or paints]. They struggle to depict things--and every line has heart ... The power of the art of a child comes not from their ability or their strength. It comes from their weakness, their not being able, their vulnerability.

Author Elizabeth L. Silver wrote the very personal memoir The Tincture of Time. It is about her then baby daughter’s stroke at six weeks and the trauma and uncertainty for a full year before she recovered.

Silver spoke to many people about the pandemic crisis and found their biggest concern was fear--not of illness, financial loss ,or death, but living with uncertainty. She also interviewed many people living with various diseases--living with medical uncertainty.

She learned that:

How we approach uncertainty in our health is a litmus test for how we approach life. Uncertainty is living outside of life and within it. It is the baseline of experience, of joy, of energy, of possibility, of fear. And uncertainty—especially in a pandemic—reflects how we as a society and we as individuals are.

Silver contrasts how most people deal with a medical crisis compared to doctors and nurses. Talking to non-medical people she “asked each person for the first word that came to mind when they hear the phrase ‘uncertainty in medicine.’ The overwhelming response was ‘fear’ or ‘blindness’ or ‘powerlessness.’”

Yet when she asked scientists and health care professionals the same question, their first response was “challenge” or “reality.” The difference was that they understood and expected this uncertainty; it is part of their professional worldview, and it is no different now. Health professionals and experts know that we don’t know much about this novel coronavirus. “The difficulty now lies in convincing the rest of us that uncertainty is something we can and must live with.”

In his best-selling book Essentialism, author Greg McKeown describes how we develop a sense of what’s called “learned helplessness.”

The phrase comes out of the classic work of Martin Seligman and Steve Maier, who were conducting experiments on German Shepherds. They divided the dogs into three groups. The dogs in the first group were placed in a harness and administered an electric shock but were also given a lever they could press to make the shock stop. The dogs in the second group were placed in an identical harness, and were given the same lever and the same shock with one catch: the lever didn’t work, rendering the dog powerless to do anything about the electric shock. The third group of dogs were simply placed in the harness and not given any shocks.

Afterwards, each dog was placed in a large box with a low divider across the center. One side of the box produced an electric shock; the other did not. Then something interesting happened. The dogs that either had been able to stop the shock or had not been shocked at all in the earlier part of the experiment quickly learned to step over the divider to the side without shocks. But the dogs that had been powerless in the last part of the experiment did not. These dogs didn’t adapt or adjust. They did nothing to try to avoid getting shocked. Why? They didn’t know they had any choice other than to take the shocks. They had learned helplessness.

For the last 20 years sociologist Peter Simi has spent time with and studied white supremacist groups and individuals. Many groups, such as the White Aryan Resistance, Nazi Lowriders, and Public Enemy No. 1, have allowed him as an observer into their private meetings. Simi explains how difficult it is for those leaving the groups, giving a specific example.

A young woman named Bonnie and her husband were fully indoctrinated and committed to white supremacist beliefs. In a domestic dispute unrelated to their white-power group, a relative shot their daughter. At the hospital two black doctors saved her life. This changed Bonnie and her husband, who then “tried to retrain their minds, free themselves of racist views.” They even went so far as to move to a nearby Southern California area with numerous black and Latino families.

Things became undone one day when Bonnie realized she had received the wrong order after going through a local drive-thru restaurant. The clerk refused to correct the order when she went inside. All the workers were Mexican and didn’t speak good English. Bonnie became enraged, swore at the clerk, told her to get out of her country, exclaimed “white power” and left displaying the Nazi salute.

After that eruption, Bonnie collapsed in her car outside of the restaurant, crying, asking herself why she did that. Why had she reverted to a state of hate that she had been trying to push away? It was clear to Simi that she felt shame about how she had reacted. Simi believes that for many, being part of white-power groups becomes like an addiction. Those who try to quit hating usually will relapse, because racism burrows deep into the psyche, and merely leaving the group cannot expunge it. Simi calls this ‘the hangover effect.’ He has tried to get mental health services for some white supremacists who are on the fence about leaving, or have already left, their hate groups. But few counselors will agree to take them on. Simi says their response is: ‘We’re not qualified.’

The last thing a police officer trying to chase down a suspect in a high-speed pursuit needs to see is a warning that their patrol car is running low on gas—or on battery juice. But that’s how it went down one night in Fremont, California. The police officer pursuing a suspect while driving the department’s Tesla Model S patrol car noticed it was running out of battery power.

The pursuit of a “felony vehicle” started in Fremont and reached peak speeds of about 120 miles per hour on the highway. The officer driving the Tesla radioed in to dispatch that he might not be able to continue the chase he was leading. Officer Jesse Hartman said, “I am down to six miles of battery on the Tesla so I may lose it here in a sec.”

However, shortly after Hartman called, the person the police were chasing began driving on the shoulder of the highway as traffic was thickening. This prompted police to call off the chase at that moment for safety. The vehicle being chased was found a short time later after it crashed into bushes, but the driver had fled the scene and was not found. Officer Hartman eventually found a charger in San Jose to juice up his car.

A police department spokesperson said, “We have no written policy regarding charging, but the general guideline is that it should at least be half full at the beginning of the shift.” Apparently, the Tesla had not been recharged after the previous shift before Hartman took it out, so the battery level was lower than it should have been. A spokesperson couldn’t provide details on why it wasn’t charged.

Possible Preaching Angles:

Endurance; Holy Spirit; Power; Spiritual Warfare: Christians may also be running on empty unless they connect daily to the power of the Spirit. Only then will they have endurance in the struggle against temptation and the ability to do God’s will.

Here’s the most common question from visitors to Brooklyn Museum's Egyptian art galleries: Why are the statues’ noses broken?

Edward Bleiberg, who oversees the museum's Egyptian art, was surprised the first few times he heard this question. He had taken for granted that the sculptures were damaged. Certainly, after thousands of years, an ancient artifact should show wear and tear. But the broken noses led Bleiberg to uncover a widespread pattern of deliberate destruction. He noted, “The consistency of the patterns … of damage found in sculpture suggests that it's purposeful.” A protruding nose on a three-dimensional statue is easily broken, he conceded, but the plot thickens when flat reliefs also have smashed noses.

The ancient Egyptians believed that the essence of a deity could inhabit an image of that deity. These campaigns of vandalism were therefore intended to "deactivate an image's strength." "The damaged part of the body is no longer able to do its job." Without a nose, the statue-spirit ceases to breathe, so that the vandal is effectively "killing" it. To hammer the ears off a statue of a god would make it unable to hear a prayer. Pharaohs regularly issued decrees with terrible punishments for anyone who would dare threaten their likeness.

Bleiberg noted the skill evidenced by the iconoclasts. "They were not vandals recklessly and randomly striking out works of art." In fact, the targeted precision of their chisels suggests that they were skilled laborers, trained and hired for this exact purpose.

Possible Preaching Angle: In the same way, our idols are absolutely powerless to help us, even as we keep running to them. God showed his utter contempt for the idol of Dagon in its temple (1 Sam. 5:1-5) when he threw it down and decapitated it. The prophets also spoke of the powerlessness of the idols to see, hear, or defend themselves (Ps. 135:15-18) but in contrast our God made the heavens and earth (Psalm 96:5).

The Island of Dr. Moreau is a science fiction novel by H. G. Wells, but in this story the main character does not travel through time or fight aliens as in Well's The Time Machine or The War of the Worlds. Rather, the protagonist finds himself shipwrecked on a mysterious tropical island under the iron control of Dr. Moreau. The brilliant scientist has created monstrous human-animals, giving wolves, pigs, bulls, and other creatures the rudiments of human appearance, personality, and abilities; yet, at heart they are still animals. Moreau keeps them in line through constant repetition of "the Law," a long series of commands chanted daily:

Not to go on all-fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?

Not to eat Fish or Flesh; that is the Law. Are we not Men?

Not to claw the Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men?

Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?'

Does the Law work? Can it curb animal instinct? Yes and no. It restrains them during the day, but at night the animal nature rises. The narrator observes that "the Law … battled in their minds with the deep seated, ever-rebellious cravings of their animal natures. This Law they were ever repeating, I found, and ever breaking."

Possible Preaching Angles: Wells was not a theologian, but he could have been commenting on Romans 7, "We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual … . When I want to do good, evil is right there with me … . . I see another law at work in the members of my body, waging war against" God's law.