We might call it “Godstock:” a semi-spontaneous flocking of 50,000 young people over a two-week period to pray and sing in the chapel at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky. For Owl-Chatter readers unfamiliar with Wilmore — it’s in Jessamine County. Does that help? A bit north of Burgin, and just west of Nicholasville? Can you place it now?
According to a front page article in the NYT, posts on TikTok and Instagram, plus WOM (word of mouth) spread the word. Jenny Palmer told her boss she had to leave work, and drove eleven hours straight from Jacksonville, FL. Valor Christian College up in Ohio canceled classes. The NYT said “almost the entire student body drove down in a bus,” but Owl Chatter investigators discovered that there are close to 200 undergraduate students at Valor, so unless that’s some big-ass bus, something’s off there.
According to The Times, “the revival at Asbury began on Feb. 8, when a few dozen students lingered after an ordinary morning chapel service to continue singing and praying together. Word about the spontaneous gathering spread on campus, and by evening, students were dragging mattresses into the chapel to spend the night. Within days, their enthusiasm had exploded into a national event.” Ka-boom!
Around 50,000 people came before the college started to wind things down. The town’s population is just 6,000.
The NYT continued, “By last weekend, traffic was backed up far along the road coming from Lexington. The university scrambled to set up banks of portable toilets, a large screen on the lawn to simulcast what was happening onstage in the chapel and heat lamps, when the temperature dropped and snow began to flurry. The line to get into the chapel on Saturday afternoon was a half-mile long.
“’Sixteen-plus-hour days feel like five minutes,’ said Eli Baker, an Asbury undergraduate who was talking intensely with his friend Brenden Krebs [no relation to Maynard G.] at a packed coffee shop on Day 10 of the revival.
“’It’s like Woodstock,’ said Nick Hall, 40, an evangelist from Minnesota who arrived last week.”
[Note: Except for the portable toilets, it’s not like Woodstock. I saw the movie Woodstock; I spoke to people who went to Woodstock; I read articles about Woodstock. Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.]
“Many drawn to Asbury in recent weeks describe an extraordinary sense of peace in the room. Attendees of all ages recall bursting into tears upon entering the building. ‘It doesn’t feel like America in 2023 in here,’ said Margaret Feinberg, who traveled from Park City, Utah, to attend. ‘It just melts away.’”
Feinberg? Seriously?
Owl Chatter photographers were able to slip inside to photograph this scene, which is not exactly mayhem. Let’s call it prayhem.
Back on Planet Earth, today’s puzzle gave me quite a workout. It was great. For one thing, the focus of the NYT away from the tuchas and onto boobs continued with 6D: “Wireless support providers, at times.” BRAS. And 38D: “Space between leaf veins.” AREOLA. Leaf veins? Whatever.
“Kings and queens, e.g.,” was a tough clue for PIECES. My favorite was 22A: “One who collects just for kicks?” Answer: SNEAKERHEAD. Apparently this is someone who collects and trades old sneakers. There’s a big market for them on eBay. (“Kick” is a slang term for “shoe.”)
Here’s a note by Sir Hillary on it:
“My son is a burgeoning SNEAKERHEAD. He chooses to devote lots of space in his small Manhattan studio to boxes and boxes of old-school kicks — Air Jordans, etc. I don’t really get it, but he seems to have a decent handle on the secondary market, so OK. It’s not like my 19 framed James Bond film one-sheets are any more rational.”
The clue for POP STAR was “Miley Cyrus or Hannah Montana.” Hi Hannah! You go to that thing in Kentucky? Didn’t see you there.
The clue for TINE was “What musicians pluck on an mbira.” Huh? That’s new to me. An mbira is an instrument sometimes known as a thumb piano. It’s pretty neat. Here’s a video:
A few weeks ago, Owl Chatter posted a beautiful Irish song by Christy Moore, called “So Do I.” I go back to listen to it from time to time and it never fails to grab me. Here’s the first verse:
This is the day the fisherman likes
And so do I
When the rain puts a shine on the chestnut spikes
Hear the curlews cry
The nightingale sings her best
We’ll drink a pint in Hamilton’s Rest
And the girl I love wore a muslin dress
The fisherman dreams of the sun in the west
And so do I
And so do I
Play Ball! Spring Training games start today with Texas facing KC, and Seattle up against the Padres. It’s looking bad for the Washington Nats whom we’ve been following since their championship run in ’19. But we’re sticking with them. Hoping for better results for Detroit too, after a very poor 2022.
Three cheers for Anderson Comas, left-handed outfielder in the White Sox farm system. He came out as gay recently with this heartfelt note, below. He’s a good-looking young man. The White Sox responded with a nice note themselves. Anderson is just the third pro baseball player ever to come out: no major leaguers yet.
“This may be my most personal thing I ever share and it’s that I’m proudly and happily part of the LGTBQ+ community 🏳️🌈 I’m also a human with a great soul, I’m respectful, I’m a lover, I love my family and friends and that’s what really matters, I enjoy my work a lot, being a professional baseball player is the best thing that happened to me so I just wanna say something to those people that says that gay people can not be someone in this life, well look at me I’m Gay and I’m a professional athlete so that didn’t stopped me to make my dreams come true, I’m doing this cause I wanna be an inspiration for those like me out there fitting for their dreams, please don’t listen to those stupid things that people say about us, fight for your dreams, believe in yourself and go for it 🤨❤️”
White Sox assistant general manager Chris Getz praised Comas in a statement Sunday afternoon and said Comas came out to the organization last year.
“I was very pleased that he was comfortable sharing with us in player development,” Getz said. “I also was happy at the reaction across the organization, which as you would expect was to support, help and congratulate a teammate. With his social media post today, we are all so proud of Anderson and that he is comfortable sharing such an important personal part of his life so openly.”
That’s it for today, folks. Owl Chatter is heading out to Whitehouse Station for a fat juicy burger and to hear friend Chris’s rock band rock the house. See you tomorrow!
The Wellington Files 