Theology | wellnessrounds

It’s the middle of the week, which is when I like to share 3 things that caught my attention enough that they are worthy of mentioning to someone else…

How rich is Elon Musk?

Aerial view of MetLife Stadium filled with golf balls; signs read "FIELD FILLED WITH GOLF BALLS!" — AI generated image of a football stadium (almost) filled with golf balls. A trillion golf balls would fill this stadium 28 times (all the way to the brim)

We aren’t designed as human beings to understand what a “trillion” of anything is. Million to billion to trillion sounds like an easy progression, but there is a factor of a THOUSAND between each of those leaps.

If measured in seconds, a million seconds is around 11.5 days, while a billion seconds is 31.7 years. As for a trillion seconds – that’s 31,709 years.

If you stack one dollar bills here’s how high they would reach

1000 1$ bills = 4.3 inches
1 million = 4300 inches = 358 feet = 30 to 35 story tall building
1 billion = 358,510 feet = 6.79 = the height commercial airliners fly
1 trillion = 67,866 miles = 25% of the way to the moon

Or, you could play with this amazing website where you play a game to “spend Elon Musk’s money” to get an idea what a trillion dollars can buy.

BTW, the World Health Organization thinks it would take the equivalent of 36-50 billion US dollars per year to eradicate world hunger by 2030. Elon Musk alone could cover that for 10-14 years with only half of his wealth, leaving him “only” 500 billion dollars. It’s mind boggling (but not at all unrealistic) to think what could happen if all the world’s billionaires took this on together as a goal.

“One of the simplest ways to get an idea of one trillion dollars is to consider the amount in terms of the passage of time. One million seconds is equal to roughly eleven days and twelve hours, and one billion seconds is thirty-two years. One trillion seconds equals thirty-two thousand years.”
Geoff Davis

Theology meets technology

Check out this amazing tool, created by Danyel Fisher. Even if you aren’t a theology nerd, you’ll appreciate the design and the work that went into this.

Winnie the Pooh turns 100

Happy Birthday to the wonderful world created by A.A. Milne, a world that showed children (and grown ups) to a better way to be in the world.

“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

“I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said ‘Bother!’ The Social Round. Always something going on.”
― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh

If you’ve never read these books, you should! If you have a small person in your life, get them a copy and read it out loud to them. You’ll both benefit!

It is mind blowing and soul nourishing to listen to talented orators and scholars about the “whys” and “hows” of current challenges in our individual and communal lives…especially when surrounded by joy and laughter.

“Have you ever noticed that the happiest people on television are on medication? … but the side effects are hell!” Jean Dominic Crossan (Hmmm… and did you know that there are only two countries in the world that allow direct to consumer marketing of prescription drugs?)

“Heaven and hell are not locations in the future, they are options in the present.” Jean Dominic Crossan

“The battle is not how we worship but what we worship at the altars of our daily lives. That which is central to us is sacred to us.” Stacey Floyd-Thomas

“We were chanting, dancing, and trancing before we could speak… Religion started before belief.” Tripp Fuller

“The United Daughters of the Confederacy sought to create “living monuments” through what children were taught” (This is a history I sort of knew, but not really). We are repeating this today in the current policies of school boards and the Dept of Education to erase our history because it makes white kids “uncomfortable”…“A little discomfort is required to improve. An education that never discomforts never transforms.” …“Control of the narrative is more powerful than bombs.” Kelly Brown Douglas

“What books have torn you wide open?” Kelly Brown Douglas (What an amazing question and truth – the education that sets you free is not just what you learn from teachers in classrooms but also from books… supporting my deep belief that librarians will save our civilization)

West Coast IPA may be my favorite type of beer, and the one that was specially brewed for this event was among the best I’ve ever had.

“Paul intended and wrote to speak to the ages, not just the time he lived in. In thinking about his words, his instructions, his understandings we can and should judge Paul against where we find ourselves today. This means that originalism, or fundamentalism is the wrong approach to the writings of Paul.” Jean Dominic Crossan

Spiritual/faith journeys must be done in community (church) so each of us can do “the work our soul must have” (Church). (the quote is from Katie Geneva Cannon, shared by Stacey Floyd-Thomas)

Photo from Brian Jones

Here’s the website for Theology Beer Camp 2025, so you can see the full list of speakers, topics, and events. Many of the speakers have wonderful podcasts, too!