Crash Course: In the age of megachurches, communion has become a big business

These days, prepackaged "rip and sip" plastic cups of juice and wafers are a common sight at large churches Your daily update from [Salon](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvb3J0YzIxMnRtdS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo). In the age of megachurches, communion has become a big business While the sacrament of communion or the Eucharist — which is present in many Christian denominations and involves consuming [bread and wine](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMXd4ODVjdjR3ay8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) in remembrance or exaltation of the body and blood of Jesus Christ — has shifted in presentation and delivery over the centuries, most contemporary churches have similar systems. Parishioners may be called to the pulpit to receive bread or a wafer from a church leader and to drink from a common cup of wine or — in the case of some more conservative denominations — grape juice. Alternatively, deacons may pass around a tray of wafers or [small hunks of bread](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvcWx6aHA0MzN4Yi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo), followed by small disposable cups of juice. This is a common enough approach that most religious goods stores carry specific communion trays with slots for 1-ounce cups. However, in the [age of megachurches](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYTk3NmZ3bWlnYy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) — as well as that of a [global pandemic](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMva3JmeWdzdTFobS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo), which caused many churches to reconsider the sharing of bread and use of a common cup — an alternative delivery system for the Eucharist has increased in popularity in recent years. And it's something of a booming business. [Read the rest from Ashlie D. Stevens.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvZW03N3E3NXpwYi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) (Getty Images/JeffXD) Does your immune system need a workout? The bad science behind "immunity debt," explained Viruses may seem all-powerful, given their practical invisibility and ability to take down human hosts, which are 10 million times larger than them. But all [viruses](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbTcyMms1b243cy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) have a weakness: they're dependent on [living things](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYm00bGw0ZXhlMC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) in order to reproduce and spread, which is why some experts debate if viruses like [SARS-CoV-2](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMWg4M3hhZHE2ZS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo), the pathogen that causes COVID, might not technically be alive. When SARS-CoV-2 began spreading in force in early 2020, cities across the globe sheltered in place, trying to flatten the curve of rising cases. Many people stayed home for months and even years, until vaccines and drugs like [Paxlovid](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNDJ0YTcwamY2ZC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) became widespread. Even though the COVID pandemic is not over, we're in a different stage in late 2022 — hence, many people are choosing to return to a 2019 style of living, including going to restaurants, and attending concerts, holiday parties, and other large gatherings. [Read the rest from Troy Farah.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvMmw0NG1wOWl1YS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) (Getty Images/Francesco Carta fotografo) - How ["The White Lotus"](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvZWJycXh4ZDNhci8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) blurs the cinematic meaning of gaze through the lens of Valentina - Fixing [foster care](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMva3JjcmhpZmpjdS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) wouldn't actually be that hard — or that expensive - Iran's [morality police](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvM3F3aGh4NWpueS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) may be disbanded, but Iranian women warn to look closer at motive - Tell Will Smith: ["Ziwe"](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvM3F4czZuM2ZzaS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) will recoup your reputation in her Barbie dream house interrogation chamber - Meet the narcissistic [inventor of the bulletproof vest](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbWE1dzNmZXI0bC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) who "endangered as many lives as he saved" - Deadly heat waves engulfed the planet this year: [Climate change](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYWFjeWRncXYxZS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) is a national security crisis - Home for the holidays with an [eating disorder](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNTV2eWY0dG04NS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - In defense of (sometimes) mixing [soda and milk](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYndpN2l5ZTU0Yi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) If you found yourself here without subscribing, sign up for [Crash Course](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbXppbmo5Y2YzMi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo), so you don't miss anything! Reading Proust in wartime: A portrait of racism, nationalism and profound loss During the war in Bosnia, I worked my way through the [seven volumes](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNWUwc3UzemlkOC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) of Marcel Proust's "[In Search of Lost Time](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbjBsbmE3Z2xuNy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo)." The [novel](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYzc3a3E5a3Ewai8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo), populated with 400 characters, was not an escape from the war. The specter of death and the expiring world of [La Belle Époque](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMveWxxNXNhd2I4Zi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) haunts Proust's work. He wrote it as he was dying; in fact, Proust was making corrections to the manuscript the night before his death in his hermetically sealed, cork-lined bedroom in Paris. The novel was a lens that allowed me to reflect on the disintegration, delusions and mortality around me. Proust gave me the words to describe aspects of the human condition I knew instinctively, but had trouble articulating. He elucidates the conflicting ways we perceive reality, exacerbated in war, and how each of us comes to our own peculiar and self-serving truths. He explores the fragility of human goodness, the seduction and hollowness of power and social status, the inconstancy of the human heart and racism, especially antisemitism. [Read the rest from Chris Hedges.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbzI5a3RzMzBicC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) (Photo illustration by Salon/Getty Images) - "Holi-Drag Storytime for children canceled because of right-wing protesters," [NBC News](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvamZqa3J2Z3Y1aC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - "2 substations damaged by gunfire in NC county where 40,000 customers lost power, fire official says," [CNN](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNXg2ZDljaWUwcC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - "Alarming manatee death toll in Florida prompts calls for endangered status," [The Guardian](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvZzlhN2ZwZWpyeS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) - "Aaron Carter’s family wants singer’s son, Prince, to inherit estate," [Page Six](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvdDkyNHN3dGx2OS8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) Chris Christie's niece kicked off plane for calling Latino family "drug mules" The niece of former [New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvYWR2MXdxMmdkZi8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) was reportedly kicked off of an airplane after she accused a Latino family of being "drug mules." [The Times-Picayune reports](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvNHJoZTlzcDkxZy8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) that Christie's niece, 25-year-old Shannon Epstein, confronted the family after boarding her flight going from New Orleans to New Jersey on Thanksgiving Day. According to law enforcement officials, Epstein asked the family if they were "smuggling cocaine" and then became increasingly irate to the point where airline workers asked her to leave the plane. [Read the rest from Brad Reed.](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0REaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMveG1oMXR5eDdzOC8_bGhfYWlkPTM1NDM5NTImbGhfY2lkPTYyOWFreHJwN2JXA3NwY0IKY4FP3Y1jUJSwQVIbdHJpc3RyYW1iYWxkd2luODVAZ21haWwuY29tWAQAAAAo) (Riccardo Savi/Getty Images for Concordia Summit) [Unsubscribe from this list](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0RCaHR0cHM6Ly9yZWFkLmxldHRlcmhlYWQuZW1haWwvY3Jhc2gtY291cnNlL3Vuc3Vic2NyaWJlP2lkPUAzNTQzOTUyVwNzcGNCCmOBT92NY1CUsEFSG3RyaXN0cmFtYmFsZHdpbjg1QGdtYWlsLmNvbVgEAAAAKA~~) Copyright © 2022 Crash Course, All rights reserved. 1000 N. West Street, Suite 1200, Wilmington, DE 19801 [Made with Letterhead [Letterhead logo]](~/AASU4wA~/RgRlcGJOP0QiaHR0cHM6Ly9saW5rLndoZXJlYnkudXMvbmVwbm83czh5c1cDc3BjQgpjgU_djWNQlLBBUht0cmlzdHJhbWJhbGR3aW44NUBnbWFpbC5jb21YBAAAACg~)