Stories of Hope

Researching the Hands of Time

Inside a box waiting for her on a front porch, senior Autumn Balamucki was about to pick up history.

She would eventually receive a newfound skill and appreciation, too.

In the summer of 2020, unexpectedly back early from an off-campus study semester in Peru due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Balamucki signed on as an intern with the Joint Archives of Holland to conduct research on the Holland-area veterans of the Spanish-American War.

The box she retrieved outside of Hope archivist Geoffrey Reynolds’ home last spring contained copies of 28 years’ worth of the monthly minutes from the veterans’ two-hour-ish-long meetings.

“When I arrived, I had no idea what I was getting myself into,” Balamucki remembers. “Geoff just said, ‘I’ll leave photocopies of all of the original documents at my front door.’ This was in May, and we had to make a contactless transfer because of the pandemic. So, I go to pick them up, and I find a box filled to the brim with papers.”

Each one laden with handwriting. In inky cursive.

Most 21^st century college students avoid longhand, and the reading of it, with an intense aversion. In fact, they tend to evade it like looking away from the sun.

Nevertheless, Balamucki was determined to read and transcribed massive amounts of early 20^th century handwriting for weeks on end from scribes of the United Spanish War Veterans Camp #38.

Twenty-eight years times 12 monthly meetings per year times 2.5 average pages per meeting. Do the math, and you get the magnitude of penmanship she pored over.

Trying to Read What was Written

Actually, it turned out that Balamucki liked it. It became an exercise not only in distinguishing Fs from Ps, but in discerning and admiring the service and struggle of men and their families from a lesser-known war. (The Spanish American War lasted 114 days, from April 21 to August 13, 1898; though it is mostly remembered for Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders.)

That the Holland veterans formed a camp, or club, and left behind decades of notes marking their determination to acquire pensions and parades and acceptance, showed a commitment to not be forgotten.

“It took me a little while to see the very subtle differences from one person’s handwriting to another (over the length of the project),” said Balamucki who has double majors in global studies and history and a minor in Spanish. “But, figuring out that puzzle was really fun for me. That’s why I majored in history. I love putting pieces together and figuring out how they connect.”

The connections that Balamucki uncovered dealt with that 1915 to 1943 time period, for sure, but there was more than that. She found that the century-old experiences of those veterans had an effect on her empathy for them and her understanding of her present as well.

“It so happened that my struggle to adapt with this unique period in our history (in a global pandemic) ended up bringing me closer to a group of people, in another time in history, whose experiences with global change and the necessity to adapt far surpassed mine,” Balamucki wrote in the Joint Archives Quarterly Newsletter last fall.

“Their story begins 122 years ago, in 1898, on the verge of the Spanish-American War, as a group of soldiers whose lives would see a great amount of change and adaptability in the coming years,” she continued in her article. “These soldiers followed the veterans of the Civil War, and preceded the well-known soldiers of World War I. They saw times of war, times of peace, of economic depression and prosperity, of political unity and dissension, and throughout it all they adapted to the changing world around them that the first half of the 20th century brought.”

The Bigger Picture

Reynolds says Balamucki’s ability to see beyond a single snapshot in time to the bigger picture is a credit to her intellect and Hope education. Though the two could not work together in person last summer, Zoom meetings enabled “in-person” interactions when necessary and their separation did not hinder their work. In fact, Balamucki’s ability to dive into the documents, uninterrupted and without distraction, may have been a bonus from her kitchen table at her home in Traverse City, Michigan. It allowed her to not just read history but to feel it, too.

“Autumn recognized the many struggles of those men – financial struggles, sometimes lack of respect, the changing times — and connected it to the struggles she’s endured and the country has endured in the last year,” says Reynolds, the Mary Riepma Ross Director of the Joint Archives of Holland.

“She was able to identify with them. Fred Johnson (associate professor of history at Hope) hopes his students do that all the time. But that’s a tough thing to do, especially for young people to jump back 100 years and identify with what people were going through. Yet I found that Autumn empathized with the people she was reading about and also questioned, ‘What does that mean to me today, why is this important to now?’”

When Balamucki finished her project three months later, her transcription resulted in 169 typewritten pages in single-spaced, 11-point New Times Roman font. While the tangible results of her work now show up on clean, easy-to-read sheets of paper, the intangible aftermath is the ability to recognize that history is always about people.

This time that lesson was imparted thanks to the (perceived) dreaded yet beautiful reading of handwriting.

“I’m not gonna lie, I was so excited when I finished, but I was torn, too,” she says. “I was shocked at how close I felt to these people. . . I think the fact that what I was reading was personally handwritten hit me differently. I do think that I had a little bit more of a connection than if it had been typed out or explained to me. ”

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Read more about all of Autumn Balamucki’s research in the Joint Archives Quarterly Fall Newsletter: The Trials of Transcriptions: A Look Into the United Spanish War Veterans of Holland, Michigan

Pandemic Research Includes Immigrant Churches’ Response

The COVID-19 pandemic has instigated a great number of questions, and resulted in numerous subsequent findings, for researchers across the country. Often that research is focused on something other than the novel coronavirus’ scientific impact.

A recent study by Hope College Professor Dr. Rodrigo Serrão is one such example. Along with Dr. João Chaves of the Hispanic Theological Initiative, Serrão investigated the reactions and responses of three churches of the Brazilian diaspora in south and central Florida during the initial shutdowns induced by COVID-19. After viewing and listening to more than 50 online sermons, delivered in Portuguese and during the months of March, April and May, the two scholars found that “Brazilian immigrant churches in Florida reacted to the pandemic in civil, theological, and practical ways,” they wrote in “Immigrant Evangelicalism in the COVID-19 Crisis” for the International Journal of Latin American Religions.

“Because we both are Brazilians, we thought that we should try to find what is the response for these 100 percent Brazilian-focused church (in America),” said Serrão, assistant professor of sociology who began teaching at Hope this fall. “We knew that there was a lot more going on behind the cameras, but we said, ‘let’s take what they are saying in front of the cameras and let’s use that to see what they are doing.’”

In their attentive viewing of hours and hours of Facebook and YouTube sermons, Serrão and Chaves found that the three Brazilian churches responded in three primary ways.

“You have a lot of overlaps in how evangelicals in the United States think and how Brazilian evangelicals think. They share a lot of the same theology.”

First, the immigrant churches’ pastors encouraged their membership to comply with the authorities’ guidelines.

“Just to contextualize a little bit for you, in Florida, you had some (mainline) churches who were really angry about government restrictions,” Serrão observed. “In fact, one pastor of a megachurch there was arrested for having in-person services during the shutdown. But immigrants don’t have that luxury. I’m not saying that they weren’t as angry as those other pastors, but they had to show to their membership that they would follow the law. They are already a stigmatized population with labels attached like ‘undocumented’ or ‘illegal.’ They didn’t want that (stigmatization) to continue by not following the rules.”

The second finding from the study deduced that the sermons delivered by the immigrant churches’ pastors often had apocalyptic undertones.

“This was expected, especially if you think in terms of how evangelicalism in Brazil is a continuation of American missionaries’ message,” Serrão explained. “You have a lot of overlaps in how evangelicals in the United States think and how Brazilian evangelicals think. They share a lot of the same theology.”

Finally, the immigrant churches responded to the initial impact of the pandemic with practical acts of service and care by organizing food pantries and donations for members in need.

“It was clear that they knew they had to put their personal resources into action, and that they very much wanted to,” said Serrão.

This research resulted in one of the first papers to be published about church response to the pandemic, Serrão added. Fast access to online video helped with speedy data collection as did his prior knowledge of the churches he researched.

“Just because data was readily available, we still made sure that we were thorough and systematic on what we were looking for and not give up, even when the audio was difficult to hear sometimes,” he said. “Consistency and persistence got us what we needed.”

Serrão and Chaves are now in the process of translating their article into Portuguese for inclusion in an edited book in Brazil.

How Home Attachment Helps Mental Health in a Pandemic

There’s no place like home, author Frank Baum’s Dorothy said, but then again, she wasn’t confined to hers during a multi-month global pandemic.

Still, recent research by two Hope psychology scholars has confirmed that that famous line from The Wizard of Oz has bearing not only when you miss home, but also when that space is primarily where you must stay.

Dr. Alyssa Cheadle, assistant professor of psychology, and Dr. Benjamin Meagher, visiting scholar of psychology and assistant professor of psychology at Kenyon College, wrote in the Journal of Environmental Psychology that “in the midst of increased mental health concerns and limited resources due to COVID-19, the home may buffer some individuals from depressive and anxiety-related symptoms by functioning as a source of refuge, security, and stability.”

To reach that finding, the two Hope scholars quickly went to work to research the relationship between home attachment and mental health when the pandemic began to keep people in their homes for long periods due to stay-at-home orders and business and educational closures last March. In their article “Distant to Others, But Close to Home,” Cheadle and Meagher noted that “although people by and large tend to show some degree of attachment to their home, such an emotional bond is not universal.”

Creating opportunities for heightened mental health via home attachment could be just one small home improvement project away.

How then can we consider our homes as emotional safe havens during a pandemic and not just as places where we have to be?

“Something we would want people to try to do is be conscious of the way in which the home space they are in matters to their mental health,” says Cheadle. “I think a lot of people don’t necessarily reflect on it in a deliberative way. But changing the way we think about the spaces in our lives as potential resources – and not spaces that are just ‘there’ – can help us feel better.”

To reach that recommendation through research, Meagher, an environmental psychologist, and Cheadle, a health psychologist, enlisted 289 participants to take surveys in three waves (baseline, two weeks four weeks) via Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), a crowdsourcing website for businesses (and researchers) to hire remotely located “crowd-workers” to perform discrete, online tasks. Their respondents were located nationwide, ages 19 to 72, a little more than half male, and a majority Caucasian. “That make-up was just by virtue of who signed up for the study,” says Meagher.

Cheadle and Meagher then asked those participants to make judgments about their homes. This included indicating how strongly attached participants feel towards their home, as well as rating the emotional ambience of their home across four categories: restoration, kinship, stimulation and productivity. Each participant also completed a standardized questionnaires about depressive symptoms, anxiety symptoms and perceptions of stress.

Using those survey tools to both assess participants’ home attachment and mental health, the two researchers came to an important conclusion about home attachment regarding kinship ambience in particular. What is kinship ambience? It is that feeling you get when you associate a certain person, or people, with a particular space.

“If my home is able to meet that need (of kinship with others) over the course of this pandemic, then the space will become more and more important to me.”

“So, what we found over the course of the study is that how much a space made a person feel a sense of kinship with others became more and more important in terms of making that person feel attached to the space,” says Meagher. “I think it makes sense to think about it this way: The longer I am in isolation, the more I miss other people. If my home is able to meet that need (of kinship with others) over the course of this pandemic, then the space will become more and more important to me.”

“During this time in particular, if home is not satisfying the need of togetherness and a feeling of connection with others, it’s not going to be a space that’s accomplishing that feeling of protecting you from all the anxiety that’s out there,” says Cheadle. But especially with kinship ambience as a strong predictor of home attachment over time, she adds, this study shows that a pleasant attachment to one’s home during the pandemic is protective of stress, depression, and anxiety.

So, go ahead and add to or rearrange pictures of your family and friends in your home space. Maybe even get a new house plant or relocate your favorite comfy chair. Creating opportunities for heightened mental health via home attachment could be just one small home improvement project away.

Pandemic Inspires Art

It has been observed that, throughout history, pandemics have inspired creative minds — to write plays, to postulate new scientific theories, to create works of art.

That last undertaking — to create works of art — naturally emanated from Lisa Walcott, assistant professor of art, during the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020. Now, a sculptural installation by Walcott, located at The Centennial Inn of Holland, displays her inspiration from and reflection on the spread of the novel coronavirus and the isolation that it has caused.

“As a visual artist, I process and articulate through making. I wanted to allow myself the time to feel this moment and be in my space as I reflected on proximity, space between, and interdependence,” said Walcott. “The disrupted version of life in quarantine has been very difficult and also very beautiful as we slow down and understand what is essential. . . This work could not be made in another time and space and mean the same thing.”

Titled “Given Situation,” the installation features eight large, mechanized mobiles that mimic the motion of bugs swarming. Walcott, who specializes in kinetic installations, developed it during the state-wide “Stay Home, Stay Safe” order that was into effect from late March to early June.

The venue was a location where Walcott could work when the college went to remote operations. She and her husband, Rob Walcott, have owned and operated the inn since the couple purchased it at the beginning of the year. Rob hopes that the inn can be developed into a place that supports art, culture and local dialogue.

“I have been thinking a lot about independence and interdependence, and I wanted to offer something to those around me — my neighbors and community,” said Walcott. “’Given Situation’ is for solitary viewing and follows guidelines for social distancing — no touching surfaces and masks worn inside.”

As Walcott explains in the artist’s statement that accompanies the installation, “‘Given Situation’ references the highly coordinated manner in which a colony can move. The motion of each ‘fly’ is connected to those around them creating a visual manifestation of interdependence. Group coordination can be quite simple yet extremely effective toward solving complex problems (like an ant finding the shortest distance to food and others following that trail). At the same time, the presence of bugs can indicate deterioration and change. The ‘flies’ are coated in black wax melted from birthday candles which references celebration as well as the passing of time.”

She notes that the viewers become a part of the experience as they move through the piece. “Perception is heightened as the web like ‘swarms’ seem to materialize and disappear,” she said. “Visitors’ presence both activates and threatens to disrupt the installation.”

Located in the inn’s market building, “Given Situation” has open viewing hours on Saturdays and Sundays from 4-9pm or by appointment until June 26. The Centennial Inn is located at 8 E. 12^th St.

Joanne Stewart Featured in STEM Video Showcase

Hope College’s Dr. Joanne Stewart, Elmer E. Hartgerink Professor of Chemistry, will be featured in the 2020 STEM for All Video Showcase funded by the National Science Foundation. The event will be held online May 5^th -12^th at https://stemforall2020.videohall.com.

The presentation entitled “Come for the Content, Stay for the Community” looks at how the VIPEr Fellows project, funded by the National Science Foundation, is shaping the teaching of inorganic chemistry across the country.

Update May 14: Stewart’s video presentation received special recognition with a Facilitator’s Choice Award. Fifteen videos out of the 171 submitted earned this honor.

Stewart has been formally involved with the leadership of the project since 2008. She commented, “The Interactive Online Network of Inorganic Chemists (IONiC) provides a supportive community and professional tools to help faculty improve their teaching. The video describes our research on how the IONiC community encourages effective faculty practice and how changes in faculty practice impact student learning. We are excited to be part of the STEM for All Video Showcase so that we can share what we have learned about faculty development and learn from other leaders in STEM education.”

Now in its sixth year, the annual showcase will feature over 170 innovative projects aimed at improving STEM learning and teaching, which have been funded by the National Science Foundation and other federal agencies. During the week-long event, researchers, practitioners, policy makers and members of the public are invited to view the short videos, discuss them with the presenters online, and vote for their favorites.

The theme for this year’s event is “Learning from Research and Practice.” Video presentations address improving K-12 STEM classroom, informal environments, undergraduate and graduate education, teacher professional development, and community engagement. Collectively the presentations cover a broad range of topics including science, mathematics, computer science, engineering, cyberlearning, citizen science, maker spaces, broadening participation, research experiences, mentoring, professional development, NGSS and the Common Core.

Last year’s STEM for All Video Showcase is still being accessed, and to date has had over 76,000 unique visitors from 181 countries.

The STEM for All Video Showcase is hosted by TERC, in partnership with: STEMTLnet, CADRE, CAISE, CIRCL, STELAR, CS for All Teachers, NARST, NCTM, NSTA, NSF INCLUDES, and QEM. The Showcase is funded by a grant from the National Science Foundation (#1922641).

Research to Reduce Workplace Racism

As a social psychologist, Dr. Mary Inman, professor of psychology, prioritizes learning about people’s basic motivations, environmental influences on behaviors, and why and how people use stereotypes. As a Christ-follower, she seeks to understand and address social issues for the sake of justice. Her recent research on racial harassment and discrimination in the workplace addresses both of those professional and personal life goals.

Along with her colleague, Dr. Phanikiran Radhakrishnan of the University of Toronto, and Hope student Kayla Liggett ’20, Inman co-wrote the paper “The Socialization-Stressor Model of Racial Harassment” which will be published in an upcoming research book, Diversity and Inclusion in Organizations.

“The workplace ought to be a place where people want to come to work,” she says. “Kindness and respect can prevent hostilities and some workplace violence. All this informed our socialization-stressor model of workplace racial harassment and discrimination.”

What exactly is a socialization-stressor model of workplace racism? Why does it matter? Learn more in this Q-and-A with Dr. Inman.

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How did you become involved in this research with Dr. Radhakrishnan?

Phani and I met at a psychology conference held in Texas. She was looking at workers’ experiences and outcomes of workplace racism. I was examining how people decide when an event is classified as racism. We both had an interest in misunderstandings and tension in the workplace. It was a natural fit. Hope student, Kayla Liggett, came aboard with us and is a co-author on our paper, too. I value her contributions.

Why is this research important to do?

People spend a third or so of their adult lives at work. Some employees stay longer with their “work family” more than with their spouses. Understanding the causes, dynamics, and solutions of racial and other identity-related tensions at work is critical. Knowing the causes can help researchers and human resource leaders identify and test possible solutions to create harmony at work. Workers do not need the added stress of prejudice and discrimination. All workers have value. All workers need to be heard, respected, and affirmed, especially while working through difficult company decisions like mergers or layoffs. This will help the employees’ mental health and help the company. Racial tensions hurt the company’s climate, reputation, stock, and finances when lawsuits arise.

I am interested in understanding the daily racialized events and related work outcomes. Our research is reliably showing that racial harassment and discrimination experiences are related to negative emotions, dissatisfaction with coworkers, poor health symptoms, and intentions to quit. Companies and employees need to be informed.

What is the socialization-stressor model of workplace racism?

We reviewed several research articles in psychology, sociology, and business to understand what causes stereotypes to be promoted in organizations and what the trickle-down effects are. Our model states that stereotypes are socialized beliefs that people bring to the company. Racial stereotypes can affect work behaviors such as racial harassment and racial discrimination. The model states that people pay attention to the racial composition of the company, the perpetrator’s race, and the target’s race when deciding if racially charged comments and actions reflect racism. The model states that both harassment and discrimination are social stressors that can drain energy, joy, and engagement when at work.

And why did you create the model for this research?

We developed this model because it logically fits with the stereotyping social psychology research and the discrimination-as-stressor research. Our model focuses on the distinction between harassment and discrimination as two social stressors at work that are related and yet could have different outcomes.

Our research is reliably showing that racial harassment and discrimination experiences are related to negative emotions, dissatisfaction with coworkers, poor health symptoms, and intentions to quit. Companies and employees need to be informed.

How are racial discrimination and racial harassment distinct?

Both are behaviors rooted in racial stereotyping. Racial harassment is the interpersonal behaviors of racially based comments, jokes, invalidation, and slurs. It is also excluding people from work social events based on race.

Racial discrimination is hindering one’s employability or advancement. Behaviors include racially biased practices in hiring, pay, and promotion. We also focused on more subtle behaviors such as withholding key work information, resources, training, good equipment, assignments, and public recognition due to one’s race. Discriminatory policies and procedures can be affected, reflecting institutional racism. So, pay inequities can happen at hiring and can re-occur when career-progressing activities favor one race. Companies should monitor their career-progressing practices, or they can lose talented workers.

How do each result in different discriminatory outcomes in an organization? Or, are their outcomes similar?

Workers have relationships with people and with the company — which produces one difference. Our prior work showed that workers compartmentalize their negative experiences at work. Dissatisfaction with supervisors was better predicted by discrimination than by harassment. The boss has input on the allocation of rewards and punishments. In contrast, harassment can come from anyone at work. Harassment, not discrimination, was more consistently related to dissatisfaction with coworkers.

The stress responses are similar for racial harassment discrimination but stronger feelings occur when employees reported experiencing both harassment and discrimination.

Our current work examined whether the stress responses are heightened by racial discrimination beyond that already felt when experiencing racial harassment. The answer seems to be yes. We’ve identified two kinds of discrimination — denial of opportunities and receiving negative treatment, like poor quality equipment— and are seeing that these are not equally toxic.

Still, a common theme in our research is that workers reported others are not sharing vital work information and that they lack the opportunities for advancement — for example, training — compared to other racial groups.

How can people “unlearn” previous socialization that might lead to racism at work?

Diversity training efforts to raise cultural awareness of racial biases has some research support. The training involves many elements such as working firsthand with a person who violates the racial stereotype — for example, a Black hero who saves a White person from danger or failure — as well as getting to know and listen to the other person’s story, and mindful techniques such as watching one’s assumptions and stereotyping.
Once one is aware of any implicit racial preference one has, research shows that having an internal goal to NOT be prejudiced is critical. One can internally yell, “STOP,” when racial stereotypes are activated to break the automatic racial link. Like developing a new habit, research has shown that practiced efforts to stop harassing, such as laughing at ethnic jokes, changed behavior.

Resolve to Keep That New Year’s Resolution

About a month ago, your intentions were good, your motivation was high, and you were ready to go. A new year had started and your new resolutions were about to be put in place.

So…how’s that going for you?

If you answered, “It’s great; I’m still on track and going strong,” kudos to you. Keep it up!

If, however, you said, “Yeah, well, I’m done with that; let’s move on,” you are not alone. According to U.S. News & World Report article from December, 2018, about 80 percent of New Year’s resolutions fail by February.

That’s a sobering statistic to be sure, but that doesn’t mean you have to quit altogether. In fact, Femi Oluyedun, assistant professor of kinesiology, has some advice that can help you rethink and recommit to your resolution, whether it’s about exercise, diet, or reading your Bible every day. Though Oluyedun specializes in sport motivation and sport commitment, his words of wisdom transcend the physical realm and can be applied to social, spiritual and intellectual domains as well.

Here are the top five ways Oluyedun recommends to get back on your resolution track. Or, to even start one today. It is not too late, nor never is.

1.Get SMART!

Let’s say you resolved to exercise every day in the new year. That’s a great idea, but it’s not specific enough. How long will you exercise? When will you exercise? What will you do for exercise? A goal is better when it’s SMART, an acronym for specific, measurable, attainable, rewarding and timely.

“Often people set goals that are too general or too vague,” says Oluyedun. “Goals, or resolutions, need some specifics. You have to have goals that are tangible so that when you meet it, that feels good and you keep going.”

For example, if your goal is to eat healthier, perhaps that starts with simply cutting out (or back on) fried food. Once you achieve that for a week or two, then move onto the next healthy-eating, like cutting back on sugar.

“And don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t reach some of those goals, but be realistic,” he says. “I think too many people have these exceedingly high expectations that can get them off track. The key is getting back on that track, though, and not giving up even you mess up your goals a few times. This is about improvement so it’s about process, too.”

“I think a lot of people make things too tough on themselves when it comes to goals. . . No! Make it enjoyable. Have fun with it. This is about bettering yourself.”

2. It’s always better with a friend.

Humans are unquestionably social creatures. Having a friend or family member with whom to engage your resolution gives you two things: company and accountability. Even if you’re an introvert and prefer to go it alone, you may feel as though you are keeping your resolution for the benefit of others as well as yourself. Or, it could simply be telling someone, out loud, that motivates you toward resolution-keeping. “People who are either on your side or at your side are huge motivators to help you meet your goals,” says Oluyedun.

The bottom line is taking someone with you on your resolution journey makes the going less lonely and keeps you more adherent.

3. Mix it up.

The old adage that variety is the spice of life can also apply to resolution-keeping, especially if your goals involve exercise. If you decide to take up running or walking and are bored after a month or two, consider mixing in some yoga. Maybe you feel that cycling at your gym is getting ho-hum; try lifting weights twice a week. Maybe adding a sport — like shooting hoops or playing pickleball — into your regime is the way to go.

This can apply to intellectual resolutions, too. If you resolved to read more, perhaps changing up genres — historical fiction to non-fiction to self-help to spiritual books — will help you stay interested. . . and informed.

“Again, you don’t have to — and for many, probably shouldn’t — stick with one thing all the time,” advises Oluyedun. “But don’t be afraid to fail if you do try something new. If I go and do yoga for the first time, I’m not going to do it very well. Once I get the hang of that task, though, it can be really fulfilling.”

4. Fill your ears as you go.

Listening to music or podcasts as you exercise can help engage your mind as well as your body. It can also make the time seem to go faster. Develop a playlist or tap into a podcast that goes for the precise amount of time you want to exercise. Then when it’s done, so are you, and you feel as if you’ve accomplished two things: exercise and your listening list.

5. Know your WHY? And make it FUN.

Why is it that you want to eat better, exercise more, or read your Bible every day? Why is it that it is important for you to make a resolution in the first place? Understanding and answering your WHY, sometimes on a daily basis, can help you keep your resolution. Whether it’s for better sleep, weight management, mental or spiritual health, regularly reminding yourself of your resolution reasons is key to staying on track.

And so is having fun while you do it. “I study sport enjoyment when it comes to sport commitment, and enjoyment mediates almost the entire model. Meaning commitment is most often driven by enjoyment,” observes Oluyedun.

“I think a lot of people make things too tough on themselves when it comes to goals. ‘Okay, I’m going to try this new regime, which means it’s got to be tough and I’m not going to enjoy it,’” he continues. “No! Make it enjoyable. Have fun with it. This is about bettering yourself.”

And what is more fun than that?!

“A Swell of Grace”: New Music from Hope for Advent and Christmas

Remember when the unofficial start to the Christmas season waited until after Thanksgiving? No more. Now retail stores have Santa displays on the endcaps and “Frosty the Snowman” over the loudspeaker before kids can finish saying, “Trick or Treat!”

Into this fast-paced frenzy of commercial Christmas chaos, a group of Hope students, helmed by Bruce Benedict, the college’s chaplain of worship and arts, inserted something different: an album of new and re-tuned sacred music meant to help the church see the Incarnation of Jesus Christ in fresh new ways.

Hope College Worship released “A Swell of Grace” in November 2019.

Released on November 21, 2019, A Swell of Grace is something of a rarity, even during a season that, more than any other holiday, is marked by the soundscape of familiar music — sacred hymns and popular jingles alike. While popular artists are mostly releasing albums that put their own spin on well-known Christmas tunes, Benedict wanted to give the students the experience of writing music from scratch.

The result is an EP of what Benedict describes as “original advent and Christmas songs that explore the narrative and emotional depths of the coming of Christ.” It aims to deal honestly, interestingly and deeply with the biblical account of Jesus’ birth.

Take, for example, the first of the album’s eight tracks, “The Holy of Holies” by senior Anna Kate Peterson.

“She’s one of my strongest songwriters,” Benedict said. “Her song was a text we had to wrestle with, because she was making some theological connections, talking about Mary’s womb as the Holy of Holies.”

Here are lyrics from verses two and three of Peterson’s song:

The Lord our God, entered our mess,
In the purity of this girl, took on flesh,
Virgin’s womb, the Spirit’s room,
The Holy of Holies
The brightest star, burned the way
To the cross where blood was love on display,
The old has passed, the new has come
The veil has torn

In another song, “Dispossessed and Peaceful,” Michael Stone ’18 writes:

Persecuted in the dark
The Christmas child on earth abides
Incarnated word of God
Carried town to town to hide
Joseph and the road again
Mary clutching child’s weak head
Holy God, where were we then?
Immigrants in search of rest

The lyrics that portray the Holy Family as immigrants touch a contemporary political nerve, and they pick up on a theme that Benedict explored in “Refugee King,” which he cowrote with Liz Vice and others at a 2018 songwriting retreat. (Vice released “Refugee King” as a single earlier this year.) Benedict’s experience at the retreat inspired him to work on this Christmas EP with his students.

In “Every Knee Shall Bow,” juniors Olivia Abdou and Cecilia O’Brien write:

The one on the throne was born without a home
Despised and rejected and forced to roam
In a stable filled with hay, our Savior born that day
Mary and Joseph in awe at his name

And in the album’s title track, “Swell of Grace,” Sarah Sims ’19 delivers a meaningful spoken word meditation both on Mary’s pregnancy and on our Advent anticipation that opens:

This quiet carrying
This gestation of grace
This swelling of a song
We are waiting
For the barren to bear fruit
For the bleak to reap hope

Benedict isn’t surprised that these students delivered songs of theological depth, biblical insight and creativity.

“What’s surprising to me is that I’ve not found more colleges creating interesting sacred music, because this is such a generative time in people’s lives,” he said. “It seems like there’d be a lot of college students — whether at Christian schools or not —being generative and creating interesting worship music, but I’ve just not found that. So part of this is trying to put examples out there for other colleges.”

It’s also an education and hands-on experience for students, a way for Benedict to pull back the curtain on the process of writing and recording music. “I wanted students to have the experience of creating something themselves from scratch. I think it’s an important skill to cultivate in this world of largely contemporary worship music,” he said.

This Christmas album isn’t the first time Benedict has worked with students to record original works. “The first one we did was in Lent, and that was mostly retuned hymns,” Benedict said. “Every year I try to do one. Typically it’s based on the sermon series in Chapel.”

In addition to the Lent album (Thy Love Unfailing), Hope students have also recorded albums inspired by Philippians 2:5–11 (The Christ Hymn) the Beatitudes (The Beatitudes), the Lord’s Prayer (Songs of Prayer) and the Psalms (Psalms).

“I’m really just trying to steward and shepherd the resources Hope has to do these kinds of creative projects,” he said.

Additionally, “Campus Ministries has been doing a live worship record for 20 years,” Benedict said. “Over Christmas break we’ll actually release on Bandcamp every record we’ve ever done. You’ll be able to listen to every live worship record we’ve done back to the early Dwight Beale days.” (Beale was Hope’s chaplain of worship from 1998 to 2005.) You can find the albums here as soon as they’re available.

Making music is just one part of what Benedict does in his role as worship chaplain. His primary task is to, in his words, “curate, cultivate, lead and empower” the worship services at Chapel and The Gathering. He oversees the worship and tech teams, works with chaplains and guest preachers and musicians, coordinates about 30 volunteer students for each service, and partners with the Gospel Choir, Sacred Dance and other groups with gifts to offer the Hope community.

Bruce Benedict, Chaplain of Worship and Arts

“I coordinate how the liturgical arts can support worship at Hope,” he summarized. “Most people think about what I do purely in terms of music, but I try to broaden that out for students. Music is part of it, but there’s text and visuals and movement. You have a space you occupy, so how does your worship interact with that space?”

Outside the college, Benedict directs Cardiphonia, a liturgical arts collective of dozens of musical and visual artists, mostly connected to local churches. “We release church music compilations around various biblical and spiritual themes. We did one this summer on Psalm 119, and we invited 22 artists from all over the world to write music for that.”

He’s also part of Bellwether Arts, a project from Cardiphonia that focuses on the church calendar. In partnership with Hope’s Campus Ministries, Bellwether just released a devotional for the final week of Advent based on the “O” Antiphons, an ancient set of prayers that explore images of Christ in the Old Testament. The “O” Antiphons form the basis of the familiar Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel.” (Download the devotional here.)

Finding the Christian Church in China

When Dr. Gloria Tseng arrived at Hope College in 2003 as a Europeanist with an emphasis on France, her first course in French history was attended by one student. “On one hand, it was a good student-faculty ratio,” she says now, with a lilting laugh.

The following semester, history repeated itself: just one student, albeit a different one. “I realized, ‘You know, there’s not a whole lot of interest in French history in Holland,’” Tseng recalls, “so I needed to think more broadly. Hope has been very transformative for me.”

In time, she underwent what could be described as a religious conversion. Tseng, born in Taiwan but a longtime U.S. citizen, wrote her dissertation on the experiences of Chinese expatriates living in France during the interwar years. During that research she came across the work of Father Frédéric-Vincent Lebbe, the late Catholic missionary to China whose advocacy in the early 20th century led Pope Pius XI to appoint the first native Chinese bishops.

Shortly after Tseng began teaching at Hope, the campus began receiving an influx of international students from China. “At first these were not degree-seeking students,” Tseng recalls. “They were graduate students funded by the John Templeton Foundation at Calvin College that funneled some of their students to the Hope philosophy department. That’s when I started having connections with people from China, and because I lived across the street from Centennial Park close to campus they would come to my house for meals and company.”

Those dinnertime conversations apparently made an impact. “When I moved into a tenure-track position there was a fund to support summer research,” Tseng says, “and for some reason I didn’t go back to Paris. I went to Shanghai. And you know, to this day I still wonder why. It must have been the Lord, putting desires in our hearts.”

The student interaction, remembering Father Lebbe — it all seemed to coalesce when she came across a book that was a directory of the holdings of the Shanghai Municipal Archives. “It specifically focused on their Christian Chinese language publications from the interwar years,” she recalls. “It was Chinese Christians who published these materials, and the municipal archives had tons of such journals. That just made me curious.”

So much so that Tseng developed a course at Hope called “Christianity in China: Negotiating Faith and Culture” and is conducting research for a book with the working title The Search for a Chinese Church: Protestantism in Twentieth-century China.

“I come from a Chinese Christian family, so I had heard of some of the Chinese preachers who were instrumental in the shaping of the Chinese church. . . For me, this has been sort of a spiritual journey, because I have been studying on an academic level my own spiritual heritage that my family is a part of.”

“When I went to China for the first time, I spoke Chinese, I looked Chinese, but it still was very foreign to me,” she says. “And the Shanghai Municipal Archives are state-of-the-art, but the archivists were very rude! But what I knew was, this was a treasure trove. There is so much there — volumes and volumes of different journals and archives of Christian colleges founded by missionaries — that I thought, ‘I could spend my whole life doing this, seriously.’”

Tseng’s academic transformation has resulted in new directions on multiple levels. “As I pursued this, my advisor from my college days, who was a great mentor, kept encouraging me,” she says. “He said, ‘A lot of what’s written about the church is hagiographical. You can do something scholarly on this, and it will have value.’ So that’s how I’ve taught on this topic.

“Even the project itself has undergone a big evolution. Initially I was going to make it a monograph on the modernist and fundamentalist controversy in the Chinese church in the 1920s and ’30s, because at that time the China mission field was influenced by what was going on in the Western church. But then I realized that what I’m actually more interested in is the evolution of the Chinese church and how the faith became Chinese, how it became indigenized.”

And on a personal level, “I think I was just drawn to it,” says Tseng. “I come from a Chinese Christian family, so I had heard of some of the Chinese preachers who were instrumental in the shaping of the Chinese church, men like Wang Ming-Dao — but we never studied them, never read any biographies or sermons. For me, this has been sort of a spiritual journey, because I have been studying on an academic level my own spiritual heritage that my family is a part of.”

The present-day state of Christianity in China “is very complex,” Tseng observes. “For much of the 20th century Christianity was associated with Western military power. All Western denominations were absorbed into the Three-Self Church (self-governance, self-support, self-propagation), which began as a patriotic movement among Chinese after the Communist takeover of China. To this day, the government-sanctioned church is called the Three-Self Church. If you go into a Three-Self Church today they are filled to the brim. Once I witnessed more than 100 baptisms in one service, so the spiritual hunger is quite palpable. There’s no official persecution, because the Chinese government does not say churches cannot exist. Yet a couple of years ago, the government was tearing down crosses on church buildings because the government said the buildings were not up to code. There are Chinese pastors in jail, but usually they are pastors who are also involved with advocating for a civil society or a rights defense.

“So, is there persecution for Christianity in China?” Tseng asks, and then answers. “Yes, but it comes in very subtle forms. There is reason to be cautious.”

The Good that Grows from Gratitude

Over 20 centuries ago, the great Roman statesman Cicero uttered a now-popular maxim:

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”

It is a saying that is still relevant today.

Dr. Charlotte VanOyen-Witvliet, professor of psychology, chair of the department, and a researcher of embodied virtue (e.g., forgiveness, gratitude, hope, accountability) believes so anyway. Her volume of work, as well as a recently completed study on gratitude, happiness and hope (see end note), confirms that “many good things grow when with gratitude we identify givers, gifts, and our identity as recipients. Gratitude is a space of abundance when it comes to happiness and hope,” she says.

What are some of those “many good things” to which Witvliet refers? In this week of thanksgiving, here are five insights that Witvliet offers about gratitude.

1. Gratitude is honest.

“We’re merely telling the truth when we express gratitude,” says Witvliet. “When we recognize that we are recipients of good and gracious gifts from givers and from the Giver, we are simply being honest about the blessings in our lives.”

2. Gratitude fits in good times and bad times.

“While gratitude allows us to tell the truth about uniformly good situations, it also helps us tell more of the truth, not less, in times of suffering and struggle. With a benefit-focused approach, we can identify lessons learned in hardship, strengths shown in facing difficulty, and relational supports that were present in those times. So even though we aren’t grateful for all things, we can aspire to give thanks in all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18)”

3. Gratitude is contented.

“In our consumerist culture that seeks to develop lists of what we want, gratitude cultivates the ability to want the good we already have. It facilitates a fullness and a flourishing for individuals in relationship to other people and to God.”

4. Gratitude is healthful.

“Research ties appreciation to cardiovascular regulation. Similarly, when people acknowledge benefits even in a negative situation, their heart rate variability increases, indicating a healthier heart response, emotion regulation, and cognitive flexibility.”

5. Gratitude can connect us to givers across time and space.

“When we think about who we’re grateful to, we can usually find givers behind the immediate giver…givers behind givers behind givers. So, there’s a way in which our awareness of givers connects us over generations and across space. And for believers, we see that behind every giver is the ultimate Giver, the God of grace with the ultimate gift — Jesus Christ. In the end, it is all about hope after all.”

—

As the lead investigator in a two-study assessment of states and traits, Witvliet — along with Hope’s Dr. Lindsey Root Luna, Dr. Daryl VanTongeren and alum Fallon Richie ’18 (now a P.hD. student in clinical psychology at UNC-Charlotte) — asked “Does gratitude outperform other virtues in predicting hope and happiness? Answer: Yes! Also, are there particular exercises that people can engage in that are gratitude-oriented that specifically fuel present states of happiness and hopes? Answer: Yes! Their findings that engaging in gratitude led to increased hope and happiness were published in the Journal of Positive Psychology.

Trying to Read What was Written

The Bigger Picture

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