The United States has taken a solid lead in the number of total medals but still trails China in gold. Some have noted that the US is not dominating the Tokyo games the way they did in Rio and London. Heat and humidity have played a hand in many competitions and like everything else in 2020 pandemic protocols have created additional stress factors. There are some high points for the US at these games. Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky won gold and set records in the pool and Molly Seidel took bronze in women’s marathon. That’s the first medal in that event for the US since 2004. There’s still a lot to watch as many events will final today. There will be televised events throughout the day on NBC with Track & Field finals (several events for men and women) scheduled tonight at 8 PM. The United States will face Spain in the women’s water polo final in prime time, US vs. Japan in the women’s basketball final at 10:30 PM, women’s volleyball final US vs. Brazil at 1:30 AM. Closing ceremonies air Sunday evening.

UPDATE: Allyson Felix becomes the most decorate Olympian in Track & Field history with 11 medals!

You might remember feeding quarters to Pac-Man in the early 80’s and still never have seen one of the machines pictured above. The casino table style machines never caught on like the upright models and if you see one today, like the Pac-Man table seen here, it has probably been salvaged and restored. Players sit across from each other and when it’s your turn the screen flips so you see everything upright from your side of the table. I never played at one of these until I was in college but I certainly had a habit of feeding quarters to Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Pole Position and Centipede back in the day. While I didn’t receive a weekly allowance I did get paid for grades – $1 for each A and $0.50 for B’s – every six weeks. All A’s paid out double so that was a whopping 12 bucks! I would all of that into quarters and spend it on Dig Dug.

Trust me on the sunscreen. Those were words of wisdom from Baz Luhrmann to the class of 1997. You’ve probably heard that you should wear sunscreen even when the sky is overcast; clouds block the visible spectrum of sunlight but not ultraviolet rays, particularly UV-B. The recommendation is now to wear sunscreen on your face everyday, year round. Not just if you are going to the beach or working the yard in the summer; just 10 minutes outside exposes your face to potential UV damage during every season of the year, whether or not you are in direct sunlight. There are now skincare products that include SPF (sun protection factor) or you can add sunscreen to whatever cream or lotion you may already be using. What do the SPF numbers really mean? Possibly not what you think. SPF 30 repels 97% of UV rays. SPF 50 repels 98% while SPF 100 blocks 99% What appears to be extremely high SPF ratings cost more but provide only miniscule levels of increased potency. But sure to buy a product that provides broad spectrum UV protection which means UV-A and B.

It’s printed like a logo on a t-shirt and the model is smiling but it could be quite a condemnation if you stop and think about the words and what they mean. Whether you’re replying in a comment thread on social media or grumbling about border crossings on the evening news, just remember that the people you are talking about are also made in God’s image. I’ve seen some theological debates on Facebook and Twitter get very unchristlike with people identifying as Christian fling insults and go for jabs below the belt. The original post may be addressing racism, immigration or homophobia but if we as believers can’t even treat each other right how are showing Christ to the rest of the world? Everybody is kind of on edge right now. Between the pandemic lock-downs and tensions over masking, vaccinations and a new school year beginning, nerves are shot and tempers are hot. We have to work harder than usual to be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath. Loving people when they are lovely, getting along peaceably with those that look and think and act like us, Jesus would say even the Pharisees do that.

It’s not just wait staff. There is a truck driver shortage. You see the “Now Hiring” signs and think every place in the world is hiring right now. No, they want to be hiring, they wish they were hiring, but to actually hire applicants have to show up. One manager told me that if he schedules eight interviews only four of them show up. You hire those four and only two show up on the first day. That’s the world we live in right now. They’ve tried to hire me two or three times at our local Dollar General when I went in just to shop. Be patient. We’ll get through this, eventually. Or Jesus will come back, either way.

That’s about it for this week folks. Enjoy the informative video below from Tom Scott. You may remember him from the “Hill Hill Hill Hill” video a few months back. It’s kind of disconcerting if you don’t know what’s going on so let me tip you off. This video is made like a music video even though it isn’t. You learn something about how music videos are made but it doesn’t work in other contexts.