Trivial Pursuit

Dearest Rachel –

I suppose I should have written you about this last Saturday, as opposed to waiting until now. Still, do I get partial credit for bringing it up at all, despite this being so late? It is significant, as it’s the first time all six of us had been able to get together this year (and yes, it’s true, at this point the year isn’t even three weeks old, but still… you remember when we could assemble nearly every week, possibly due to your own force of will).

Moreover – and this is kind of wild – this took place a.) at a church, and b.) at Ellen’s suggestion. Granted, it’s not a church-type activity per se – it was a trivia night social; perfectly suited for the environment, but obviously having nothing particularly spiritual about it, aside from one set of ten rounds of questions having to do with the subject matter (one of several of which we, as a group, managed to ace, by the way – although I suspect you would have been disappointed in at least several of us had we not been able to do so).

As for how Ellen found out about this, well… this is probably the sort of thing she would write a letter about, but as she takes her own sweet time putting them together, I figure I can put my take on it, and ask her to correct it if I get anything egregiously wrong. Bear in mind that this isn’t the church her mom attempted to attend when she was moved up here – this is a Lutheran church, and Sylvia was Presbyterian. As best I hear tell, when Ellen had her set up a bank account upon moving to the area, the bank branch had some ties to this place, and advertised upcoming social events happening there. This one got Ellen’s attention – especially since the girls, in particular, really do share your love of “fun & games,” even if not quite to the same extent as yourself.

(Incidentally, when the idea was first broached in the general group chat, Kerstin used that very expression – “fun & games,” complete with the ampersand and the quotation marks. If I didn’t know better, I’d wonder about why the quote marks were there; they give off a vibe in which the phrases ought to be followed by a wink and a nudge, for some reason. Of course, I realize she’s being perfectly serious in the pursuit of fun, and the quote marks don’t mean anything untoward – in summary, it’s not her, it’s me. But you would at least hear me out, see where I’m coming from on this, and maybe even snicker yourself, once you thought about it. I know you recall the phrase “but first, a bit of fun” we co-opted from Monty Python back in the day, and I certainly need say no more than that on the subject)

As usual, though, even though we dawdled a bit beforehand (to the point of the boys completely forgetting about getting some form of lunch or dinner beforehand, while I polished off the last of the soup from when the girls hung out here shortly before New Year’s – it seemed appropriate, given what we were about to do), the three of us guys were the first to make it there, and quickly discovered that, like Daniel and I on our cruise around Japan, we were among the youngest ones there. Certainly the boys had a distant lead on everyone else in terms of youth, and apart from the pastor hosting the event, I might very well have been in third place – at least, until the girls showed up, promptly dropping me to fifth. At least they made it before the questions were posed.

Anyway, that cruise ship reference (and our specific experience on one of them a couple of years ago) is particularly apt, considering that this event is not unlike one of the social activities one might find while cruising (although usually, each such event would last but a single round and cover between twenty and twenty-five questions; here, by contrast, there were ten rounds of ten questions each, so it was considerably more in-depth than all that). At the same time, it’s not been all that long ago that one or another sermon series we’ve had suggested that some people see the church as a cruise ship; a place of spiritual rest and refreshment, with plenty of socializing thrown into the bargain. The problem is, reality (and opposition, both seen and unseen) demands that the church function more as a battleship, and too many churches aren’t so kitted out for the warfare they’re thrust into. Big as it may be, the Wonder of the Seas (just to name one at random) would be hard-pressed if thrust into battle, and so are many churches; as Aragorn put it, “open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not.”

Still, it’s not for me to condemn a little bit of fun and socializing, especially when it brings folks into their doors that might not otherwise do so. Granted, most of our group is committed elsewhere, and those that aren’t have their own forms of worship (and if you want to debate with me on that point, honey, please drop by; I’m not going to discuss it here and now). Meanwhile there were plenty of other people at this event, and it’s possible these one-time visitors will become regular attenders, for all I know.

But that’s the thing; I don’t really know.

What I did know were enough of the topics to get by; and where I didn’t, one of the others could fill in just as well – Logan, in particular, ran the table for the Marvel Cinematic Universe topic single-handedly. As a result, we wound up in second place among all the teams once the everything was said and done.

It’s been a rare thing for us to get together over something other than a dining table; moreover, there was a lot more conversation as well, as we tried to answer all the questions posed to the best of our ability. We didn’t come in first, but we were close enough (and some of the topics were ‘out there’ enough that one couldn’t expect us to necessarily do well) to keep my normal competitive edge in check. Apart from having to leave at a late hour in frigid conditions, it was a lot of fun. You certainly would have enjoyed it – and maybe, you could have pushed us over the top. Either way, I figured you ought to have heard about it… at least, before it happens again (or I forget how this one went, which is just as likely)

In any event, this weekend is probably going to be much quieter than that, and with its own issues, as you might be able to calculate. For now, though, keep an eye on me, honey, and wish me luck; I’m going to need it, even if I don’t have a bunch of trivia questions to answer any time soon.