What a Wonderful Worldle

A Guest Newsletter Post from Susan Kiser

Nope, that’s not a typo. A few weeks ago, a friend introduced me to Wordle, an online app puzzle that presents the shape of a country to be identified in six guesses (or fewer). Incorrect guesses are followed by hints giving distance and direction of the country based on the guess. I didn’t really like the app at first, because I wasn’t very good at it. But out of stubbornness I kept on playing. Then I became addicted! Now, every morning I look forward to the country of the day. (I also have a system involving an online map that dramatically increased my success. A final correct guess also gives links to learn about the country and its people.

I realized that I knew so little of the incredible diversity variety of the countries and peoples of our world. It is so easy to live in my own world of familiarity and relative comfort, not thinking about the way lives are lived in so many places and cultures. Worldle, as trivial as it may be, has made me aware of countries and people I’d never heard of, much less knew anything about. Thinking of these many places and cultures, I am reminded of these words of one of my favorite hymns, #437 in our hymnal,

“This Is My Song:” (words by Lloyd Stone, 1934)

“This is my song, O God of all the nations,
a song of peace for lands afar and mine.
This is my home, the country where my heart is,
here are my hopes, my dreams, my holy shrine,
but other hearts in other lands are beating
with hopes and dreams as true and high as mine.

My country’s skies are bluer than the ocean, and sunlight beams on cloverleaf and pine; but other lands have sunlight too, and clover, and skies are everywhere as blue as mine.

O hear my song, God of all the nations,
a song of peace for their land and for mine.”

Louis Armstrong’s song, “What a Wonderful World”, got it right!