I should report that I just got a reply from a WP representative after I sent an email complaing about this new way to post things, and he very kindly  and quickly replied with some helpful information that I want to pass along tonight:

I asked: How can you you justify your text now?

You can do this using the Justify tool. You can find the instructions on this URL:

https://en.support.wordpress.com/visual-editor/#row-2

I asked: Is there no way now to get a word count of our posts?

Unfortunately, there isn’t, Natalie, unless you use the old Editor. Like in here:

https://sacredtouches.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=14598&action=edit

So with that answer, it turns out that we can actually still use the old Editor to put up our posts. When you click on that link, make sure you click the word “visual” first at the top before starting your message. Happy posting, my friends. It appears goodness still exists in this troubling world. 🙂 ❤