wnknisely

wnknisely, 3 months ago to random

Rewilding the church yards

‘Places of the living’: bishop of Norwich calls for churchyards to be rewilded | Anglicanism | The Guardian: Graham Usher, the Bishop of Norwich: “My dream is that churchyards will be places of the living, not just the dead.” A paper submitted to the synod meeting in London says there is “noticeable biodiversity potential” within churchyards. However, it adds, “these places carry significance for the communities that surround them … Their…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/02/11/rewilding-the-church-yards/

wnknisely, 3 months ago to random

How do we see learn to help other people shine with the bright light of God’s love for them?

In David Brooks new book "How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen” he speaks about the process of illumination - how someone can so totally see another person so that the viewer glimpses the light that shines within the one at whom they are gazing. He talks too about people who are naturally, or who have learned to be, “illuminators” who, by…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/02/10/how-do-we-see-learn-to-help-other-people-shine-with-the-bright-light-of-gods-love-for-them/

wnknisely, 3 months ago to random

The Hidden Messiah who is present in our lives, but not easily seen – even today.

The motif of the secret or hidden Messiah in Mark’s Gospel reminds us that ofttimes God obscures the truth from us. God is present, all around us at every moment, constantly speaking to us but is not easily seen or heard. Jesus says again and again: let those with eyes see, let those with ears hear. What he means is that, if you’re prepared and trained, you can see God all around us, all…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/02/03/the-hidden-messiah-who-is-present-in-our-lives-but-not-easily-seen-even-today/

wnknisely, 3 months ago to random

Simple Biblical Truth?

Over the years, as I’ve studied the conversation between Science and Theology, it’s been clear that whatever perceived divide there is between the two, the width of that divide varies regionally. And in my experience one form of Applied Philosophy (either Science or Theology) is privileged in the US over the other depending which side the region was on during the Civil War.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/02/01/simple-biblical-truth/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Love one another and put each other first in your lives

The Church in Corinth, founded by St. Paul and comprised of mostly Gentile believers, was deeply divided over many things. One of the things that they struggled with was how much they should separate themselves from the culture around them, from which many had come. Should they keep themselves totally pure and strive not to break a rule or violate a tradition of the community that they were joining, or should they…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/27/love-one-another-and-put-each-other-first-in-your-lives/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Church Attendence in American is reverting to the norm, not declining

The Canon to the Ordinary here Rhode Island, the Rev. Canon Dr. Dena Cleaver-Bartholemew pointed me to this post on Threads: @marlena.graves • Threads: From my dissertation, "Kevin Kruse judiciously points out that in 1850 church attendance was a mere 16 percent and that in 1900 church attendance was at 36 percent. It was only at the end of the 1950s that church attendance skyrocketed to 69 percent…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/21/church-attendence-in-american-is-reverting-to-the-norm-not-declining/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

God sees and plans in ways we can’t always appreciate

I chose to preach on the Hebrew Scriptures assigned for this week rather than on the Gospel. The Gospel from St. Mark tells of the call of Peter, James and John as Jesus’ disciples. But the other lesson, taken from the story of Jonah, tells of the reluctance that Jonah had in answering God’s call to go and preach repentance and reconciliation to his mortal enemies the Assyrians living in Nineveh.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/20/god-sees-and-plans-in-ways-we-cant-always-appreciate/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Presiding Bishop recovering at home after today’s medical procedure

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry home following medical procedure – The Episcopal Church: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry underwent a procedure earlier today to address his reoccurring subdural hematomas. That procedure was successful, and he is now home from the hospital where he will continue his recovery. There was communication yesterday from the Presiding Bishop’s Office that the PB was going to have…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/18/presiding-bishop-recovering-at-home-after-todays-medical-procedure/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Thurman’s insights that informed the Civil Rights Era

Howard Thurman, sometimes described as America’s leading 20th century Theologian and Philosopher wrote Jesus and the Disinherited (1949) that had an immense influence on the thinking of the architects of the Civil Rights movement of the 1950’s and 60’s. To my mind it’s the reason that the movement had the success it had - it was firmly grounded in the realistic understanding of human nature that is part of the New…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/17/thurmans-insights-that-informed-the-civil-rights-era/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Office of Gun Violence Prevention

Office of Gun Violence Prevention | The White House: The Biden-Harris Administration has worked to implement the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, the most significant gun violence prevention legislation in nearly 30 years. This legislation is already saving lives by keeping guns out of the hands of individuals under 21 who are prohibited from purchasing firearms, empowering the Justice Department with new authorities to prosecute…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/15/office-of-gun-violence-prevention/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Untitled

So this might be useful. I've installed a plugin that lets me use my blog as its own Mastodon instance. I'll have to play a bit with it, but this combined with a few other instance might make it so that I can have a much more unified presence on Fediverse. (And people can follow me directly then by using @wnknisely from whatever ActivityPub hub they're using.)

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/14/4609/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Show people Jesus, don’t just tell them about him.

The Gospel this week contains the first questioning of Jesus’ identity in St. John’s Gospel. It’s instructive to see how the first disciples respond. They don’t argue, they show. “Come and see.” There is no need to prove who Jesus is, Jesus himself is the demonstration. We don’t need to argue people into the Kingdom of God, we just need to show them the Kingdom of God.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/13/show-people-jesus-dont-just-tell-them-about-him/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Back and forth

I came across this quote a while ago and I’ve been thinking about it lately. It’s from MacCulloch’s magisterial history of Christianity. First, it’s not a claim I’ve heard before. I have heard that parables do appear in early rabbinic literature, but this says that parables appeared in the Gospels as a literary form before they started to show up in other writings.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/13/back-and-forth/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

New giant structures detected in the sky.

Newly discovered cosmic megastructure challenges theories of the universe | Space | The Guardian: Astronomers have discovered a ring-shaped cosmic megastructure, the proportions of which challenge existing theories of the universe. The so-called Big Ring has a diameter of about 1.3bn light years, making it among the largest structures ever observed. At more than 9bn light years from Earth, it is too faint to see directly, but…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/12/new-giant-structures-detected-in-the-sky/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Speak of coming failure, not success?

The failure of Anglican managerialism | Gerry Lynch | The Critic Magazine: High Modernism in its post-War heyday was marked by strong confidence in scientific, technological, and moral progress; deference to expertise and technique — or the verisimilitude of them; faith that humanity could master nature — including human nature; and a disregard for local variation, and inherited organically-developed concepts and structures.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/11/speak-of-coming-failure-not-success/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

What is the presenting problem in the Gospel?

It is hard to separate art from the context in which it is created. It’s hard to understand great insights and leaps of imagination if you can’t inhabit the world-view of the thinker who is making them. And that’s true for the books of the Bible as well. I believe the lessons that Jesus teaches are timeless, but they are timeless, in large part, because they explain and illuminate things that are common to all human…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/10/what-is-the-presenting-problem-in-the-gospel/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Multiple results point to Modified Newtonian Gravity

Study of wide binary stars reveals new evidence for modified gravity at low acceleration: Chae concludes, "At least three independent quantitative analyses by two independent groups reveal essentially the same gravitational anomaly. The gravitational anomaly is real, and a new scientific paradigm shift is on its way." The observed gravitational anomaly is remarkably well consistent with the MOND-type (Milgromian)…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/10/multiple-results-point-to-modified-newtonian-gravity/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Why declare cows sacred?

Cattle in The Earliest European Cities Weren't Bred as Food : ScienceAlert: Between 4200 and 3650 BCE, animals domesticated by Trypillia societies were prized largely for their poop, not their flesh, according to Schlütz and his team. An analysis of nitrogen isotopes in teeth, bones, and soil from the remains of Tryphillia societies suggests that early farmers in Europe were mostly consuming peas, lentils, and cereal grains, like barley.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/07/why-declare-cows-sacred/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

God choses to be present and manifest in the everyday moments of our lives

This mismatch between the setting we think God should use, and the setting that God does use, when God is particularly manifest, like in the Great Theophany of Jesus’ Baptism, is important and needs to be kept constantly in mind. Let’s imagine, shall we, that God hasn’t changed that preference in the years since the biblical accounts were written. We should thus still expect to see God, not in…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/06/god-choses-to-be-present-and-manifest-in-the-everyday-moments-of-our-lives/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Please pray for PB Curry and for the medical team this morning.

Presiding Bishop Michael Curry re-hospitalized, undergoing surgery – The Episcopal Church: Presiding Bishop Michael Curry has been diagnosed with a reoccurrence of the subdural hematoma he experienced in early December of 2023. He will be undergoing surgery this morning to treat this issue, and updates on his health will be provided as they become available. Please be in prayer for Bishop Curry, his…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/06/please-pray-for-pb-curry-and-for-the-medical-team-this-morning/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

The Overview Effect by Thersa Kale

I was delighted to receive this original poem written by Theresa Kale in an email this afternoon as a response to the posts and sermons about our human place in the Universe and our relationship to it and each other: The Overview Effect Their brightness was measured:they must be rational, logicalnot subject to raptures certainly not visions. They must be…

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/04/the-overview-effect-by-thersa-kale/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Are we really special after all? Or are we a zoo exhibit?

After all of This Time Searching for Aliens, Are We Stuck With The Zoo Hypothesis? - Universe Today: [D]espite decades of observation and SETI surveys, there is still no definitive evidence that advanced extraterrestrial civilizations are out there. For the most part, these have consisted of radio SETI experiments that have observed distant stars and galaxies for indications of radio transmissions.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/03/are-we-really-special-after-all-or-are-we-a-zoo-exhibit/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

The music of the webs

Scientists Translated Spiderwebs Into Music, And It's Absoutely Stunning : ScienceAlert: A few years ago, scientists translated the three-dimensional structure of a spider's web into music, working with artist Tomás Saraceno to create an interactive musical instrument, titled Spider's Canvas. In 2021, the team refined and built on that previous work, adding an interactive virtual reality component to allow people to enter and interact with the web.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/02/the-music-of-the-webs/

wnknisely, 4 months ago to random

Some plans for this site for 2024

I’ve been thinking for a while about being more intentional about how best to share things I find online and randome thoughts and ideas that occur to me. Years ago I used this blog for that sort of thing. Then I started working on Episcopal Café and that became my default place to post. Then came Social Media and especially Twitter.

https://entangledstates.org/2024/01/02/some-plans-for-this-site-for-2024/

wnknisely, 5 months ago to random

Elon Musk, X and the Problem of Misinformation in an Era Without Trust – The New York Times

Elon Musk, X and the Problem of Misinformation in an Era Without Trust - The New York Times: (gift link) A more clarifying take on trust is laid out by Chris Hayes in “Twilight of the Elites: America After Meritocracy,” a book that was published in 2012 and turned out to be extraordinarily prescient. In it, Hayes describes how elite malfeasance — the forever wars after 9/11; the…

https://entangledstates.org/2023/12/31/elon-musk-x-and-the-problem-of-misinformation-in-an-era-without-trust-the-new-york-times/