Sunday, March 31, 2013

Happy Easter

An Empty Tomb

About two millennia back, Peter checked out a crazy-sounding report. Accounts of the incident, recorded long after the event, don't quite match up in their details.

I'm not surprised that Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John tell about discovering an empty tomb differently.

We're looking at events witnessed by several people, and told from four different viewpoints.

Those witnesses had endured several very stressful days. What happened was literally incredible. And they weren't Americans writing a police report.

Under the circumstances, I'd be astonished if the Gospel accounts were as tidy as an episode from the old Dragnet series.

Dead - - -

Jesus was publicly executed in a place so cosmopolitan that the notice was in three languages: Hebrew, Latin, and Greek.1

Eyewitnesses included professional soldiers, who had been ordered to speed up the executions.2
"So the soldiers came and broke the legs of the first and then of the other one who was crucified with Jesus.

"But when they came to Jesus and saw that he was already dead, they did not break his legs,

"but one soldier thrust his lance into his side, and immediately blood and water flowed out."
(John 19:32-34)
I'm confident that the soldiers knew death when they saw it.

Blood and water flowing out of my Lord's body may be another indication that Jesus was sincerely dead. I've heard that piercing a dead body can release fluids from cavities surrounding the heart and lungs, as well as blood. That may be why the Gospel of John emphasizes it.

- - - And Buried

Joseph of Arimathea and Nicodemus "...took the body of Jesus and bound it with burial cloths along with the spices, according to the Jewish burial custom." (John 19:38-40)

They had every reason to believe that Jesus was dead. They may have witnessed the execution themselves, had official confirmation of the death, and were in possession of a tortured, crucified, and pierced, corpse.

When they were done, they put the body in a new tomb, chosen because it was nearby. Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Joses stayed there, at least for a while.3

Jesus was dead, buried in a tomb prepared for someone else. The sun set, time passed, and Jesus stopped being dead.

Resurrection and Standing Orders

It took several meetings and demonstrations, but Jesus eventually convinced the surviving apostles that they weren't seeing a ghost.

They realized that they'd walked, talked, and shared meals with God, the Word made flesh, Judge and Savior: Jesus, who had been killed but didn't stay dead.

Quite a lot has happened since that first Easter. Kingdoms, dynasties, and empires rose and fell. Astrolabes gave way to the GPS. But our standing orders haven't changed:
"11 Then Jesus approached and said to them, 'All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me.

"Go, therefore, 12 and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit,

"teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. 13 And behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age.' "
(Matthew 28:18-20)
And that's another topic.

Background:
Related posts:

1 (John 19:20)2
The Crucifixion happened after the Passover feast, the next Sabbath was a particularly solemn one, and local authorities didn't want bodies hanging around.

3 (Matthew 27:59-61; Mark 15:46-47; Luke 23:53-56; John 19:38-42)

Friday, March 29, 2013

Heartbeats, Law, and Life

Quite a bit happened this week: faster passenger service to the International Space Station; Francis I visiting a prison; and a Brazilian doctor charged with freeing up intensive care unit beds by killing patients.

I picked news a little closer to home for this post:
  1. Life and North Dakota Law
  2. Marriage and Hope

Love and Neighbors

The rules are simple, if not easy:
That sort of love isn't just a fuzzy feeling. I have to think and act as if other folks matter.

Sometimes that means not letting a friend drive drunk, or not ignoring harmful behavior. I've posted about the occasionally-awkward aspects of love before:
Deciding to become a Catholic committed me to a particular set of beliefs, like:
  • Human life
    • Is sacred
      (Catechism, 2258)
    • Begins at conception
    • (Catechism, 2270, 2274)
  • Marriage is
    • A good idea
      (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601-1658)
    • A sacrament of the Church
      (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1601)
    • Ordered for the good of
      • Spouses
      • Children
      • Society
      (Catechism, 2201-2203, 2363)
    • The union of a man and a woman
      (Catechism, 1601-1608, 1614)
Now, my take on some of the week's news:

1. Life and North Dakota Law

"ND bishop praises new laws protecting unborn life"
CNA/EWTN News (March 28, 2013)

" Bishop David Kagan of Bismarck, N.D. praised the North Dakota legislature and governor for passing into law three pro-life bills that place stronger restrictions on abortion.

" 'The protection of all human life from the moment of conception to natural death is the primary purpose of government,' Bishop Kagan said March 26. 'All persons, including our elected officials, are obligated to unceasingly seek protection of this basic human right.'..."
Governments should protect all human life. That hasn't always happened, as demonstrated by some of the 20th century's higher-profile genocides:
America's wholesale destruction of unwanted people is a bit different from those state-sponsored efforts.

My native country's deplorable habit serves the personal desires of 'important' people, who have the right to kill folks who don't meet government standards.

What the North Dakota state government has done is an attempt to extend legal protection to those 'unimportant' citizens. I think it's a good idea: partly because the new measures protect defective people like me.

Controversial, But the Right Thing to Do

"...The bishop said he applauded members of the legislature who 'bravely supported measures to extend protections to unborn human life and to advance the health of women.'

"The new laws include bans on abortions performed after a fetal heartbeat is detectable and bans on abortions that target the unborn child on the basis of his or her sex or genetic abnormalities.

"Gov. Jack Dalrymple signed the three bills into law on Tuesday. He acknowledged that they could provoke controversies in constitutional law.

"He said it is uncertain whether the ban on post-heartbeat abortions will survive a court challenge. However, he said the bill is 'a legitimate attempt by a state legislature to discover the boundaries of Roe v. Wade.'..."
(CNA/EWTN News)
Having been used in a medical experiment encourages my interest in how the 'unfit' get treated. (February 3, 2009)

2. Marriage and Hope

"Thousands flood DC to stand up for marriage"
Adelaide Darling, CNA/EWTN News (March 27, 2013)

"Citing concerns for the well-being of children and respect for the democratic process, participants in the national March for Marriage in Washington, D.C., stressed the importance of marriage for society.

"Sara Barrios from New York City told CNA that without the biologically-based institution of marriage, the foundations of family and society 'will fall apart.'

"Without a man and a woman, 'it is impossible to have children,' Barrios added. 'Even same-sex couples have to go outside what they call a union, to get a child...."
I agree that marriage is important, and is the union of two people of opposite sex. The fellow who 'married' his pillow may have been sincere, and that's almost another topic. (August 7, 2010)

Needing a man and a woman, or at least their sperm and eggs, to have children may not be entirely true any more. Back when "The Clonus Horror" (1979) was made, cloning was more a matter of science fiction than public policy.

I'm mildly surprised that nobody's taken a step beyond the first cloned sheep (1993), and cloned a human being. We're a bit more complicated, physically, than sheep: but not by all that much.

Maybe researchers considered the public relations problem they might face, if their experiment started talking: or escaped.

Links to discussions of bioethical concerns about cloning humans, and related issues, are under "Background," at the end of this post.

Remembering Dred Scott v. Sandford

"...Protests both for and against a redefinition of marriage coincided with the start of oral arguments before the U.S. Supreme Court on March 26. The high court will rule this summer on two cases that could have drastic consequences for the way the nation understands marriage.

"Defenders of marriage argue that the state has no right to redefine an institution that precedes it and is rooted in nature and biology. Men and women naturally come together to create children, and marriage is designed to reflect this unique reality, they argue....

"...Organizers estimated well over 10,000 participants at the march, which was the first of its kind in the U.S...."
(Adelaide Darling, CNA/EWTN News)
I don't know what the Supreme Court will decide about marriage this year. Maybe, a half-century after those giddy days of Woodstock and the Warren, America's top judges will be sensible.

But if today's lot follow in the tradition of Dred Scott v. Sandford and the Hayes administration's approach to immigration: I will not be discouraged.

In my youth, it sometimes seemed that the folks who inspired songs like "Harper Valley PTA" and "Pleasant Valley Sunday" would never lose power: but they did.

Some of the societal corrections my generation worked for turned out fairly well. Others didn't. Respect for human life, and disordered views of human sexuality and family structures are some of today's issues.

I probably won't live long enough to see it happen, but I am confident that these issues will be resolved. I've seen natural law play out too many times, and that's yet another topic. (March 3, 2013)

Related posts:
Background

Sunday, March 24, 2013

"Love One Another"

Readings for March 24, 2013, Palm Sunday:

Second Sunday of Advent 2012

By Deacon Lawrence N. Kaas
March 24, 2013

Much has happened since father left us three months ago, but we'll leave that to him to tell us the stories. I suppose we can say that much has happened here as well as we with great joy welcome a new Pope by the name of Francis.

So I beg your patience as I start my homily today, the way in the past I have concluded: you all be Good, be Holy, preach the Gospel always and if necessary use words! As this little exchange becomes popular between you and me further explanation becomes necessary, in that we must know, who we are, who we represent, and that we love one another as God has loved us, in Christ Jesus.

This exchange is a reflection not onlyof pope Francis, but also St. Francis, who you will remember taking a young man out to preach the gospel on a particular day: returns to the abbey and the young man says to Francis but father we didn't do any preaching today and Frances answers, if necessary use words. And I would add, do all things in Love!

"Love one another. Love your neighbor as yourself." Ancient commandments. When these words are genuinely heard and obeyed, however, there is utter newness. New, revolutionary things begin to happen. Consider how new and even startling it is when, centuries after Leviticus, a man appeared in Palestine who loved his neighbors as himself. When the commandment was actually lived out, something so new happened that it threatened all those who had an investment in the status quo. The religious establishment in Jerusalem couldn't handle Jesus' radical obedience to the ancient commandment that they had known all their lives. The commandment to love was old, and as long as it stayed in print, OK. When it was embodied, it was something new, with awesome implications.

Before he was crucified, Jesus gave his disciples a renewed commandment. It was not merely, love one another. It was to love one another just as I have loved you. In Jesus, a higher kind of love was revealed. Divine Love transcends all forms of human loving. Jesus' love was like God's love, gracious, and self giving to the point of costly sacrifice. No one has greater love than this, he said, then to lay down one's life for one's friends. Then he demonstrated it on the cross.

From the feast of St. Mark, from last Thursday," go into the world and proclaim the gospel to every creature, hallelujah."

Pope Francis this past Wednesday, said, "Christians know they will be judged at the end of time on how they used the talents God has given them and how they served others especially the poor." He also admitted that we will always have the poor with us, he objected, however, when governments made people poor.

Being as how we belong to a church, that one of its basic tenants is a fundamental option for the poor, recalling this is important for our salvation. Pope Francis also spoke about the importance of using the talents God has given each person, and, in both Italian and Spanish, he urged young people to recognize their gifts and seek ways to use them to serve God, others and the whole world. And of course this is not only true for young people it is true for those of us getting on in age.

This past Monday I removed from the tabernacle 65 hosts and began my rounds, concluding about noon, and found I was even running short. I'm not asking for a pat on the back, I am simply doing what I must do. But the question came up at the nursing home why am I doing what I'm doing on Monday mornings, and finally, I said, for no other reason than that, I love you! But it also challenges us to see that these people that I see on Monday mornings are now classified as being poor among us. And you may ask how can I say that because most certainly some of these people are very wealthy. But it really isn't the point is it. When in our lifetime whether it is the unborn, whether it is the handicapped or the aged, being poor is far less to do with wealth than it does with the inability to care for oneself.

Pope Francis adds: "Faith is a gift and salvation is a grace," but in order to bear fruit, God's grace requires us to be open, to give a free and concrete response." And I would add, as we respond to the poorest among us.

So you all be Good, be Holy, preached the Gospel always and if necessary use words.

'Thank you' to Deacon Kaas, for letting me post his reflection here.

More reflections:
Related posts:

Palm Sunday: Technology, Symbols, Frond Folding, and My Family

It's Palm Sunday, when the parish church sprouts palm fronds.


Palm Sunday, Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.

They're imported, of course. You'll find palms in places like Florida, Louisiana, or the Bahamas: central Minnesota, not so much.

Folks in this area fold palm fronds into the shape of a cross while they're still green and pliable, then put them somewhere in the home where they'll be visible. We return them to the parish church as the next Lent approaches, where they're burned to make ashes for Ash Wednesday.

Actually, that's what we're supposed to do. I see that I missed the one hung near my desk. Writhing in guilt and anguish over that procedural lacuna would, I suppose, be an option. Instead, I plan to make a point of including the one I missed in next year's batch.


March 6, 2011.

Lanyards and a Video

My family folds our palm fronds a little differently. The sequence of folds is a technique used by cowboys to make lanyards. We use it because my father-in-law worked as a cowboy, and that's another topic. This video shows how we do it.

"Making a Cross from Four Palm Fronds"

Brian Gill, YouTube (April 1, 2012)
video, 4:27

St. Andrew's Cross, Palm Fronds, and Being Catholic

I enjoy remembering where we learned this technique. I also like the way it produces something like a St. Andrew's Cross. That's the saltire which showed up in Scotland's history about a thousand years after St. Andrew was executed on an X-shaped cross. Scotland's national flag is only about four centuries old, and that's yet another topic.

The video I embedded in this post doesn't show the 'right' way to fold palm fronds: it's the way my family makes our palm crosses.

There's a solid core of Catholic beliefs, and two millennia of accumulated customs from around the world. Catholics living in one place, like Sauk Centre, Minnesota, tend have similar habits - like our palm crosses, and a Lenten chaplet we learned about a few years ago.

But there isn't so much a global 'Catholic culture,' as a way to be Catholic in every culture: and for every individual.

I didn't decide to become a Catholic because here are about a billion ways to be Catholic, though: and that's another topic, too. (December 9, 2012)

Folding palm fronds can be fun, but the parish church doesn't provide take-home pieces of palms to encourage arts and crafts activities. We're remembering what happened when Jesus entered Jerusalem and got a royal welcome. (Mark 21:1-9 and John 12:12-15)

Technology and Symbols

Technology and cultures changed quite a bit over the last two thousand years. These days, we have to be reminded of what it means when a leader makes his entrance on a colt:
"...The animal chosen indicates that it was not a triumphal entry, but that of a king meek and humble of heart...."
(John Paul II (March, 23 1997)
These days, in America, I suppose a fairly close equivalent would be showing up in an airport limo: special, but not all that much.

Then there's what we read in Revelation 19:11:
"7 Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was (called) 'Faithful and True.' He judges and wages war in righteousness."
(Revelation 19:11)
The way I've described it to my kids is 'when Jesus came the first time, he was in a limo: next time, he'll be riding a tank.' There's more about the colt colt in John 12 and the warhorse in Revelation 19 in footnote 7 to John 12:15 and footnote 7 to Revelation 19:11.

I'm a Catholic, so I take Judgment Day very seriously, by the way. That's not even close to getting scared silly over the latest 'End Times Bible Prophecy,' and that's yet again another topic. Topics. (June 14, 2011; May 20, 2011)

Betrayal, Execution, and a Rock-Hewn Tomb

Luke 22:14 through 23:56 aren't particularly cheerful reading. Jesus is betrayed; Peter denies any involvement with the other apostles; my Lord is tortured, dies, and put in a new tomb. There wasn't even time for the usual preparation of the body. (Luke 23:55-56)

To this day, some folks don't believe what Mary Magdalene, Joanna, and Mary the mother of James, found when they returned to the tomb. Or, more to the point, what they didn't find. (Luke 24)

It apparently took several meetings and a working lunch with my Lord to convince the surviving 11 that Jesus had stopped being dead, and that's - what else? - another topic. (March 11, 2012)


Palm fronds at Our Lady of Angels church. April 1, 2012.

More:
Related posts:

Friday, March 22, 2013

DNA, Voyager 1, Habitable Worlds, and the Universe

Researchers have uncovered new data about the comparatively recent past: tens to hundreds of thousands of years ago. Others are learning about conditions in this universe, a little less 10 billion years before Earth existed.
  1. Humanity's Story: New Data
  2. Mapping this Universe
  3. Outward Bound
  4. Water, Water, Everywhere - - -

Assumptions, the Universe, and God

About 363 years ago, someone named Ussher decided that the universe was created on a particular date in 4004 B.C. At the time, it was an interesting bit of scholarship: and consistent with what folks knew about the world.

A third of a millennium later, some folks insist that Ussher must have been right because he used the Bible as a source for his calculations.

I'm willing to take the universe 'as is,' and not assume that God couldn't have decided to create something on a scale that's vast both in time and space.

Besides, the robot spaceships we've sent to explore other planets would have long since run into the dome mentioned in Genesis 1:6, if the accepted cosmological model of ages past were accurate.

There's also the matter of whether or not the sun goes around Earth. I've been over that before. (June 9, 2012; January 14, 2011)

I'm a Catholic, so I have to take the Bible seriously:
"WORD OF GOD: The entire content of Revelation as contained in the Holy Bible and proclaimed in the Church. In John's Gospel, God's 'Word' means his only-begotten Son, who is the fullness of God's Revelation and who took flesh (the Word incarnate) and became man for the sake of our salvation (65, 81, 101, 241, 461; cf. 2653)."
(Catechism of the Catholic Church, Glossary)

" 'Sacred Scripture is the speech of God as it is put down in writing under the breath of the Holy Spirit.'42 'And [Holy] Tradition transmits in its entirety the Word of God which has been entrusted to the apostles by Christ the Lord and the Holy Spirit. It transmits it to the successors of the apostles so that, enlightened by the Spirit of truth, they may faithfully preserve, expound, and spread it abroad by their preaching.'43"
(Catechism, 81)
But I'm also allowed to accept what we've learned since the 1600s:
  1. "Know what the Bible is - and what it isn't. The Bible is the story of God's relationship with the people he has called to himself. It is not intended to be read as history text, a science book, or a political manifesto. In the Bible, God teaches us the truths that we need for the sake of our salvation."
(USCCB, "Understanding the Bible")
I don't see a problem with seeking truth by studying the universe, and seeking God, because:
"...the things of the world

and the things of faith

derive from the same God...
"

(Catechism, 159)
I suspect that what we're learning about humanity's story in the uncounted ages since our beginning upsets more folks than the vastness of creation.

I'm okay with the idea that we didn't always look quite the way we do now. God could have created a universe that's small, young, and comparatively static. But evidence strongly indicates that this creation is in a "state of journeying."

1. Humanity's Story: New Data

" 'Out of Africa' Story Being Rewritten Again"
Tia Ghose, LiveScience (March 21, 2013)

"Our early human ancestors may have left Africa more recently than thought, between 62,000 and 95,000 years ago, suggests a new analysis of genetic material from fossil skeletons.

"The new findings are in line with earlier estimates, but contradict a more recent study that put humans' first exodus from Africa least 200,000 years ago.

"The new results 'agree with what we know from archaeology,' said study co-author Alissa Mittnik, a biologist at University of Tübingen, in Germany...."
The "our" in the lead paragraph refers to folks whose ancestors didn't head over the horizon a mere 62,000 years back, or 200,000 years ago, or whenever. I'm one of them, our appearance changed a bit, and that's another topic. Topics. (March 17, 2013; April 18, 2012)

The focus of the article is new data: and discussion of what it means. At this point, it looks like assumptions about humanity's genes need to be re-evaluated.

That's no surprise, at least for me. It's only been a few centuries since we realized how old Earth was, and how long we'd been around before folks invented writing.

Mutation Rates, Chimps, and Me

"... Exactly when the first humans emerged from Africa to colonize the world has been a topic of heated debate. [Photos: Our Closest Human Ancestor]

"All of the estimates hinge on one number: the gene mutation rates. By knowing how often genes change, and then counting up the number of genetic differences between different species or groups of people, scientists can create a 'molecular clock' to decipher how long ago they shared a common ancestor.

"Early studies used genetic differences in mitochondrial DNA - genetic material inside the cells' energy-making structures that gets passed on from mother to child - between chimpanzees and humans.

"But since that technique is based on the number of mutations divided by the time since the two shared a common ancestor, it requires an estimate of when the common ancestor of chimpanzees and humans lived...."
(Tia Ghose, LiveScience)
I've been to zoos often enough to notice that humans, chimps, orangutangs, and gorillas aren't the same species.

On the other hand, I've also noticed that differences between us and chimpanzees aren't all that dramatic. We've got shorter arms and longer legs, shorter hair on our bodies but much longer hair on our heads, and our brains are a lot bigger.

We're also the ones that learned how to use fire, make cloth: and recently started building robots and producing reality television shows.

I'm not upset that about 99% of my DNA is the same as what's in a chimp's genetic coding. As I've said before, I'm willing to take the universe 'as is.'

DNA, Interchangeable Parts, and Predictable Reactions

Cellular machinery that makes life work here on Earth is surprisingly interchangeable.

I think that's great, since it means that we're now able to improve domesticated plants and animals much more rapidly and precisely.

New ideas, or improvements on old ones, get a predictable sort of reception, though. In recent years we've been seeing a repeat of the sort of fuss that greeted fluoridated water, bar codes and cell phones.

Come to think of it, interchangable parts and mass production upset some folks. (April 7, 2011)

I've posted about that before, fairly often. (this blog (January 27, 2013); Apathetic Lemming of the North (October 31, 2011); Drifting at the Edge of Time and Space (October 29, 2009)

Being able to do something doesn't necessarily make it right: or prudent. I've harangued about that, too. (February 10, 2013)

2. Mapping this Universe

"Universe Older Than Thought, Best Space-Time Map Yet Reveals"
Clara Moskowitz, Space.com (March 21, 2013)

"The universe is 100 million years older than thought, according to the best-ever map of the oldest light in space.

"The adjustment brings the universe's age to 13.82 billion years, and means space and time are expanding slightly slower than scientists thought.

"These discoveries come from a new all-sky map of ancient cosmic light by Europe's Planck mission, which has measured what's called the cosmic microwave background in greater detail than ever before. ..."
Whether this universe is 13,820,000,000 or 13,720,000,000 years old won't make a difference in how much a loaf of bread costs: but it matters to folks who are learning how this marvelous creation works.

What Planck has been mapping is the cosmic microwave background, CMB: 'light' that shone just over a third of a million years after the Big Bang. The data fits pretty well with what's predicted by the Standard Model: the particle physics one, not the art exhibition in Stockholm.

It's nice when observed data agrees exactly with theoretical expectations. It's exciting when reality turns out to be something unexpected: which seems to be what's happening with the new CMB map.

On small scales, what Planck is 'seeing' matches what Standard Model theory says it should. On larger scales, not so much.

There's also an oddly-large 'cold spot:'


(from ESA and the Planck Collaboration, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
"This image unveiled March 21, 2013, shows the cosmic microwave background (CMB) as observed by the European Space Agency's Planck space observatory. The CMB is a snapshot of the oldest light in our Universe, imprinted on the sky when the Universe was just 380 000 years old. It shows tiny temperature fluctuations that correspond to regions of slightly different densities, representing the seeds of all future structure: the stars and galaxies of today...."


(from ESA and the Planck Collaboration, via Space.com, used w/o permission)
"Two Cosmic Microwave Background anomalies hinted at by the Planck observatory's predecessor, NASA's WMAP, are confirmed in new high-precision data revealed on March 21, 2013. In this image, the two anomalous regions have been enhanced with red and blue shading to make them more clearly visible...."

Good News from the Edge of the Universe

"...The disagreements with the Standard Model are actually good news to physicists, who know they need more than this theory alone to explain the whole of the universe anyway. For instance, the Standard Model does not include any explanation for dark matter or dark energy, the two largest constituents of the universe that so far remain mysterious...."
(Clara Moskowitz, Space.com)
There's also the possibility that evidence of collisions with other universes may be in the CBM: at or beyond the limits of what our instruments can detect: today.

And that's another yet topic.

3. Outward Bound


(SPL, via BBC News, used w/o permission)
"An artist's impression of Voyager 1 as it passes across the Milky Way"
"Voyager Solar System 'exit' debated"
Jonathan Amos, BBC News (March 20, 2013)

"The possibility that the Voyager-1 spacecraft may have left the Solar System is being hotly debated.

"Launched in September 1977, the probe was sent initially to study the outer planets, but then just kept on going.

"Researchers studying its data say the craft appears now to be in a realm of space beyond the influence of our Sun.

"But the US space agency (Nasa), which manages Voyager, says that it regards the probe as still being inside the Solar System.

"The mission is currently moving more than 18 billion km from Earth, or 123 times the distance between our planet and the Sun...."
What's being discussed is the heliopause, the surface where the region of space primarily influenced by our star ends and the region between stars in this galaxy starts. Voyager 1 may have crossed this boundary, or not:
"...[Voyager-1] has been detecting a rise in the number of high-energy particles, or cosmic rays, coming towards it from interstellar space, while at the same time recording a decline in the intensity of energetic particles coming from behind, from our Sun.

"A big change occurred on 25 August last year, which the GRL paper's authors say was like a 'heliocliff'.

" 'Within just a few days, the heliospheric intensity of trapped radiation decreased, and the cosmic ray intensity went up as you would expect if it exited the heliosphere,' explained Prof Bill Webber from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces...."
(Jonathan Amos, BBC News)
Data from Voyager-1 has somewhat more immediate practical importance than the CBM map. Folks are sending robot spaceships to more places in the Solar system: and a few of us are working in low Earth orbit. 'Weather' in space matters. (March 8, 2013)

"We've Never Been There Before...."

"Why Voyager 1's Solar System Exit Is So Hard to Predict"
Mike Wall, Space.com (March 21, 2013)

"NASA's Voyager 1 probe is tantalizingly close to the edge of the solar system, but predicting when it will finally pop free into interstellar space is a challenging proposition, mission team members say.

"Voyager 1 is plying new and exotic terrain at the limits of the sun's sphere of influence, and scientists simply don't know what to expect from these unexplored regions.

" 'We've never been there before,' said Voyager project manager Suzanne Dodd of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. 'That's what makes it very hard. It's not unlike the first explorers sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to the New World. They thought they might know what they would see, but they saw things that were quite a bit different.'..."
We need folks like Tennyson's Telemachus, "...centred [!] in the sphere / Of common duties, decent not to fail...." I think we also need folks like the poet's Ulysses:
"...And this gray spirit yearning in desire
To follow knowledge, like a sinking star,
Beyond the utmost bound of human thought...
"

"...for my purpose holds
To sail beyond the sunset, and the baths
Of all the western stars, until I die...
"
(Ulysses, Alfred, Lord Tennyson)

4. Water, Water, Everywhere - - -

"Oceans May Be Common on Rocky Alien Planets"
Mike Wall, Space.com (March 19, 2013)

"Every rocky planet likely develops a liquid-water ocean shortly after forming, suggesting that potentially habitable alien worlds may be common throughout the universe, a prominent scientist says.

"The building blocks of rocky planets contain more than enough water to seed oceans, and computer models and Earth's own history suggest such seas should slosh around soon after these worlds' surfaces have cooled down and solidified, said Lindy Elkins-Tanton of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C.

" 'Habitability is going to be much more common than we had previously thought,' Elkins-Tanton said today (March 18) during a talk at the 44th Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in The Woodlands, Texas...."
There's a big difference between "habitability" and "inhabited," as another article pointed out:
"Alien Life May Be Rare Across the Universe"
Miriam Kramer, Space.com (March 11, 2013)

"When it comes to life across the cosmos, the universe might just be an "awful waste of space" after all.

"A new theory presented at a conference this week would confirm the worry of Ellie Arroway, Jodie Foster's character in the film 'Contact,' that life might not exist on other worlds.

"Some scientists think that just because exoplanets could have habitable environments, that does not mean that life evolved there.

" 'The pervasive nature of life on Earth is leading us to make this assumption,' Charles Cockell, the director of the U.K. Center for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, said in a statement. 'On our planet, carbon leaches into most habitat space and provides energy for microorganisms to live. There are only a few vacant habitats that may persist for any length of time on Earth, but we cannot assume that this is the case on other planets.'..."
I don't 'believe in' extraterrestrial life, and I don' t think that there isn't life anywhere except here on Earth. As I said last week, we simply don't know whether we're alone in this universe, or whether life happens wherever conditions are right. (Apathetic Lemming of the North (March 8, 2013))

I'm certainly not going to say that there can't be other worlds besides Earth. I'm a Catholic, and wild claims like that have been against the rules since 1277.

If we're not the only place with life, we'll have wonderful opportunities to lean what's 'universal' for all living creatures: and what's unique to life here. If we meet matter-spirit hybrids like us, people, we'll learn even more.

If Earth is the only planet where life exists, it looks like the raw materials for terraforming worlds are as common as dirt. I think it's more likely that our descendants will opt for building smaller-scale habitats, at least at first: and that's yet again another topic.

Related posts:

Francis, Week Two: or, "Living Stones" aren't Squishy Rocks

Pope Francis has 'recycled' the motto he'd chosen as bishop, talked about Saint Joseph, and put World Youth Day 2013 on his schedule.

He also opened his papacy with a friendly gesture: a sort of 'papal hi.'

I'll be back in an hour or so, with something else: but figured this was enough for one post.
  1. A Recycled Motto, and Papal Symbols
    • Tuxedos, Casulae, and Regional Culture
    • 'Out of Step:' Two Millennia and Counting
    • Symbols, Authority, and History
    • 'Out of Step:' Two Millennia and Counting
    • Symbols and History
    • Authority, Nitwits, and Me
  2. Saint Joseph: Protector
    • "Living Stones," Squishy Rocks, and Getting a Grip
  3. World Youth Day and Continuity

1. A Recycled Motto, and Papal Symbols

"Pope Francis : 'Miserando atque eligendo'..."
Vatican Radio. via NEWS.va (March 19, 2013)

"Pope Francis has chosen the motto 'Miserando atque eligendo', meaning lowly but chosen; literally in Latin 'by having mercy, by choosing him'.

"The motto is one the Pope had already chosen as Bishop. It is taken from the homilies of the Venerable Bede on Saint Matthew's Gospel relating to his vocation: 'Jesus saw the tax collector and by having mercy chose him as an Apostle saying to him: Follow me.'

"This homily, which focuses on divine mercy...."
I think "Jesus saw the tax collector" is a reference to Mathhew 9:9, and that's almost another topic.

I decided to become a Catholic after I learned who currently holds the authority my Lord gave Peter. (Matthew 16:17-19) (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 551-553) Colorful traditions and rich symbolism developed over the last two millennia were a sort of bonus: which, sadly, aren't always appreciated.

Tuxedos, Casulae, and Regional Culture

The Pope 'dresses funny,' by contemporary Western standards. That's a perennial source of amusement, with jokes of the 'he wears a dress' variety.

I don't particularly enjoy that sort of humor, particularly when it's accompanied by all-too-familiar assumptions about Catholic Church: but I generally don't rant and rave in response.

Experience suggests that emotional meltdowns do more harm than good.

Besides, I grew up in this culture, and see their point. I also realize that our clergy's formal wear predates tuxedos, breeches, and chaperons.

For example, we call casulae a "chasubles" these days, but the basic style goes back when Caesars were still running Rome. Time passed, a few other empires rose and fell, but there hasn't been a good reason to make more than a few changes in clerical vestments.

'Out of Step:' Two Millennia and Counting

Our vestments would look out of place in most American offices. That's hardly surprising, since they predate the current iteration of Western civilization.

A three-piece business suit might look just as odd a dozen centuries or so from now.

I don't expect an outfit that's endured for millennia and is literally καθολικός, universal, to follow one region's current fashions.

As for being 'out of step' with today's fashionable clothing, and ideas?

Even when the casula was street wear, the Church was 'out of step' with contemporary mores: and I'm okay with that.
"...I'm content to be 'out of step' with whatever philosophies are popular today. I think it's more important to be in step with my Lord. That's why I became a Catholic. I'm content to be part of the Church that's rooted in eternity, under the authority my Lord gave Peter,3 marching through time toward a city that hasn't been built yet...."
(April 1, 2012)

Symbols and History

A few years ago, I asked my wife about the symbolism behind colors in votive candle holders. Apparently the clear, red, green, blue, and other colors are simply there 'for pretty:' at least in the local culture.1 Not everything in a Catholic church is fraught with symbolism.

On the other hand, quite a bit of the Pope's 'full dress uniform' says something: for folks who understand the visual language:
"Francis' papal symbols linked to past Popes"
David Uebbing, CNA/EWTN News (March 19, 2013)

"When Pope Francis was installed as Bishop of Rome today, the two major symbols of the authority he received were connected to previous Popes.

"The inauguration ceremony began with Pope Francis visiting the tomb of St. Peter. He then processed out to the square, with the patriarchs of the Eastern Catholic Churches carrying the Book of the Gospels, his pallium and the Fisherman's ring....

"...the papal ring and the pallium - a circular stole of white wool that symbolizes Francis' role as the chief shepherd of the Church - are connected to Paul VI and Benedict XVI, respectively.

"The ring, known as the Fisherman's ring because Jesus made Peter a 'fisher of men,' has a unique and circuitous history....

"...The pallium is made from lamb's wool and has five red crosses on it to recall the five wounds of Christ. Major archbishops also wear palliums signifying their roles as shepherds, but their crosses are black...."

Authority, Nitwits, and Me

Spending my teens in the '60s encouraged me to see my attitudes in a particular way. I thought I didn't like authority, until my wife pointed out that I was just fine with authority: it was pompous nitwits that I have trouble with. (March 30, 2011)

We've had pretty good popes during my life, but that hasn't always been the case. The 11th, 12th, and 14th centuries were particularly rough patches.

I think Francis will be another 'good pope,' but that isn't why I am still in solidarity with the Holy See.

I am a Catholic because the authority my Lord gave Peter rests with the current Pope: no matter what sort of person he is.

If anything, the Church's survival despite occasionally regrettable leadership convinced me that this really is the Bark of Peter. (December 7, 2010)

2. Saint Joseph: Protector

"Pope: Homily for inaugural Mass of Petrine Ministry [full text]"
Vatican Radio. via NEWS.va (March 19, 2013)

"Homily of the Holy Father at the Inauguration of his Papal Ministry 19 March 2013:

"Dear Brothers and Sisters, I thank the Lord that I can celebrate this Holy Mass for the inauguration of my Petrine ministry on the solemnity of Saint Joseph, the spouse of the Virgin Mary and the patron of the universal Church...."
The transcript is available in English on the Vatican's website, too:
Francis I had quite a bit to say, including this bit about "living stones." If I thought God wants to literally make me into a chunk of structural material I'd be worried, to say the least. That's not what 1 Peter 2:4-5 means.
"...God does not want a house built by men, but faithfulness to his word, to his plan. It is God himself who builds the house, but from living stones sealed by his Spirit. Joseph is a 'protector' because he is able to hear God's voice and be guided by his will; and for this reason he is all the more sensitive to the persons entrusted to his safekeeping. He can look at things realistically, he is in touch with his surroundings, he can make truly wise decisions. In him, dear friends, we learn how to respond to God's call, readily and willingly, but we also see the core of the Christian vocation, which is Christ! Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!..."
(Francis I (March 19, 2013))
I recommend reading the entire transcript: it's not all that long.

"Living Stones," Squishy Rocks, and Getting a Grip

I can be quite certain that following my Lord doesn't involve becoming squishy rock. For one thing, 1 Peter 2:5 says "...like living stones, let yourselves be built...." It's a metaphor, like calling baptized Christians "living stones." (Catechism, 1268) I wouldn't expect to convince a literalist, and that is another topic.

3. World Youth Day and Continuity

"Pope Francis will attend World Youth Day, officials confirm"
CNA/EWTN News (March 19, 2013)

"The president of the Brazilian bishops' conference, Cardinal Raymundo Damasceno Assis, has confirmed that Pope Francis will travel to Brazil in July to participate in World Youth Day 2013.

"The statements by the Archbishop of Aparecida concur with recent statements by the Archbishop of Rio, who said Benedict XVI told him that either he or his successor would be present for the event...."
This is good news for folks in Brazil, and everyone who plans to attend World Youth Day 2013. I think it also show that Popes come and go: but the Church goes on.

Related posts:

1 As usual, it's not that simple. Sometimes colored glass in votive candle holders does mean something. For example, I've seen a bank of candle holders arranged so that one color makes a capital "M:" Quite appropriate in the Our Lady of Angels parish church.

We think quite highly of Mary, but don't 'worship' her, and that's another topic or two:

Sunday, March 17, 2013

Designed as Stewards

I'm not surprised that we don't have particularly good built-in senses and neural circuits to guide us. The way we travel, specialized systems might be more trouble than they're worth. (March 15, 2013)

So far, we have permanent settlements on every continent except Antarctica: and maintain year-round outposts there. (March 15, 2013)

Earth's oceans are still largely unsettled, but outfits like Freedom Ship International may change that. A few of us even walked on the Moon for a few days.

No matter where we are, humans have learned to move around without getting lost. The trick is paying attention, and using our brains.

Nature, Humans, and God

I've seen the Victorian-era assumption that science and technology will solve all our problems give way to the equally-silly notion that science and technology will kill us all.

Expecting science and technology to replace God was wrong; so is worshiping nature. Adoring anything that's not God is called idolatry, and is a bad idea. (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2110-2114)

But that doesn't make science, technology, and the natural world bad. (November 19, 2012; January 27, 2013)

Studying this astounding creation, discovering how it works, and developing ways to work with it, are part of being human. (Catechism, 2293)

'And God Spake These Words: Saying the World is Ours, to Ravage and Squander' - Not

The 19th century notion that we own nature, and may pillage it without consequence, is wrong. Ethics apply to how we use this creation. (Catechism, 339, 2292-2296)

I think we'll be sorting out the Industrial Age's mess for generations. The physical damage may be the easiest to fix. Long after the last toxic waste dump is reclaimed, Some folks will probably still believe that Christianity destroys the environment.

Born-again atheists claiming that Christians think we own the natural world is, perhaps, understandable. Christians making the same claim: not so much. I'm running into less of the old-school attitude toward nature in recent years: for which I'm duly grateful.

I think part of the problem comes from folks getting the wrong idea from Genesis:
"4 Then God said: 'Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, and the cattle, and over all the wild animals and all the creatures that crawl on the ground.'

"God created man in his image; in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them. "
(Genesis 1:26-27)
I'm a Catholic, so I have to believe that humans are made in the image of God. But I also have to believe that we don't own the universe. Our position is more like 'shop foreman' or steward. (Catechism, 355, 337-349, 2415)

Made in the Image of God: A Scary Thought

The idea that we're images of God, put in this creation as stewards, may be scarier than assuming that God isn't involved at all.

Think about it: how would the steward of a feudal manor feel if the lord of the manor returned to find the fields untended and a party going on in the castle; or a shop foreman, if the owner showed up when the factory was a smoking ruin?

The good news is that we're equipped with everything we need to do our job, including wonderfully adaptable brains.

The disquieting news is that we can use our intelligence as we see fit. As images of God, we're both spirit and matter: animals equipped with reason and free will. Each of us is someone, not something. (Catechism, 355, 1700-1706, 1730, 1951)

We're also responsible for our decisions. (Catechism, 1020-1022)

"With Great Power ..."

"With great power there must also come -
great responsibility!
"
(Stan Lee, in Amazing Fantasy #15 (August 1962) (the first Spider-Man story))
Knowing that God gives us reason and free will, and the job of running creation, is scary.

I've never been a CEO, put in charge of a company: but I imagine that getting your own parking space and keys to the executive washroom must feel good, for a few minutes.

Sooner or later, a responsible executive realizes that every decision he or she makes affects hundreds, sometimes thousands, of stockholders, receptionists, and mail room clerks. For me, that sort of pressure isn't worth a parking space and a corner office. (December 9, 2012; August 31, 2011)

Today, Minnesota: Tomorrow, the Stars

Finally, getting back to our lack of built-in navigation aids: I don't see that as a design flaw.

Specialized senses are fine for creatures that stay in one place. We're designed as stewards, able to develop skills and technology for every locale we call home: and for those we haven't reached yet.



I think it's easy to forget how far we've come, and how much we've done since we started.

Scientists have been piecing together what happened before we developed the sort of external memory we call writing. What they're finding makes me pretty sure that my ancestors left Africa somewhere between 60,000 and 125,000 years ago.

My branch of humanity's appearance changed during our travels, but we're still optimized for an environment that's 'room temperature' all year: ranging from about 66° to 83° Fahrenheit in cold months, 73° to 92° in warm seasons. (19° to 28°, 23° to 33° C)

I live in a part of the world where water is a mineral for several months each year. Living here is easier than it is in places like Antarctica or Earth orbit, but we need technology to survive Minnesota winters: whether it's the latest WHRU, or old technologies like fire and clothing.

That doesn't mean that God never intended humans to live in central North America: only that developing the necessary technology, and getting here, took time and effort.

More:
Related posts:

Like it? Pin it, Plus it, - - -

Pinterest: My Stuff, and More

Advertisement

Unique, innovative candles


Visit us online:
Spiral Light CandleFind a Retailer
Spiral Light Candle Store

Popular Posts

Label Cloud

1277 abortion ADD ADHD-Inattentive Adoration Chapel Advent Afghanistan Africa America Amoris Laetitia angels animals annulment Annunciation anti-catholicism Antichrist apocalyptic ideas apparitions archaeology architecture Arianism art Asperger syndrome assumptions asteroid astronomy Australia authority balance and moderation baptism being Catholic beliefs bias Bible Bible and Catechism bioethics biology blogs brain Brazil business Canada capital punishment Caritas in Veritate Catechism Catholic Church Catholic counter-culture Catholicism change happens charisms charity Chile China Christianity Christmas citizenship climate change climatology cloning comets common good common sense Communion community compassion confirmation conscience conversion Corpus Christi cosmology creation credibility crime crucifix Crucifixion Cuba culture dance dark night of the soul death depression designer babies despair detachment devotion discipline disease diversity divination Divine Mercy divorce Docetism domestic church dualism duty Easter economics education elections emotions England entertainment environmental issues Epiphany Establishment Clause ethics ethnicity Eucharist eugenics Europe evangelizing evolution exobiology exoplanets exorcism extremophiles faith faith and works family Father's Day Faust Faustus fear of the Lord fiction Final Judgment First Amendment forgiveness Fortnight For Freedom free will freedom fun genetics genocide geoengineering geology getting a grip global Gnosticism God God's will good judgment government gratitude great commission guest post guilt Haiti Halloween happiness hate health Heaven Hell HHS hierarchy history holidays Holy Family Holy See Holy Spirit holy water home schooling hope humility humor hypocrisy idolatry image of God images Immaculate Conception immigrants in the news Incarnation Independence Day India information technology Internet Iraq Ireland Israel Italy Japan Jesus John Paul II joy just war justice Kansas Kenya Knights of Columbus knowledge Korea language Last Judgment last things law learning Lent Lenten Chaplet life issues love magi magic Magisterium Manichaeism marriage martyrs Mary Mass materialism media medicine meditation Memorial Day mercy meteor meteorology Mexico Minnesota miracles Missouri moderation modesty Monophysitism Mother Teresa of Calcutta Mother's Day movies music Muslims myth natural law neighbor Nestorianism New Year's Eve New Zealand news Nietzsche obedience Oceania organization original sin paleontology parish Parousia penance penitence Pentecost Philippines physical disability physics pilgrimage politics Pope Pope in Germany 2011 population growth positive law poverty prayer predestination presumption pride priests prophets prostitution Providence Purgatory purpose quantum entanglement quotes reason redemption reflections relics religion religious freedom repentance Resurrection robots Roman Missal Third Edition rosaries rules sacramentals Sacraments Saints salvation schools science secondary causes SETI sex shrines sin slavery social justice solar planets soul South Sudan space aliens space exploration Spain spirituality stem cell research stereotypes stewardship stories storm Sudan suicide Sunday obligation superstition symbols technology temptation terraforming the establishment the human condition tolerance Tradition traffic Transfiguration Transubstantiation travel Trinity trust truth uncertainty United Kingdom universal destination of goods vacation Vatican Vatican II veneration vengeance Veterans Day videos virtue vlog vocations voting war warp drive theory wealth weather wisdom within reason work worship writing

Marian Apparition: Champion, Wisconsin

Background:Posts in this blog: In the news:

What's That Doing in a Nice Catholic Blog?

From time to time, a service that I use will display links to - odd - services and retailers.

I block a few of the more obvious dubious advertisers.

For example: psychic anything, numerology, mediums, and related practices are on the no-no list for Catholics. It has to do with the Church's stand on divination. I try to block those ads.

Sometime regrettable advertisements get through, anyway.

Bottom line? What that service displays reflects the local culture's norms, - not Catholic teaching.