About the Name

Inasmuch as many have undertaken to compile a narrative of the things which have been accomplished among us, just as they were delivered to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having followed all things closely for some time past, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent The-oph’ilus, that you may know the truth concerning the things of which you have been informed. -- Luke 1:1-4

Relax, I know I’m not writing the New Testament here, but I will try to follow a few things closely. — Dick Sandlin

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• The Known Universe
• Will TEC Adopt the Covenant?
• Observatories Explore Galactic Center
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• Science and Religion Not at Odds
• Long-term Spacers Return Home
• Pope Offers Olive Branch to Anglo-catholics
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Observatories Explore Galactic Center

Photo Credit: NASA, ESA, SSC, CXC, and STScI

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has four “Great Observatories” that shared data to construct the above picture.  The European Space Agency (ESA), which provides much of the support for the Hubble Space Telescope; the Spitzer Science Center (SSC), responsible for the infrared Spitzer Space Telescope; the Chandra X-ray Center (CXC), which operates the Chandra X-ray Telescope; and the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScl), responsible for the research done with Hubble and its planned successor, the James Webb Space Telescope. NASA has used its entire fleet of Great Observatories, and the Internet, to bring the center of our galaxy to us in greater detail and in more colors than ever seen before. A menagerie of vast star fields is visible, along with dense star clusters, long filaments of gas and dust, expanding supernova remnants, and the energetic surroundings of what likely is our galaxy’s central black hole.

Four hundred years ago today, a telescope took Galileo to the Moon to discover craters, to Saturn to discover rings, to Jupiter to discover moons, to Venus to discover phases, and to the Sun to discover spots.  NASA gives us this picture today in celebration of Galileo’s telescopic achievements and as part of the International Year of Astronomy.  Go NASA!

Monday, November 09, 2009

St. Francis Dallas Joins Dio Ft. Worth

St. Francis Anglican Church Dallas (my home parish) was one of five churches officially received by the Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth at the latter’s 27th Annual Diocesan Convention at St. Peter & St. Paul Church in Arlington, TX on Nov. 7, 2009.  Also received by the diocese were St. Matthias Anglican Church Dallas (a sister parish and long-time friend of St. Francis), Christ the Redeemer Anglican Church, serving southwest Tarrant County (the diocese’s newest mission congregation), and two out-of-state churches: Church of the Holy Spirit in Tulsa, Oklahoma and St. Gabriel’s Anglican Church in Springdale, Arkansas.  The Episcopal Diocese of Ft. Worth is a member of the Anglican Church in North America (ACNA) and the Anglican Province of the Southern Cone.

St. Francis Rector, Fr. David Allen, enters the convention, followed by Parish Verger, Steve Chamblis, carrying the parish banner, with Senior Warden, Bob Davis, looking on from the left. Photos by Suzanne Gill.
Fr. Allen presents a rosary to Bishop Iker, the Bishop of Ft. Worth as a sign of appreciation for the admission of the parish to the diocese.

Members of St. Francis look on as Bishop Iker holds up his present from the parish.  From the left:  Bishop Jack Iker, Fr. William Crary, Fr. David Allen (descending), Debbi Blocker, Sister Mary Elizabeth (Community of St. Mary, Greenwich, NY), Rebecca Thompson, Gene Leslie, Genie Shaw with Malachi, and Kevin McNevins.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Science and Religion Not at Odds

I stumbled onto an interesting site today, called Cosmic Fingerprints.  The site agrees with me that there is no conflict between science and the Christian religion, so it must be correct, right?  Perry Marshall offers a variety of methods for you to examine the idea that science actually provides persuasive evidence that God exists and that the Biblical account of creation is factual.  He presents a 1994 talk by Astrophysicist Dr. Hugh Ross, called New Scientific Evidence for the Existence of God, that argues that the discovery of dark matter (or exotic matter) is proof that God exists.  Dr. Ross presents a humorous, but very serious, explanation that is targeted to a nontechnical audience.  He combines his knowledge of the Cosmos with fluency in Hebrew and familiarity with Scripture to reveal that properties of the physical universe show that God is personal and that He created the Cosmos with great care to produce a home for us that is unique in nature.  I invite you to listen to Dr. Ross’s talk (and follow along with the transcript) and then come back here to enter a comment about it.  I don’t just invite you, I double-dog dare you.  This in no way replaces the elegant argument of St. Thomas Aquinas; but provides physical evidence to support his conclusions.

By the way, another interesting site for Cosmos fans is the Heavens Above site by Chris Peat.  It can tell you when Destiny Station (i.e., the International Space Station) is overhead.