Tag Archives: church

Blast from the Past

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Blast of Giant Atom Created Our Universe, from the December, 1932 issue of Popular Science. From the (2007) introduction:

This is a pretty amazing article. It’s a concise summary of the big bang theory published only 3 years after Edwin Hubble made his famous observations about the redshifts of distant galaxies. Yet it’s pretty much identical to one you’d see today. Only a few details like the size of the initial “atom” and the age of the universe seem off. Keep in mind it took another 35 years or so before the scientific community came to accept that the big bang really happened.

Found via a post at Cosmic Variance, which emphasizes the work of Father Georges-Henri Lemaître, and concludes

Lemaître passed away in 1966, a year after Penzias and Wilson detected the microwave radiation leftover from the Primeval Atom.

I.e, Lemaître lived long enough to see his work confirmed by observation.

Not quite snowbound

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mia_mcdavid and I were able to shovel out enough of the driveway yesterday morning to get our (smallish) cars out. Our local streets had already been plowed, so we could get around somewhat. We followed what has become our usual Sunday pattern: Pick up Tom at his group home, take him to church with us, then to our house for lunch. After that we relaxed at our place for a while, then took him home.

This worked OK, but the side streets around Tom’s home in Minneapolis had not been nearly as well plowed as those in Roseville, which added considerably to the driving stress there. After taking Tom back I needed a nap.

Mia went out to visit some friends in St. Paul. The side streets there were no better than those in Minneapolis. She made a very nice curried chicken dish for dinner, but we were both quite tired and were asleep before 10. Summary: We coped, but it was hard work.

Ash Wednesday

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I walked over to Gethsemane Episcopal Church for their noon service today. It was the first time I had been there in several years. I had forgotten how beautiful the inside is, and how much I miss the old style Anglo-Catholic adornments we had back at St. Luke’s in Evanston.

I am perfectly aware that these externals are not essential for a church, and I have had many excellent worship experiences in other environments. However I still like the old stuff. I find it comforting.

Christmas Eve

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Got through the day with Tom. We had a nice walk around Lake Como, then went home for a while, then went to the 4:30 Church service, after which we went home for dinner. He did well on the walk, at church, and at dinner, i.e., while there was something definite going on. Between events–just hanging out at home–got a liitle tense at times.

He was quite happy to go to sleep in his old bed. James has also gone to bed. mia_mcdavid and I have been watching Christmas concerts on PBS. The St. Olaf College choir was really good.

I suppose I would like to go to Midnight Mass again, but it won’t work with Tom. Still, I have to admit that St. Christopher’s did manage a pretty good show at 4:30. Even at the late service I doubt they will have incense, so it still would not be the same as at our old parish in Evanston.