Home › 2023 › October › 23
Daily Archives: October 23, 2023

C of E Synod meeting to focus on implementation of Prayers of Love and Faith

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

The Bishop of London, Dame Sarah Mullally, who has co-chaired the Living in Love and Faith steering group, said: “This twin-track approach means that prayers asking for God’s blessing for same-sex couples will be available for use in church very soon, as Synod has asked. A means of offering special, standalone services for same-sex couples will go forward to be considered for formal authorisation at a later stage.

“While we do not all agree about questions of marriage and sexual intimacy, a long period of discernment has shown that a majority of people would like to see a change in the Church of England’s approach to same-sex relationships. Based on what the Church has told us, no change is not an option.

“There are those who would like to see us go much further, and those who believe we are going too far. Yet we have expressed our heartfelt wish to remain together as one Church. The pastoral provision must protect and value both those who struggle so much with this that they need reassurance, and those who wish to place same-sex relationships before God in prayer.

“In other words, it will be ‘both and’, not ‘either or’. We are implementing what Synod asked us to, prayerfully and with the hope of God’s Grace.”

Read it all.

Posted in Uncategorized

(Washington Post) How plants communicate with each other when in danger

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

It sounds like fiction from “The Lord of the Rings.” An enemy begins attacking a tree. The tree fends it off and sends out a warning message. Nearby trees set up their own defenses. The forest is saved.

But you don’t need a magical Ent from J.R.R. Tolkien’s world to conjure this scene. Real trees on our Earth can communicate and warn each other of danger — and a new study explains how.

The study found injured plants emit certain chemical compounds, which can infiltrate a healthy plant’s inner tissues and activate defenses from within its cells. A better understanding of this mechanism could allow scientists and farmers to help fortify plants against insect attacks or drought long before they happen.

The study marks the first time researchers have been able to “visualize plant-to-plant communication,” said Masatsugu Toyota, senior author of the study, which was published Tuesday in Nature Communications. “We can probably hijack this system to inform the entire plant to activate different stress responses against a future threat or environmental threats, such as drought.”

Read it all.

Posted in Energy, Natural Resources, Science & Technology

(NYT) The Race to Save Our Secrets From the Computers of the Future

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

They call it Q-Day: the day when a quantum computer, one more powerful than any yet built, could shatter the world of privacy and security as we know it.

It would happen through a bravura act of mathematics: the separation of some very large numbers, hundreds of digits long, into their prime factors.

That might sound like a meaningless division problem, but it would fundamentally undermine the encryption protocols that governments and corporations have relied on for decades. Sensitive information such as military intelligence, weapons designs, industry secrets and banking information is often transmitted or stored under digital locks that the act of factoring large numbers could crack open.

Among the various threats to America’s national security, the unraveling of encryption is rarely discussed in the same terms as nuclear proliferation, the global climate crisis or artificial general intelligence. But for many of those working on the problem behind the scenes, the danger is existential.

Read it all.

Posted in Science & Technology

The Official Announcement from Holy Cross, Sullivan’s Island, SC, of David Cumbie as the new rector

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

Dear Holy Cross Family,

On behalf of the Vestry, it gives me great pleasure to announce that we have called a new Rector!

We discerned, and Bishop Edgar confirmed, that God has called the Reverend David Cumbie to be our new Rector. Reverend Cumbie accepted the Call. We anticipate he and his family will be here around the week of December 10th.

[The] Reverend Cumbie has been ordained for around 10 years and has been Rector of the Church of the Apostles in Houston, TX for the past 6 years.

If you look at the description of the type of Rector we were praying for in the Parish Profile, David is clearly who God wanted for us. David is a servant leader who will shepherd and lead Holy Cross with love and in step with the Holy Spirit. He and his family want to develop deep roots in the community and be here for the long haul. He has a background not only in small group ministry but also has developed children and adult education programs. He feels that discipleship is not just through small groups but also through education classes.

Reverend Cumbie asked us to share the attached letter which may be found there.

The Search Committee and the Vestry would like to express our gratitude for all of the prayers and support you have given us during this search process. Please continue to pray for the Cumbies and the Church during this time of transition.

Thank you,

Your Brother in Christ,

Darren Hartford

Senior Warden, Church of the Holy Cross

Posted in * Anglican - Episcopal, * South Carolina, Children, Marriage & Family, Ministry of the Ordained, Parish Ministry

A Prayer for the Feast Day of Saint James of Jerusalem

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

Grant, we beseech thee, O God, that after the example of thy servant James the Just, brother of our Lord, thy Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through the same our Lord Jesus Christ, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and ever.

Posted in Church History, Spirituality/Prayer

A Prayer for the day from the Church of England

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

God, our light and our salvation:
[by your Spirit] illuminate our lives,
that we may see your goodness in the land of the living,
and looking on your beauty
may be changed into the likeness of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen (slightly edited; KSH).

Posted in Spirituality/Prayer

From the Morning Scripture Readings

Posted on October 23, 2023 by Kendall Harmon

Consider how many are my foes,
and with what violent hatred they hate me.
Oh guard my life, and deliver me;
let me not be put to shame, for I take refuge in thee.
May integrity and uprightness preserve me,
for I wait for thee.
Redeem Israel, O God,
out of all his troubles.

–Psalm 25:19-23

Posted in Theology: Scripture