“Plead with your mother, plead””
for she is not my wife,
and I am not her husband””
that she put away her harlotry from her face,
and her adultery from between her breasts;
lest I strip her naked
and make her as in the day she was born,
and make her like a wilderness,
and set her like a parched land,
and slay her with thirst.
Upon her children also I will have no pity,
because they are children of harlotry.
For their mother has played the harlot;
she that conceived them has acted shamefully.
For she said, ”˜I will go after my lovers,
who give me my bread and my water,
my wool and my flax, my oil and my drink.’
Therefore I will hedge up her way with thorns;
and I will build a wall against her,
so that she cannot find her paths.
She shall pursue her lovers,
but not overtake them;
and she shall seek them,
but shall not find them.
Then she shall say, ”˜I will go
and return to my first husband,
for it was better with me then than now.’
And she did not know
that it was I who gave her
the grain, the wine, and the oil,
and who lavished upon her silver
and gold which they used for Ba”²al.
Therefore I will take back
my grain in its time,
and my wine in its season;
and I will take away my wool and my flax,
which were to cover her nakedness.
Now I will uncover her lewdness
in the sight of her lovers,
and no one shall rescue her out of my hand.
And I will put an end to all her mirth,
her feasts, her new moons, her sabbaths,
and all her appointed feasts.
And I will lay waste her vines and her fig trees,
of which she said,
”˜These are my hire,
which my lovers have given me.’
I will make them a forest,
and the beasts of the field shall devour them.
And I will punish her for the feast days of the Ba”²als
when she burned incense to them
and decked herself with her ring and jewelry,
and went after her lovers,
and forgot me, says the Lord.

“Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
and bring her into the wilderness,
and speak tenderly to her.

–Hosea 2:2-14

And then the Thames turned to blood! @metoffice #loveukWeather #Thames #Twickenham #sunrise @CloudAppSoc pic.twitter.com/eGNasQsItg

— Ruth Wadey (@ruths_gallery) September 29, 2024

Compel us, O God, to attend diligently to thy Word, as didst thy faithful servants Paula and Eustochium, that, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, we may find it profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness; and that thereby we may be made wise unto salvation through faith in Christ Jesus our Lord. Amen.

The feast of Eustochium, an early Desert Mother who died in Bethlehem in 419/420, is celebrated #OnThisDay pic.twitter.com/qx9rFc6R80

— CANI (@ClassAssocNI) September 28, 2024

O Good Christ, our most gracious Redeemer, grant that as Thou dost mercifully raise up this my body, even so I beseech Thee, raise up my mind and heart to the true knowledge and love of Thee, that my conversation may be in heaven, where Thou art; to the glory of Thy Name.     

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

🌹🌾🍂Guten Morgen 🍂🌾🌹
Ein schönes Herbstwochenende wünsche ich euch! pic.twitter.com/P1hYN1KkdC

— Brigitta Neurauter (@BrigittaNeurau2) September 28, 2024

After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples and having exhorted them took leave of them and departed for Macedo′nia. When he had gone through these parts and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece. There he spent three months, and when a plot was made against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedo′nia. Sop′ater of Beroe′a, the son of Pyrrhus, accompanied him; and of the Thessalo′nians, Aristar′chus and Secun′dus; and Ga′ius of Derbe, and Timothy; and the Asians, Tych′icus and Troph′imus. These went on and were waiting for us at Tro′as, but we sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we came to them at Tro′as, where we stayed for seven days.

On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the morrow; and he prolonged his speech until midnight. There were many lights in the upper chamber where we were gathered. And a young man named Eu′tychus was sitting in the window. He sank into a deep sleep as Paul talked still longer; and being overcome by sleep, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead. But Paul went down and bent over him, and embracing him said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” And when Paul had gone up and had broken bread and eaten, he conversed with them a long while, until daybreak, and so departed. And they took the lad away alive, and were not a little comforted.

But going ahead to the ship, we set sail for Assos, intending to take Paul aboard there; for so he had arranged, intending himself to go by land. And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and came to Mityle′ne. And sailing from there we came the following day opposite Chi′os; the next day we touched at Samos; and the day after that we came to Mile′tus. For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus, so that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening to be at Jerusalem, if possible, on the day of Pentecost.

–Acts 20:1-16

Early Morning Skies. 3°C after a frost. Apples galore. pic.twitter.com/4PuagaKzhe

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) September 28, 2024

More than 1.3 million South Carolina businesses and households were without power at one point during the storm, according to PowerOutage.US. It could take until the middle of next week for power to be fully restored across the state, said officials from Dominion Energy, Duke Energy and Santee Cooper. A final timeline for the work remained unclear, as crews had only just begun to make assessments of damage at noon Sept. 27.

Of those outages, about half were in six Upstate counties, including all 12,000 residents of Fountain Inn.

SC Dominion Energy President Keller Kissam compared the widespread outages to those caused by Hurricane Hugo in 1989. 

“Life is not gonna be back to normal until probably the middle of next week from a power standpoint, just because of the sheer damage that we have,” Kissam said.

Read it all.

At least 13 people have died across South Carolina due to Tropical Storm Helene. Here's what we know about the storm's impact in the state.https://t.co/IvuVWYNF2z

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) September 27, 2024

Nothing like having no electricty to make you appreciate its importance–KSH.

Our coverage of Hurricane Helene is available for free as a public service. Get the latest information about the storm here: https://t.co/ABal4ou7nG pic.twitter.com/KBg1VdVB5b

— The Post and Courier (@postandcourier) September 27, 2024

Creator of wonder and majesty, who didst inspire thy poet Thomas Traherne with mystical insight to see thy glory in the natural world and in the faces of men and women around us: Help us to know thee in thy creation and in our neighbors, and to understand our obligations to both, that we may ever grow into the people thou hast created us to be; through our Savior Jesus Christ, who with thee and the Holy Spirit livest and reignest, one God, in everlasting light. Amen.

Thomas Traherne Day.

"The world … discovers the being of God unto you, it opens His nature, and shews you His wisdom, goodness and power … and becomes a theme that furnishes you with perpetual praises and thanksgivings" – 'Centuries of Meditations'. pic.twitter.com/zO0Jdm6Qhr

— laudablePractice (@cath_cov) October 10, 2023

May the grace of the Lord Jesus sanctify us and keep us from all evil; may He drive far from us all hurtful things, and purify both our souls and bodies; may He bind us to Himself by the bond of love, and may His peace abound in our hearts.     

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

the arrival of autumn
🍂 pic.twitter.com/B1aut8TaD4

— Portmann Carrick (@PortmannCarrick) September 27, 2024

And he went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And he was teaching them on the sabbath; and they were astonished at his teaching, for his word was with authority. And in the synagogue there was a man who had the spirit of an unclean demon; and he cried out with a loud voice, “Ah! What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are, the Holy One of God.” But Jesus rebuked him, saying, “Be silent, and come out of him!” And when the demon had thrown him down in the midst, he came out of him, having done him no harm. And they were all amazed and said to one another, “What is this word? For with authority and power he commands the unclean spirits, and they come out.” And reports of him went out into every place in the surrounding region.

–Luke 4:31-37

"… in an Autumn Rain"#WilliamsRiver #AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #rain #StormHour #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/165AFX0CkQ

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) September 27, 2024

Speaking about her new position as an archdeacon, she said: “I am a bridge between the diocese and the parish.

“So I talk to the parishes about what the diocese is saying and what they have to offer. I then go back to the diocese centrally and say what the parish and clergy are saying.”

The Venerable Ruth Newton explains one of her biggest challenges will be addressing the recruitment crisis within the clergy.

She said: “There are a lot of vacancies. People are working on a shoestring.

“The pressure on clergy is to work and work and work is really extensive so hopefully get a better work life balance than I presently see in some areas.”

Read it all.

The Venerable Ruth Newton has been named as the Archdeacon of Carlisle as she looks to reduce a large number of vacancies within the church.https://t.co/hIgBLyWpTx

— ITV News Border (@ITVborder) September 25, 2024

Earlier this month, a detective knocked on Shavon Harvey’s door, in suburban Ohio, to ask about her son. The son had sent a Snapchat message from her phone to his friends, saying there would be shootings at several schools nearby.

She rushed to the police station, where her son was already in custody, but the police did not release him. He was charged with inducing panic, a second-degree felony, and officials kept him in detention for 10 nights.

He is 10.

Ms. Harvey’s son is far from the only child arrested this month after similar behavior. And he’s not even the youngest.

Read it all.

We need to find a non-law-enforcement solution to students who make threats on social media. This @nytimes piece explains why.

As School Threats Proliferate, More Than 700 Students Are Arrested https://t.co/dnTc2hQ1MG

— Tom Warrick (@TomWarrickAC) September 26, 2024

But a funny thing happened on the road to nihilism. At many intellectual institutions, the wind had already begun to blow in the opposite direction. In the late 1960s, Christian philosopher Alvin Plantinga provided his classic free-will defense for the problem of evil, and in the late ’70s, Richard Swinburne began his trilogy on the philosophy of theism.

Before 1970, generations of philosophy students were fully expected to graduate from departments headed by atheists where belief in God was conspicuously absent. Yet a decade later, Time ran a story suggesting a quiet philosophical coup had taken place: Theistic arguments for God were making a modern comeback, and reports of God’s death turned out to be greatly exaggerated.

It seems many of the bright philosophers graduating from eminent programs and taking positions in prominent universities were—shockingly—theists. And many of them were Christians, bringing their intellectual powers to bear on the apologetic front. These scholars were slowly making inroads among the intelligentsia, and their influence was trickling down into the public square.

Soon, Christian philosophers were not only well-respected academics in their field but chairs of their departments. The early members of this class of faith-led scholars gave way to later members who carried the banner even further—such that by the 2000s, Christian philosophy of religion had become a powerful force to be reckoned with in the academy.

Read it all.

Some of Christianity’s biggest skeptics are becoming vocal converts. These “New Christians” are the result of decades of apologetic work.

But, @nathanpguy asks, is their faith merely intellectual?https://t.co/pXWodcXBX9

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 24, 2024

The top translator and overseer of the KJV translation, Lancelot Andrewes was perhaps the most brilliant man of his age, and one of the most pious. A man of high ecclesiastical office during both Elizabeth’s and James’s reigns, bishop in three different cities under James, Andrewes is still highly enough regarded in the Church of England to merit his own minor feast on the church calendar.

Though Andrewes never wrote “literature,” modern writers as diverse as T. S. Eliot and Kurt Vonnegut Jr. have called him one of the great literary writers in English. His sermons feel too stiff and artificial and are clotted with too many Latin phrases to appeal to most today, but they are also filled with strikingly beautiful passages. Eliot, a great modern poet in his own right, took a section of an Andrewes sermon and started one of his own poems with it (“The Journey of the Magi”):

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year for a journey,
and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.

Andrewes served not only as the leader of the First Westminster Company of Translators, which translated Genesis – 2 Kings, but also as general editor of the whole project. He very likely, as Benson Bobrick suggests, drafted the final form of “such celebrated passages as the Creation and Fall; Abraham and Isaac; the Exodus; David’s laments for Saul, Jonathan, and Absalom; and Elijah’s encounter with the ‘still small voice.’”

Read it all.

25 Sept 1626: d. Bishop Lancelot Andrewes #Southwark #otd translator, devotional writer, he is buried in #Southwark cathedral ( photo:@rhetorician ) pic.twitter.com/vQ5UAuY6Ls

— John McCafferty (@jdmccafferty) September 25, 2024

Almighty God, who gavest thy servant Lancelot Andrewes the gift of thy holy Spirit and made him a man of prayer and a faithful pastor of thy people: Perfect in us what is lacking of thy gifts, of faith, to increase it, of hope, to establish it, of love, to kindle it, that we may live in the life of thy grace and glory; through Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.

The calendar of the Church of England commemorates today Lancelot Andrewes.
See here for T. S. Eliot's essay on him from 1926: https://t.co/igskxtmUyv pic.twitter.com/OtGomr4lSb

— Tim Howles (@AimeTim) September 25, 2024

O God, Who art man’s sovereign good, and dost seek the love of Thy children: deliver us from sloth in Thy work and coldness in Thy cause; rekindle in us love by our looking unto Thee, and by our waiting upon Thee renew our strength; through Jesus Christ our Lord.

–Frederick B. Macnutt, The prayer manual for private devotions or public use on divers occasions: Compiled from all sources ancient, medieval, and modern (A.R. Mowbray, 1951)

Site majestueux au cœur des montagnes, Lac de Zeuzier 🧡🍁💙🏔️🇨🇭#valais #suisse #switzerland @MySwitzerland_e @Anzere365 pic.twitter.com/aQkDFxjSAW

— Délèze Dominique (@DelezeD) September 26, 2024

So the king and Haman went in to feast with Queen Esther. And on the second day, as they were drinking wine, the king again said to Esther, “What is your petition, Queen Esther? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor in your sight, O king, and if it please the king, let my life be given me at my petition, and my people at my request. For we are sold, I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, and to be annihilated. If we had been sold merely as slaves, men and women, I would have held my peace; for our affliction is not to be compared with the loss to the king.” Then King Ahasu-e′rus said to Queen Esther, “Who is he, and where is he, that would presume to do this?” And Esther said, “A foe and enemy! This wicked Haman!” Then Haman was in terror before the king and the queen. And the king rose from the feast in wrath and went into the palace garden; but Haman stayed to beg his life from Queen Esther, for he saw that evil was determined against him by the king. And the king returned from the palace garden to the place where they were drinking wine, as Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was; and the king said, “Will he even assault the queen in my presence, in my own house?” As the words left the mouth of the king, they covered Haman’s face. Then said Harbo′na, one of the eunuchs in attendance on the king, “Moreover, the gallows which Haman has prepared for Mor′decai, whose word saved the king, is standing in Haman’s house, fifty cubits high.” And the king said, “Hang him on that.” So they hanged Haman on the gallows which he had prepared for Mor′decai. Then the anger of the king abated.

–Esther 7:1-10

"In the Rain, the Beautiful Autumn Rain"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #StormHour #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/KH3b82dO50

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) September 26, 2024

A body has been found in the search for the Revd Captain Katherine Watson, a former army officer and hospital chaplain who was reported missing on Thursday, Northumbria Police reports.

Captain Watson, aged 50, was last seen in the Heaton Road area of Newcastle, at about 1 p.m. on Thursday. “Extensive searches have been carried out since then to locate her,” the police said in a statement posted on social media on Friday.

“Sadly, this morning a body was discovered in the Jesmond Dene area. Formal identification has yet to take place, however it is believed to be Katherine. Her next of kin have been made aware and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

“This is an incredibly sad outcome, and our thoughts are with Katherine’s loved-ones at this difficult time. We continue to support them and we ask that their privacy is respected. Thank you to everyone who supported our search.”

Read it all.

A body has been found in the search for the Revd Captain Katherine Watson, a former army officer and hospital chaplain who was reported missing on Thursday, Northumbria Police reports https://t.co/BkwKpcEtj7

— Church Times (@ChurchTimes) September 23, 2024

Most Christians have thought that the active work of Jesus among us as redeemer did not begin until the Incarnation in the first century. Salvation for people before that time, it has been assumed, came by active faith in God’s promises of future redemption through Jesus.

But Edwards was convinced, as were the Church Fathers before Augustine, that Jesus began his redemptive work in the garden of Eden, just after the Fall. Because the Father is all-holy, he cannot abide the direct presence of sin or sinners, as Scripture teaches. Thus the Son of God was appointed to be the mediator between a holy Father and a sinful humanity—to represent the Father before sinners. This is why, Edwards wrote, God did not destroy Adam and Eve after they defied his commands, and why they did not immediately suffer the full penalty of the curse they had brought on themselves.

There are many other lines of evidence for this in the Bible, said Edwards. Consider the repeated theme that God the Father is invisible; yet he is said to have been seen, even in the Old Testament. John tells us that “no one has seen God [the Father] at any time” (John 1:18). Yet Moses talked with God “face to face as a man speaks with his friend” (Exod. 33:11). The seventy elders at Sinai “saw the God of Israel” (Exod. 24:10). Whom were they seeing if God the Father has never been seen? 

Read it all.

Jonathan Edwards came to see that Israel is at the center of world history.https://t.co/06C5zIRPMI

— First Things (@firstthingsmag) September 25, 2024

Most Americans don’t see either of this year’s presidential candidates as particularly religious or Christian.

In a new survey by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs, 64 percent of adults said they don’t consider former president Donald Trump religious and 53 percent said they don’t consider Kamala Harris religious. A majority also agreed that they wouldn’t describe either as “Christian.”

A plurality of Americans—41 percent—say neither Trump nor Harris represents their religious views.  

Read it all.

This election year, who’s the Christian candidate?@HarvestPrude reports that a majority of Americans would say neither candidate represents their religious views.https://t.co/Y43HDgXVH1

— Christianity Today (@CTmagazine) September 25, 2024

The dynamics at Grace are a dramatic example of an emerging truth: For the first time in modern American history, young men are now more religious than their female peers. They attend services more often and are more likely to identify as religious.

“We’ve never seen it before,” Ryan Burge, an associate professor of political science at Eastern Illinois University, said of the flip.

Among Generation Z Christians, this dynamic is playing out in a stark way: The men are staying in church, while the women are leaving at a remarkable clip.

Church membership has been dropping in the United States for years. But within Gen Z, almost 40 percent of women now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 34 percent of men, according to a survey last year of more than 5,000 Americans by the Survey Center on American Life at the American Enterprise Institute.

Read it all.

In a first among Christians, young men are more religious than young women.
Within Gen Z, almost 40% of women now describe themselves as religiously unaffiliated, compared with 34% of men. In every other age group, men were more likely to be unaffiliated https://t.co/Efq8pmjqxa

— Catherine Rampell (@crampell) September 24, 2024

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us, we pray thee, from an inordinate love of this world, that inspired by the devotion of thy servant Sergius of Moscow, we may serve thee with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.

Saint Sergius of Radonezh #byzantineorthodoxart #byzantineart #byzantine #icons #paintings #art #history #artwork #artworks pic.twitter.com/T1U9DgF3S4

— Byzantine Orthodox Art (@ArtOrthodox) September 25, 2024

Blessed Lord, who putteth down the mighty from their seat and exaltest those of low degree: Save us, we beseech thee, from pride and vainglory, from self-seeking and false ambition.  Give us a humble and contrite spirit, that we may think less of ourselves, more of others, and most of all of thee, who art our mighty God and Saviour; to whom with thee and the Holy Spirit we ascribe all praise and glory, now and for evermore.

"Fall Color Down by the Riverside"#AlmostHeaven #WestVirginia #Highlands #ThePhotoHour pic.twitter.com/358RwzXvT1

— Thomas R Fletcher (@ThomasRFletcher) September 25, 2024

While Apol′los was at Corinth, Paul passed through the upper country and came to Ephesus. There he found some disciples. And he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” And they said, “No, we have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said, “Into what then were you baptized?” They said, “Into John’s baptism.” And Paul said, “John baptized with the baptism of repentance, telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him, that is, Jesus.” On hearing this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Spirit came on them; and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. There were about twelve of them in all.

And he entered the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, arguing and pleading about the kingdom of God; but when some were stubborn and disbelieved, speaking evil of the Way before the congregation, he withdrew from them, taking the disciples with him, and argued daily in the hall of Tyran′nus. This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and Greeks.

–Acts 19:1-10

Autumn In the Cotswold countryside. England. NMP. pic.twitter.com/k5yb0M643s

— Tracy Hogan (@HoganSOG) September 25, 2024

Reconciliation is not an event; it is a process taking generations. In 1945, Europe was a hopeless and bankrupt slaughterhouse of hatred and cruelty. Today, there are huge struggles, but the only place we ever truly express rivalry and hunger for victory is on the football field. And France is remarkably successful.

Reconciliation requires human participation. It happens through the brilliance of leadership, de Gasperi, Adenauer, Monnet, Schumann, de Gaulle, Churchill, General Marshall. Defying the bloodshed of the past, it beats swords into ploughshares. Reconciliation means history that is true. It means healing past hurts and admitting wrongs.

Reconciliation is not only agreement, although agreement is necessary; reconciliation is the transformation of destructive conflict into creative rivalry underpinned by mutual acceptance and love. It is a cycle of peace, justice, and mercy, building up a structure shining in the love of God. A moment of peace opens the way to truth telling. Truth telling sows the seeds of relationships. They allow a gram more of peace. In this thin soil of peace, justice can be sown. Amidst justice a fragile confidence appears. From confidence the next and better circle can begin.

But the foundation of it all is prayer, for in prayer we commit ourselves to partnership with God.

Read it all.

In a world of conflict, we must imagine peace – and that begins by partnering with God in prayer.

It was a great privilege to address the #SantEgidio International Meeting for Peace in Paris today.

You can read my address here: https://t.co/wker09gmcy #PeaceIsPossible pic.twitter.com/9MBNzjGmb7

— Archbishop of Canterbury (@JustinWelby) September 22, 2024

North Korea this month lifted the veil on one of its most closely guarded nuclear secrets, releasing the first public photos of centrifuges it uses to make bomb-grade uranium. The revelatory images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un touring a vast centrifuge hall, along with the recent startup of a reactor that may be producing plutonium and tritium for atomic weapons, heighten concerns over the rogue nation’s growing arsenal. They also help bring its nuclear program into sharper focus.

Kim’s nuclear whistle stop, which also included images of a smaller centrifuge hall, follows a speech in which he reiterated a 2023 vow to “exponentially” increase his nuclear stockpile. He has suggested the effort will include large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons, lower yield devices designed for short- or medium-range missiles. “North Korea is deadly serious about deploying large numbers of tactical nuclear weapons,” says Jeffrey Lewis, a North Korea expert at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies. Tactical nukes would pose an especially grave threat to neighboring South Korea.

Read it all.

Photos open rare window into North Korea’s nuclear weapons program | Science | AAAS https://t.co/qnBMibdPIh

— Amb Antonio Garza (@aogarza) September 24, 2024

Some 13.8 billion years ago, the universe began in a big bang – or, at least, that is what we think happened. Astrophysicist Jo Dunkley is at the forefront of efforts to work out exactly what took place in the immediate aftermath of that moment of cosmic creation. And a new telescope might just help her answer this question once and for all.

The issue with the big bang is that we can’t see it directly. The best we can do is look at the cosmic microwave background (CMB), often called the afterglow of the big bang. Faintly daubed across the whole sky, this radiation is all that is left of the first light that could travel in the universe. Subtle patterns in this light fit with the well-established idea that the big bang was followed by a period known as inflation, when the universe expanded at a rip-roaring pace. But it has never been proven.

Dunkley, who is based at Princeton University, thinks that observing the CMB in finer detail than ever before will clinch the deal, specifically by helping us see patterns imprinted by gravitational waves from the dawn of time. To glimpse these, she plans to use the Simons Observatory, a purpose-built telescope in Chile that is on the cusp of switching on.

Read it all.

Through @simonsobs, #PrincetonU's @j_dunkley hopes to find out just what happened in the immediate aftermath of the Big Bang. https://t.co/sCvIfJuRIq

— Princeton University (@Princeton) September 23, 2024

Allison Jumper’s family was a picture of healthy living. Active kids. Wholesome meals. A freezer stocked with organic beef from her in-laws’ farm in Maine.

Then in late 2020, she got a devastating call from her brother-in-law. High levels of harmful “forever chemicals” had been detected on their farm and in their cows’ milk, and they were getting shut down.

At first, Mrs. Jumper worried only about her in-laws’ livelihoods. But soon, her mind went somewhere else: to her own children’s mysterious health issues, including startlingly high cholesterol levels.

“Then it hit me,” she said at her home in Durham, N.H. “Could it be the beef?”

Read it all.

Her family’s farm was hiding dangerous chemicals in their food https://t.co/6aYN9OtCNW

— Judith Enck (@enckj) September 23, 2024

O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst pray for thy disciples that they might be one, even as thou art one with the Father: Draw us to thyself, that in common love and obedience to thee we may be united to one another, in the fellowship of the one Spirit, that the world may believe that thou art Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, opposite the king’s hall. The king was sitting on his royal throne inside the palace opposite the entrance to the palace; and when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she found favor in his sight and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the top of the scepter. And the king said to her, “What is it, Queen Esther? What is your request? It shall be given you, even to the half of my kingdom.” And Esther said, “If it please the king, let the king and Haman come this day to a dinner that I have prepared for the king.” Then said the king, “Bring Haman quickly, that we may do as Esther desires.” So the king and Haman came to the dinner that Esther had prepared. And as they were drinking wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your petition? It shall be granted you. And what is your request? Even to the half of my kingdom, it shall be fulfilled.” But Esther said, “My petition and my request is: If I have found favor in the sight of the king, and if it please the king to grant my petition and fulfil my request, let the king and Haman come tomorrow to the dinner which I will prepare for them, and tomorrow I will do as the king has said.”