Posted on 09/01/2006 8:10:03 AM PDT by PatrickHenry
The apparent absence of shadows where shadows were expected to be is raising new questions about the faint glow of microwave radiation once hailed as proof that the universe was created by a "Big Bang."
In a finding sure to cause controversy, scientists at UAH found a lack of evidence of shadows from "nearby" clusters of galaxies using new, highly accurate measurements of the cosmic microwave background.
A team of UAH scientists led by Dr. Richard Lieu, a professor of physics, used data from NASA's Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) to scan the cosmic microwave background for shadows caused by 31 clusters of galaxies.
"Among the 31 clusters that we studied, some show a shadow effect and others do not," said Lieu. If the standard Big Bang theory of the universe is accurate and the background microwave radiation came to Earth from the furthest edges of the universe, then massive X-ray emitting clusters of galaxies nearest our own Milky Way galaxy should all cast shadows on the microwave background.
These findings are scheduled to be published in the Sept. 1, 2006, edition of the Astrophysical Journal.
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Another story about this is here.
Good point, as usual, A-G. I love dropping in on your discussions!
Hey pipe! I came across something truly lovely in my reading recently that I just wanted to share with you. It has some bearing on the donkey/rider conundrum, as youll see. Its from Eric Voegelins Notes on T. S. Eliots Four Quartets, a magnificent poem that Voegelin designates as the spiritual biography of a [great] Christian poet. [I added the great part. :^)] Here goes:
* * * * * * *
The LORD who created must wish us to createGod has not created the world once and for all and left it to shift for itself.
And employ our creation again in His service
Which is already His service in creating.
[Chorus IX from The Rock, the first cycle of the Four Quartets]
The creation is a continuous process; and the creativeness of man enables him to participate in his humble way in Gods creation as the instrument through which God creates order out of formlessness, and as the creature that offers in service to God the products of the gifts it has received from God. To be Gods creature is a power and an obligation, for
The soul of Man must quicken to creation.Out of the formless stone spring new forms when the soul of the artist is joined to the stone,
[Chorus IX from The Rock]
Out of the sea of sound the life of music,These powers have to be brought to the service of the Lord the powers for life, for dignity, grace, and order, and intellectual pleasures of the senses.
Out of the slimy mud of words, out of the sleet
And hail of verbal imprecisions,
Approximate thoughts and feelings, words that
Have taken the place of thoughts and feelings,
There spring the perfect order of speech, and the beauty of
incantation.
[Ibid.]
For man is joined spirit and body,Man is the meeting place of spirit and body, of the invisible and the visible. In his creations, when the soul is joined to matter, a form appears that figurates the invisible spirit. It is God Who has moved us to building, to finding, to forming at the ends of our fingers and the beams of our eyes [Chorus X from The Rock.]. The creation of Man, bodily, visibly, in the light, builds the temple and dresses the alter and lifts the light:
And therefore must serve as spirit and body.
Visible and invisible, two worlds meet in Man;
Visible and invisible must meet in His Temple;
You must not deny the body.
The visible reminder of Invisible Light.* * * * * * *
[Chorus IX from The Rock]
Later, in Little Gidding, Eliot has this to say:
To apprehendYet as Voeglin says, But for most of us
The point of intersection of the timeless
With time, is an occupation for the saint
No occupation either, but something given
And taken, in a lifetimes death in love,
Ardour and selflessness and self-surrender.
[II.5]
there is only the unattendedPerhaps the function of dreams is, as you suggest, to remind us of that aspect of our being that is out-of-time. If one is having a dream, and notices that one is (paradoxically) in a full waking state all the same, it is probably not a dream, but a vision.
Moment, the moment in and out of time.
[II.5]
Beyond that, dont disparage that donkey of yours!!! If we were to extend that sort of reasoning, perchance wed have to (logically) apply it to the Body of our Lord who not only did not disparage physical incarnation, but sanctified it. (Gnostics seem to have forgotten this part.) Post-resurrection, that Body is the Christian Church itself, the Body of Christ.
In the love and peace of Christ, my dearest brother in Him!
#163 is about Eric Voeglin's take on T. S. Eliot's Four Quartets, a poem (or integrated cycle or collection of poems) that I so admire.
The addendum is from Voegelin also. He said: "The Spirit of the Lord blows where it will; let us hope that it blows at the right time and in the right direction."
Christians must keep the faith and the hope alive, or I don't know who else will these days. Please join me in prayer that that may be the case....
Good to see ya back.
Sing it, sister!
Oops, this thread is as old as the big bang.
Gnostics(of all types/shades) seem to fall into fatalism and "spiritual magic"..
Which defeats the creative urges of the Body of Christ guided by the HEAD..
The Body of Christ is spiritual but metaphorically physical..
Indeed a Mysterium a human brain cannot grasp, currently..
Else why? the verse 1Cor 2;9 (and related verses)..
How dreams/visions relate to all this can/could be pivotal..
For how do you tell someone they are more than they see in a mirror?..
Much more.. Observing your self is where "Observation" starts..
Seeing whom you are clearly affects everything else you observe..
I have frequently been having a dream for over 50 years now and would consider it a great favor if you all would tell me what your think it means if anything.
I dream of a place, ALWAYS the EXACT same place. I have never seen in this place in life but if I ever do I will know it like the back of my hand! No conversation at all take place in the dream. It is always daylight there and I am simply doing chores around a log house built high up on a forested hillside above a beautiful lake in the valley below. No one else ever appears in the dream but there is always smoke coming out the chimney and the "feeling" I get is that others are there but not currently visible.
Does it mean something or is it nothing at all?
Sometimes a dream is just a dream.. sometimes its a message..
On the other hand a mental picture is worth 10,000 words..
-OR- just blessed wonderful silence... with only the sound of wind thru the pines.
When my girl friend didn't have a period, we suddenly had a lot to talk about.
That might be your theory of dark matter right there.
Time is when we're together and my, my, how it flies. Forever is when you're away from me.
Does that clear everything up?
Thank you so much for your encouragements!
I particularly like one line in Eliot, you must not deny the body. But let's save any discussion for a fresher moment. Cheers and out.
Awesome, holy, wondrous God!
Thank You!
Humble, obedient servant and FRiend!
Thank you!
I'm at least bookmarking this, and certainly printing it out for much reflection, encouragement, and mentoring. Probably only in heaven will you and I know the full fruit of your work here.
Truly, truly He works all things together for good unto and through His Called, Chosen, and Appointed who love Him!
Me too, praise God.
"No wise man, enchanter, magician or diviner can explain to the king the mystery he has asked about, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries."I entreat our Great God, Who in Wisdom reveals mysteries, to show you the interpretation of the dream. It is a privilege to do so in the name of His Son, my Lord Jesus Christ, the Way, amen.
Daniel 2:27-28
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