{"id":7645,"date":"2025-03-28T21:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-29T04:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7645"},"modified":"2025-03-28T21:03:33","modified_gmt":"2025-03-29T04:03:33","slug":"things-glen-found-interesting-volume-497-christianity-in-space-redeeming-turkish-delight-and-how-to-sneeze","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/03\/28\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-497-christianity-in-space-redeeming-turkish-delight-and-how-to-sneeze","title":{"rendered":"Things Glen Found Interesting, Volume 497: Christianity in Space, Redeeming Turkish Delight, and How To Sneeze"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-4396\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&#038;ssl=1\" alt width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1 300w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=768%2C768&amp;ssl=1 768w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1024%2C1024&amp;ssl=1 1024w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?resize=1200%2C1200&amp;ssl=1 1200w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=2048&amp;ssl=1 2048w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/02\/issachar-update-logo-wordswag.png?w=1680&amp;ssl=1 1680w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 85vw, 300px\"><\/a>\n\n    On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Things Glen Found Interesting<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/julieroys.com\/stranded-astronaut-wilmore-held-faith-darkest-moments-god-was-there\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stranded Astronaut Held Onto Faith in Darkest Moments: \u2018God Was There\u2019<\/a> (Sylvia St. Cyr, The Roys Report): \u201cAfter being stranded for nine months in space, veteran NASA astronaut Barry \u2018Butch\u2019 Wilmore is sharing how his faith in God kept him going.\u2026 Wilmore, a member and elder of Providence Baptist Church in Pasadena, Texas, stayed connected with his church throughout his time in space. He even made a few calls to some elderly church members throughout his time stranded on the station, to encourage them.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/marginalrevolution.com\/marginalrevolution\/2025\/03\/what-follows-from-lab-leak.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What Follows from Lab Leak?<\/a> (Alex Tabarrok, Marginal Revolution): \u201cFirst, and most importantly, the higher the probability that SARS-CoV\u20112 leaked from a lab the higher the probability we should expect another pandemic. Research at Wuhan was not especially unusual or high-tech. Modifying viruses such as coronaviruses (e.g., inserting spike proteins, adapting receptor-binding domains) is common practice in virology research and gain-of-function experiments with viruses have been widely conducted. Thus, manufacturing a virus capable of killing ~20 million human beings or more is well within the capability of say ~500\u20111000 labs worldwide. The number of such labs is growing in number and such research is becoming less costly and easier to conduct. Thus, lab-leak means the risks are larger than we thought and increasing.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Some very practical suggestions in this short&nbsp;piece.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/credohouse.org\/blog\/the-hidden-hands-amanuenses-and-the-letters-behind-the-letters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Hidden Hands: Amanuenses and the Letters Behind the Letters<\/a> (C. Michael Patton, Credo House): \u201cYes, the secretaries could write competent Greek. But often, due to the personal additions at the end of these letters, I was able to compare the handwriting and style of the author himself. And get this: <strong>in many cases, the author\u2019s own Greek was better than the scribe\u2019s.<\/strong> More refined. More fluid. More legible. This shattered my assumptions. It meant that we can\u2019t assume that people used secretaries <em>only<\/em> because they were illiterate, uneducated, or of low status. On the contrary, people who were clearly capable writers\u2014sometimes <em>better<\/em> writers\u2014still made use of amanuenses.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This is a fascinating look at the way ancient letters were written with the help of assistants \u2014 including letters in the New Testament.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vaguely related (in the sense that it\u2019s about the historical background for Bible stuff): <a href=\"https:\/\/www.psephizo.com\/biblical-studies\/did-jesus-teach-in-greek\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Did Jesus teach in Greek<\/a>? (Ian Paul, blog): \u201cThe argument about Jesus and Greek has several layers, starting with the most general. Were the regions Jesus taught in multilingual (polyglot), and how do we know? Is it likely that Jesus himself was multilingual? And is there specific evidence of this in the New Testament, in examples of his teaching?\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.digitalliturgies.net\/p\/why-christian-men-need-friendship\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Christian Men Need Friendship, Not Just \u201cAccountability\u201d<\/a> (Samuel D. James, Substack): \u201cAccountability is a fruit from a much larger tree. In an age in which millions of American men are so lonely it\u2019s literally killing them, the urgent issue is not finding someone to receive a report of your web activity. It\u2019s finding someone who\u2019ll talk to you at all. Why? Because friendship has a sanctifying power. Not only is it easier to be honest and transparent with someone whom you\u2019re convinced is a true friend, but the friendship itself is a means of grace in the fight against lust.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/politics\/archive\/2025\/03\/trump-administration-accidentally-texted-me-its-war-plans\/682151\/?gift=j9r7avb6p-KY8zdjhsiSZ2YMi_b3Wu2jLKUeoI_W4F8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Trump Administration Accidentally Texted Me Its War Plans<\/a> (Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic): \u201cI had very strong doubts that this text group was real, because I could not believe that the national-security leadership of the United States would communicate on Signal about imminent war plans. I also could not believe that the national security adviser to the president would be so reckless as to include the editor in chief of <em>The Atlantic<\/em> in such discussions with senior U.S. officials, up to and including the vice president.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A wild story. Lots of follow-up in the news. Just google for&nbsp;it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/thedispatch.com\/newsletter\/boilingfrogs\/trump-national-security-signal-atlantic-goldberg-hegseth-waltz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Seven Ways of Looking at a Group Chat<\/a> (Nick Cattogio, The Dispatch): \u201cThere are three distinct scandals here and different culprits in each one. The first is using Signal instead of secure government channels to discuss something as sensitive as military strikes. Everyone involved, save Jeffrey Goldberg, bears responsibility for that. The second is mistakenly including Goldberg in the discussion, for which Waltz would seem to be at fault. And the third is going so far as to share \u2018operational details\u2019 in the chat, potentially placing people in the field at risk, which sure sounds like reckless mishandling of classified information\u2014a subject on which Republicans have had a <em>lot<\/em> to say in recent years. The blame for that would appear to land on Hegseth.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/horrible-doge-had-just-laid-off-the-guy-whose-job-it-was-to-make-sure-jeffrey-goldberg-wasnt-in-the-war-group-chat\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Investigation Reveals DOGE Had Just Laid Off The Guy Whose Job It Was To Make Sure Jeffrey Goldberg Wasn\u2019t In The War Group Chat<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Inklings:\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncregister.com\/blog\/pearce-tolkien-and-march-25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why JRR Tolkien Made March 25 the Day the Ring Was Destroyed<\/a> (Joseph Pearce, National Catholic Register): \u201cFrodo Baggins, as the one chosen to be the Ring bearer, is the Cross bearer. He is, therefore, a Christ figure. This is why Tolkien has him leaving Rivendell on Dec. 25 and arriving at Mount Doom (Golgotha) on March 25 (Good Friday). Frodo\u2019s journey, or pilgrimage, begins on Christ\u2019s birthday and ends on the date of Christ\u2019s death.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/firstthings.com\/in-search-of-turkish-delight\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">In Search of Turkish Delight<\/a> (Valerie Stivers, First Things): \u201cI\u015fin quotes American Naval physician James McKay, writing in 1830: Turkish delight was \u2018a delicious pasty-mass which melts away in the mouth, and leaves a fragrant flavor behind.\u2019 The French artist and writer Pretextat Lecomte described it as \u2018beautiful\u2019 in color and \u2018warm and transparent.\u2019 To make it, Turkish confectioners used hand-sifted wheat starch (produced by a domestic process with a long local tradition), and employed a laborious technique that called for several hours of continuous stirring. They used musk and rose water as flavorings, and also sprinkled musk on the powdered sugar coating. They rubbed the trays used to mold it and the scissors used to cut it with fragrant almond oil. By the 1880s, I\u015fin says, the flavors had multiplied to include clotted cream, mastic, almond, and pistachio. In the 1900s came pine nut and hazelnut, and flavors from essences or syrups such as violet, lemon, and bitter orange. This starts to sound like a dessert a child could dream of, or that an open-minded and pleasure-loving adult like C. S. Lewis would find tempting. It seems likely that very few modern eaters have ever tasted true Turkish delight, at least outside the Grand Bazaar. All contemporary recipes use corn starch. Musk oil is illegal.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>I am both personally disappointed that I can\u2019t taste it and thrilled that Lewis wasn\u2019t crazy.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vox.com\/policy\/405158\/trump-deportation-detention-visa-green-card-airport-travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How worried should legal immigrants be about Trump\u2019s deportations?<\/a> (Nicole Narea, Vox): \u201cThese are uncertain times for many immigrants in the US. There have been reports of individual visa and green card holders and tourists who have been detained and deported. However, the Trump administration does not seem to be indiscriminately targeting legal immigrants who have authorization to be in the US on a large scale. Some have reportedly been targeted based on their political activism.\u2026&nbsp; And it\u2019s not just immigrants who have been affected. A US citizen said he was walking down the streets of Chicago when he was arrested by immigration agents, who confiscated his ID and held him for 10 hours before releasing him. Even though limited in number, these cases have been going viral \u2014 and are understandably causing fear in immigrant communities.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list simple-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/03\/25\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Gulf of America<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/after-years-of-debate-theologians-now-agree-that-lying-to-your-dentist-about-flossing-is-not-a-sin\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">After Years of Debate, Theologians Now Agree That Lying To Your Dentist About Flossing Is Not A Sin<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/03\/26\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Lessons of History<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/wellness\/interactive\/2025\/sneeze-reflex-loud-sound\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Sneeze smarter, not louder: The science of a quieter sneeze<\/a> (Teddy Amenabar, \u00c1lvaro Vali\u00f1o &amp; Artur Galocha, Washington Post): \u201cA sneeze can come on in a flash. The more air in the lungs, the louder it might be, Piccirillo said. If possible, exhale before your sneeze bursts forth to release some of the pressure in the lungs and bleed the balloon.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This was way longer and more interactive than it needed to be. Besides exhaling first, the other big tips are to relax your vocal cords and to shove your tongue against the top of your mouth to route the sneeze through your&nbsp;nose.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email?<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>In the time of King David, the tribe of Issachar produced shrewd warriors \u201cwho understood the times and knew what Israel should do\u201d (1 Chron 12:32). In a similar way, we need to become wise people whose faith interacts with the world. I pray this email gives you greater insight, so that you may continue the tradition of Issachar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><b>Disclaimer<\/b><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Chi Alpha is not a partisan organization. To paraphrase another minister: we are not about the donkey\u2019s agenda and we are not about the elephant\u2019s agenda \u2014 we are about the Lamb\u2019s agenda. Having said that, I read widely (in part because I believe we should aspire to pass <a href=\"http:\/\/econlog.econlib.org\/archives\/2011\/06\/the_ideological.html\">the ideological Turing test<\/a> and in part because I do not believe I can fairly say \u201cI agree\u201d or \u201cI disagree\u201d until I can say \u201cI understand\u201d) and may at times share articles that have a strong partisan bias simply because I find the article stimulating. The upshot: you should not assume I agree with everything an author says in an article I mention, much less things the author has said in other articles (although if I strongly disagree with something in the article I\u2019ll usually mention it). And to the extent you can discern my opinions, please understand that they are my own and not necessarily those of Chi Alpha or any other organization I may be perceived to represent.\n\nAlso, remember that I\u2019m not reporting news \u2014 I\u2019m giving you a selection of things I found interesting. There\u2019s a lot happening in the world that\u2019s not making an appearance here because I haven\u2019t found stimulating articles written about it.\n\nIf this was forwarded to you and you want to receive future emails, sign up <a href=\"https:\/\/theglendavis.substack.com\/\">here<\/a>. You can also <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/category\/links\">view the archives<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions. If you read something fascinating please pass it my&nbsp;way. Things Glen Found Interesting Less Serious Things Which Also Interested\/Amused Glen Why Do You Send This&nbsp;Email? In the time \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/03\/28\/things-glen-found-interesting-volume-497-christianity-in-space-redeeming-turkish-delight-and-how-to-sneeze\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cThings Glen Found Interesting, Volume 497: Christianity in Space, Redeeming Turkish Delight, and How To Sneeze\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[16],"tags":[124,220,230,120,227,297,275,117,343],"class_list":["post-7645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-apologetically-interesting","tag-bible","tag-c-s-lewis","tag-famous-christians","tag-immigration","tag-masculinity","tag-pandemic","tag-politics","tag-tolkien"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1Zj","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7645"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7647,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7645\/revisions\/7647"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}