{"id":7853,"date":"2025-11-28T16:57:35","date_gmt":"2025-11-29T00:57:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=7853"},"modified":"2025-11-28T16:57:35","modified_gmt":"2025-11-29T00:57:35","slug":"tgfi-volume-532-thanksgiving-plus-the-intersection-of-astrophysics-and-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/11\/28\/tgfi-volume-532-thanksgiving-plus-the-intersection-of-astrophysics-and-christmas","title":{"rendered":"TGFI, Volume 532: Thanksgiving plus the intersection of astrophysics and Christmas"},"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<\/p><p>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Interesting<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues likely to be of interest to Christians in college. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions, so 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:\/\/thedispatch.com\/next-250\/hale-thanksgiving-influence-women-lincoln\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The 19th-Century Influencer Who Invented Thanksgiving<\/a> (LuElla D\u2019Amico, The Dispatch): \u201cHale wanted something different\u2014not in <em>opposition to<\/em> the Fourth of July, but in <em>addition to <\/em>it. She believed the nation needed a day centered not on military victory, but on home, gratitude, and shared belonging. Again, this is why she doesn\u2019t fit neatly into our ideological bins. She championed national unity, yet she believed that domestic life\u2014largely women\u2019s work in the 19th century\u2014could mold a republic just as importantly as more public-facing work. If the Fourth of July taught independence, Hale believed Thanksgiving could teach interdependence: that a nation is sustained not only by the freedoms we fight for, but by the commitments we keep to one another around a shared table.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Super interesting. Even more interesting: she wrote \u201cMary Had A Little Lamb\u201d \u2014 WOW. Established Thanksgiving and wrote a beloved childhood rhyme \u2014 what an absolute legend!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/23\/opinion\/meaning-epstein-emails.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">How the Elite Behave When No One Is Watching: Inside the Epstein Emails<\/a> (Anand Giridharadas, New York Times): \u201cPeople are right to sense that, as the emails lay bare, there is a highly private merito-aristocracy at the intersection of government and business, lobbying, philanthropy, start-ups, academia, science, high finance and media that all too often takes care of its own more than the common good.\u2026 Generally, you can\u2019t read other people\u2019s emails. Powerful people have private servers, I.T. staffs, lawyers. When you get a rare glimpse into how they actually think and view the world, what they actually are after, heed Maya Angelou: Believe them.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2025\/11\/14\/a-monument-to-answered-prayer-begins-to-rise-in-a-secularizing-england\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">A monument to answered prayer begins to rise in a secularizing England<\/a> (Yonat Shimron, Religion News Service): \u201cLast week, Gamble, 56, broke ground on that vision \u2014 a 168-foot-tall architectural landmark that is expected to be one of the largest Christian monuments in England, if not the world. (Christ the Redeemer, the iconic statue of Jesus in Rio de Janeiro, is 98 feet.) It is planned to open to the public in 2028. The Eternal Wall of Answered Prayer, with a price tag of 45 million pounds (or $59 million), will not, however, feature any familiar Christian icons such a cross, a fish, a lamb or a representation of Jesus. Instead it will consist of a giant white M\u00f6bius strip stretching nearly the size of a football field, upon which a million small rectangular bricks will be overlaid, each with a digitally linked story of answered prayer accessible on a mobile app.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The monument\u2019s website: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.eternalwall.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">https:\/\/www.eternalwall.org.uk\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.persuasion.community\/p\/garry-kasparov-what-thanksgiving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">What Thanksgiving Means to Me<\/a> (Garry Kasparov, Persuasion): \u201cThe notion of a free society is abstract. Thanksgiving celebrates abundance, and abundance is tangible. You can taste it. Smell it. Hear it. The turkey and mashed potatoes on your plate, the chatter with loved ones, whom you\u2019re free to visit\u2014these are the fruits of a free society.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.graphsaboutreligion.com\/p\/the-nones-project-well-being\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Nones Project: Well Being<\/a> (Ryan Burge, Substack): \u201cThe most apparent result from this graph is that Christians do express a demonstrably higher level of life satisfaction compared to the non-religious in the sample. On the scale from 1\u20137, both Catholics and Protestants scored an average of 5.2. That\u2019s just slightly above \u2018somewhat satisfied.\u2019 Among the nones, the group that was clearly the most satisfied were the Nones in Name Only (NiNos) at 5.0. Slightly below that were the Dones at 4.85, then the SBNRs [Spiritual But Not Religious] at 4.75. The group that easily scored the lowest of all four types were the Zealous Atheists at 4.57.\u201d\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Emphasis removed for readability. Reading the article and looking at the data, I think the Dones do come off a little worse than Burge concludes. He doesn\u2019t explain it in this article, but the Nones in Name Only are people who check \u201cnothing in particular\u201d on surveys but who nonetheless regularly do religious things \u2014 envision someone who comes consistently to church but isn\u2019t actually sure if they consider themselves Christian.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/2025\/11\/the-incarnation-sheds-light-on-astrophysics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Incarnation Sheds Light on Astrophysics<\/a> (Deborah Haarsma, Christianity Today): \u201cWhen Jesus was conceived in Mary, he took on atoms from her\u2014as we all do from our mothers\u2014and those atoms had histories stretching far beyond our solar system. Those atoms assembled into genes to give shape to his bones and blood and into organic chemicals shared with all life on earth. Each cell of Jesus\u2019 body embodies his love for his creation\u2014not only humans but also the animals, plants, mountains, and rivers often mentioned in Scripture. His very atoms once glowed in beautiful nebulae and powerful supernovae in the far reaches of space. Indeed, when God took on human form, he took on all of creation.\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.challies.com\/articles\/euthanasia-feels-intuitive\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Why Euthanasia Feels Intuitive<\/a> (Tim Challies, blog): \u201cBecause aging and death are the ultimate means through which we prove we have no true autonomy and through which we lose our independence, euthanasia is a means of avoiding what is difficult, humiliating, or seemingly intolerable. In this way, euthanasia is a natural or perhaps inevitable result of Western culture.\u2026 Though this is already plenty troubling, here is something that troubles me even more: Having been raised in this society, my instincts intuitively accept euthanasia. I do not want others to make my decisions for me and I do not wish to become dependent upon them. In fact, I would feel a significant degree of guilt were I to need others to care for me, to be inconvenienced on my behalf, or to have them put their own dreams on hold in order to ensure my provision. There is an abhorrent way in which it all just makes sense, in which my instincts accept it as good, or as acceptable, at&nbsp;least.\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:\/\/babylonbee.com\/news\/mom-continues-longstanding-tradition-of-making-cranberry-sauce-for-no-one\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Mom Continues Longstanding Tradition Of Making Cranberry Sauce For No One<\/a> (Babylon Bee)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/11\/26\/opinion\/faith-bot-individualism.html?smid=nytcore-android-share\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jesus Bot Is Always on Demand (for a Small Monthly Fee<\/a>) (Jessica Grose, New York Times): \u201cThis version of Jesus looks like he stepped off the cover of a romance novel and sounds like a management consultant. He offers the same kind of canned guidance that I could get from a LinkedIn hustle bro, with a dash of Scripture and an upsell (a home screen widget with personalized verses for just $39.99 a year!) attached.\u201d&nbsp;<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This probably should go in the section above, but I only like to have seven links up&nbsp;there.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/11\/18\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bedtime Prayers<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine):&nbsp; Nov 18,&nbsp;2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gocomics.com\/pearlsbeforeswine\/2025\/11\/21\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Soul Mate<\/a> (Pearls Before Swine): Nov 21,&nbsp;2025<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newser.com\/article\/c8463969db288c356d76ec189b3c3cec\/thai-woman-found-alive-in-coffin-after-being-brought-in-for-cremation.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Thai woman found alive in coffin after being brought in for cremation<\/a> (Associated Press): \u201cPairat Soodthoop, the temple\u2019s general and financial affairs manager, told The Associated Press on Monday that the 65-year-old woman\u2019s brother drove her from the province of Phitsanulok to be cremated. He said they heard a faint knock coming from the coffin. \u2018I was a bit surprised, so I asked them to open the coffin, and everyone was startled,\u2019 he said. \u2018I saw her opening her eyes slightly and knocking on the side of the coffin. She must have been knocking for quite some&nbsp;time.\u2019\u201d<\/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>You\u2019ve heard of TGIF? This is TGFI: Things Glen Found Interesting On Fridays I share articles\/resources about broad cultural, societal and theological issues likely to be of interest to Christians in college. Be sure to see the explanation and disclaimers at the bottom. I welcome your suggestions, so if you read something fascinating please pass \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2025\/11\/28\/tgfi-volume-532-thanksgiving-plus-the-intersection-of-astrophysics-and-christmas\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cTGFI, Volume 532: Thanksgiving plus the intersection of astrophysics and Christmas\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":[204,287,319,167,161,305],"class_list":["post-7853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-links","tag-atheism","tag-christmas","tag-england","tag-euthanasia","tag-global-christianity","tag-thanksgiving"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-22F","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853","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=7853"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7856,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7853\/revisions\/7856"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}