Sometimes I ask the same question!

HT: CNN

Continue work on a distance course from Regent College: The New Testament Use of the Old (Rikk Watts).

Occasional pulpit supply (i.e., preaching).

Ontario Vacation to see friends in Hamilton and Toronto and our son and his girlfriend in Ottawa.

Read and then write a book review of Kugler and Hartin’s  An Introduction to the Bible.

Mow grass, do yard work.

Walk.

Copernicus’ ideas about a heliocentric universe were not published until his death because he feared the scorn “to which he would expose himself on account of the novelty and incomprehensibility of his theses.” When On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres was finally published in 1543, demand was so low that an initial print run of 400 failed to sell out.

The first attacks on Copernicus’ theory came from Protestants. In 1549 Melanchthon, Luther’s principal lieutenant, wrote against Copernicus, pointing to the theory’s apparent conflict with the Bible. It was not until 1616 that the Roman Catholic church added the works of Copernicus to its list of Forbidden Books. Even this did not result in De revolutionibus being banned but only in it being withdrawn from circulation until the theory’s status as a hypothesis was clarified (Wikapedia: De revolutionibus orbium coelestium).

Since Copernicus wasn’t famous when he died, his grave in Frombork Cathedral was unmarked. It wasn’t until 2005 that archaeologists were confident that they had located his remains (BBC: Polish tests ‘confirm Copernicus’).

Bottom line: It was Copernicus’ ideas that were rejected and Copernicus himself was never condemned or declared to be a heretic by the Roman Catholic Church before or after his death.

Wikapedia: Nicolaus Copernicus

This week, to promote the release of their next album, Hymns II, you can download Page CXVI’s first Hymns album at http://pagecxvi.com/share.

The download includes chord charts for the hymns on the album (which includes Come Thou Fount, In Christ Alone, My Jesus I Love Thee, When I Survey The Wonderful Cross, and three more).

Red-breasted Nuthatches move quickly over trunks and branches probing for food in crevices and under flakes of bark. They creep up, down, and sideways without regard for which way is up, and they don’t lean against their tail the way woodpeckers do. Flight is short and bouncy.

The Cornell University site also notes that Sitta canadensis is the only North American nuthatch with an eyestripe, and the only one with extensive rusty or cinnamon on the underparts. It has what is described as a “yank-yank” call which sounds like a tiny tin horn (Listen here).

Thus ends today’s ornithology session.

Apparently, further south, in the Land of the Free, a toboggan is something you wear, as in: “[She was] dressed in a toboggan, scarf and flannel-like jacket” (Associated Press).

Dressing in a toboggan was not something I had known about until today. However, here in the True North, Strong and Free, we would refer to such a knit hat as a toque (or tuque), which is apparently another unique Canadian term.

The wisdom of the masses at Wikipedia helped to clear up my confusion while admitting that “it is extremely confusing when people refer to a seasonal hat with the name of a specific winter sled” (Toboggan-Wikipedia).

I guess it is no surprise that those living in a land of long winters would come up with a few unique terms for items associated with the season.

Don’t let the irreverent comedy in this film sidetrack you from its provocative examination of the commercialization of Christmas, materialism,  over-consumption, globalization, and the business practices of large corporations.

Directed by Rob VanAlkemade and produced by Morgan Spurlock.

Watch the entire film now (Google Video) (91 minutes):

The newspaper article related this and more about the centre’s efforts and let readers know that they could support its conservation efforts. A tax-deductible donation allows you to “adopt” an owl, which means you get a picture of your adopted owl along with an official adoption certificate.

But, everyone who makes “a $100 donation receives a life-sized stuffed burrowing owl” (emphasis added).

I’m sure there is an important detail missing here that might involve the word “replica” or something similar.

Link: Saskatchewan Burrowing Owl Interpretive Centre helping the endangered animal (Regina Leader-Post)

In an under-the-radar quest to take over the world, introverts are now asserting (quietly and calmly of course) that they/we make the best leaders.

In her article, Why Introverts Can Make the Best Leaders, Jennifer Kahnweiler of Forbes magazine reveals five key characteristics that help introverted leaders succeed.

A quiet nod of the hat to Kruse Kronicle.