Richard Francis
@revrichard73.bsky.social
Semi-retired Presbyterian minister; long-time guitar player; Carroll County’s foremost expert on Jane Austen and John Calvin.
Reposted by Richard Francis
THEY CAME FROM OTHER STARS! A new all-ages comic by @makinaro.com and me about 3I/ATLAS, `Oumuamua, and Borisov: why they're exciting, and why they're both familiar and alien at the same time. www.snexplores.org/article/inte...
Interstellar objects: Visitors from other stars! [COMIC]
Only three interstellar objects have ever been spotted. Here’s what we know about them and why they’re so cool.
www.snexplores.org
February 4, 2026 at 3:24 PM
THEY CAME FROM OTHER STARS! A new all-ages comic by @makinaro.com and me about 3I/ATLAS, `Oumuamua, and Borisov: why they're exciting, and why they're both familiar and alien at the same time. www.snexplores.org/article/inte...
Reposted by Richard Francis
Gen A.I. barons want us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to build hell and have us pay for it.
January 28, 2026 at 4:27 PM
Gen A.I. barons want us talkinge alone on our phones to a demon thei created, and not goinge places and being wyth each othir yn art and joy and communitye. Thei want cinemas to shut downe and broadwaye to go darke. Thei want wryteres to stop writinge. Thei want to build hell and have us pay for it.
Martin Luther King’s birthday. Time to re-read “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
January 19, 2026 at 7:08 PM
Martin Luther King’s birthday. Time to re-read “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
Give me an open mind, O God, a mind ready to receive and to welcome such new light of knowledge as it is Thy will to reveal to me. *Let not the past ever be so dear to me as to set a limit to the future.*
January 14, 2026 at 9:09 PM
Give me an open mind, O God, a mind ready to receive and to welcome such new light of knowledge as it is Thy will to reveal to me. *Let not the past ever be so dear to me as to set a limit to the future.*
Life is always going to be hard. When it stops being hard, it won't be interesting. - Kari Byron
January 13, 2026 at 4:13 AM
Life is always going to be hard. When it stops being hard, it won't be interesting. - Kari Byron
“Discipleship doesn't begin by seeing ourselves as sinners. Anyone can do that. That's why we hide. Discipleship begins by seeing ourselves as Jesus sees us.
January 9, 2026 at 9:03 PM
“Discipleship doesn't begin by seeing ourselves as sinners. Anyone can do that. That's why we hide. Discipleship begins by seeing ourselves as Jesus sees us.
From today’s reading:
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence. - Psalm 11:5
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence. - Psalm 11:5
January 8, 2026 at 9:53 PM
From today’s reading:
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence. - Psalm 11:5
The LORD tests the righteous and the wicked,
and his soul hates the lover of violence. - Psalm 11:5
This is the text of an email I sent today to my senators and representatives. It may not do any good, but I had to say something:
January 6, 2026 at 8:05 PM
This is the text of an email I sent today to my senators and representatives. It may not do any good, but I had to say something:
I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Merriam-Webster online's word of the day is "grift."
December 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
I'm sure it's just a coincidence that Merriam-Webster online's word of the day is "grift."
It’s ironic that W*lm*rt is using the Grinch to try and convince us that Christmas does in fact come from a store.
December 8, 2025 at 3:28 AM
It’s ironic that W*lm*rt is using the Grinch to try and convince us that Christmas does in fact come from a store.
Say what you will about Taylor Swift, she knows how to turn a phrase. In the song “Elizabeth Taylor” from “The Life of a Showgirl,” she sings, “What could you possibly give to the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?”
December 2, 2025 at 12:30 AM
Say what you will about Taylor Swift, she knows how to turn a phrase. In the song “Elizabeth Taylor” from “The Life of a Showgirl,” she sings, “What could you possibly give to the girl who has everything and nothing all at once?”
Reposted by Richard Francis
Excellent speech by @charliejane.bsky.social about imagination in service to society. Great stuff.
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
November 22, 2025 at 6:31 PM
Excellent speech by @charliejane.bsky.social about imagination in service to society. Great stuff.
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
buttondown.com/charliejane/...
The mall at Sioux City Iowa has a store that offers temporary tattoos and permanent jewelry.
I’m so confused…
I’m so confused…
November 22, 2025 at 9:20 PM
The mall at Sioux City Iowa has a store that offers temporary tattoos and permanent jewelry.
I’m so confused…
I’m so confused…
The way we make change is just as important as the change we make. - Valerie Kaur, quoted by MaryAnn McKibben Dana, in Hope: a User's Manual, p.84
November 14, 2025 at 8:32 PM
The way we make change is just as important as the change we make. - Valerie Kaur, quoted by MaryAnn McKibben Dana, in Hope: a User's Manual, p.84
Reposted by Richard Francis
Why I Will Not Be Using AI to Write My Sermons: An encouragement to resist using AI for any part of your sermon writing process https://www.reyes-chow.com/an-ai-sermon-is-just-that-artifical/
Why I Will Not Be Using AI to Write My Sermons
An encouragement to resist using AI for any part of your sermon writing process
www.reyes-chow.com
November 12, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Why I Will Not Be Using AI to Write My Sermons: An encouragement to resist using AI for any part of your sermon writing process https://www.reyes-chow.com/an-ai-sermon-is-just-that-artifical/
Our attitude of near loathing toward the homeless and those on welfare…shows that we overly idealize material success in the United States. The prophets have a way of recognizing victim blame and scapegoating long before the rest of us—
November 11, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Our attitude of near loathing toward the homeless and those on welfare…shows that we overly idealize material success in the United States. The prophets have a way of recognizing victim blame and scapegoating long before the rest of us—
I see one of the Church Fathers has a new side hustle.
November 4, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I see one of the Church Fathers has a new side hustle.
"It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world." - Granny Weatherwax in A Hatful of Sky by Terry Pratchett, p.391
November 2, 2025 at 12:13 AM
"It's all stories, really. The sun coming up every day is a story. Everything's got a story in it. Change the story, change the world." - Granny Weatherwax in A Hatful of Sky by Terry Pratchett, p.391
Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. - Terry Pratchett, A Hatful of Sky
November 2, 2025 at 12:06 AM
Joy is to fun what the deep sea is to a puddle. - Terry Pratchett, A Hatful of Sky
When people are engaged in something they are not proud of, they do not welcome witnesses. In fact, they come to believe the witness causes the trouble. - John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley (1962)
October 26, 2025 at 8:05 PM
When people are engaged in something they are not proud of, they do not welcome witnesses. In fact, they come to believe the witness causes the trouble. - John Steinbeck, Travels with Charley (1962)
To receive God's forgiveness and tender love is, in fact, to receive God's infinity in little doses, which might just be called days or hours. You cannot prove them or account for having experienced them; they just add up as you get older, if you are receptive.
October 26, 2025 at 7:57 PM
To receive God's forgiveness and tender love is, in fact, to receive God's infinity in little doses, which might just be called days or hours. You cannot prove them or account for having experienced them; they just add up as you get older, if you are receptive.
Oscar Wilde wrote, “When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.” If that’s true, then Taylor Swift must be in accord with herself, judging by the headlines of two reviews of The Life of a Showgirl:
October 6, 2025 at 11:37 PM
Oscar Wilde wrote, “When critics disagree, the artist is in accord with himself.” If that’s true, then Taylor Swift must be in accord with herself, judging by the headlines of two reviews of The Life of a Showgirl:
“My father told me: worship gold, and you'll never feel you have enough of it, and you'll feel angry and weak and frightened your entire life. He said it was a terrible curse, to love something you'll never have enough of." - Katherine Rundell, “The Poisoned King”
October 5, 2025 at 10:18 PM
“My father told me: worship gold, and you'll never feel you have enough of it, and you'll feel angry and weak and frightened your entire life. He said it was a terrible curse, to love something you'll never have enough of." - Katherine Rundell, “The Poisoned King”
“The reason why so many examples of the grace of God contribute nothing to our profit, and fail in edifying our faith, is, that as soon as we have begun to make them the subjects of our consideration,
October 3, 2025 at 9:43 PM
“The reason why so many examples of the grace of God contribute nothing to our profit, and fail in edifying our faith, is, that as soon as we have begun to make them the subjects of our consideration,
The human creature is such a deceptively simple thing to look at. You can watch someone peel an orange or trip up a flight of stairs, and forget that inside they are both strange and infinite.
September 28, 2025 at 2:58 AM
The human creature is such a deceptively simple thing to look at. You can watch someone peel an orange or trip up a flight of stairs, and forget that inside they are both strange and infinite.