Beauty, Cathedrals, Purpose: The Pillars of the Earth

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Image of Saint Denis stained glass windows.

Saint Denis arches & stained glass

It wasn’t very far into Ken Follet’s, The Pillars of the Earth before I understood what might be enthralling the people who’ve been telling me I should read it.

“Because it will be beautiful,” Tom the Builder answered Prior Philip. By beautiful Tom didn’t mean simply pretty, or artful. He meant that upon seeing it, people would be moved by it, would feel connected to something greater than themselves, and would feel a little greater for feeling it, be raised up by it.

A new church needed to be built, and Tom was applying for the job of Master Builder. He had already demonstrated the knowledge, skills and experience necessary to be successful, but now he was facing the question, “Why do you want to build it?” Tom guessed that Philip would understand what he meant, and he guessed further that, like himself, Philip felt that his purpose in life was to bring such magnificent beauty into the world.
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Contact: When science learns faith…

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Following is some dialog from the film Contact, a film adaptation of Carl Sagan‘s sci-fi novel of the same name.

I had… an experience. I can’t prove it. I can’t even explain it. All I can tell you is that everything I know as a human being, everything I am — tells me that it was real.

I was given something wonderful. Something that changed me. A vision of the universe that made it overwhelmingly clear just how tiny and insignificant — and at the same time how rare and precious we all are. A vision… that tells us we belong to something greater than ourselves… that we are not — that none of us — are alone.

I wish I could share it. I wish everyone, if only for a moment — could feel that awe, and humility… and hope. That continues to be my wish.

~ Ellie Arroway
  Contact (from the screen adaptation of Carl Sagan‘s novel)

Contact by Carl Sagan

Contact by Carl Sagan


Ellie Arroway, played with exacting precision by Jodie Foster in the film, is a scientist, meaning her world is constructed upon empirical evidence through reason…until now, until she has lived through an experience even her exquisitely scientific mind cannot fathom. Yet, she can sense the depth of it with soul-shaking awe and the clarity of a religious vision. Epiphany.

But how do you describe to an entire world an experience so extra-ordinary that no one else in the world can possibly have shared it?

You can’t. Language cannot describe such a thing. Words, even images and sound, can only hope to evoke a sense of something shared. All words can do is invoke a curiosity in others strong enough to seek out the experience for themselves. And so we have the language of poets and mystics to rely upon where science fails us.

I like to think that in this moment Ellie learns the value of faith, its wisdom.


Traveling to Los Angeles to Las Vegas

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The pipeline from Los Angeles to Las Vegas is a well-traveled route for sportsbook enthusiasts, but it’s also home to some of the busiest sportsbooks in the world, thankfully bettors can now visit websites like FanDuel and place their bets from home. While a big bet can move the dollar amount in a bet across the board, it’s only one factor that is considered. There are other factors involved in making a win-loss determination on any specific game:

On-field performance.

Head-to-head records, injuries, and other teams’ success in previous games.

Special teams.

Quality play by players.

The home team’s overall record, home field advantage, and other factors.

When it comes to determining a bet’s outcome, the most important thing to know is which of these factors are the most important in your particular situation. And remember, this isn’t only about one-game wagers, as the list of factors covered by this article should demonstrate.

These aren’t the only factors to consider, but they’re the ones most likely to determine your bet’s outcome. In fact, some of these factors are so significant that they can determine the outcome of an entire game:

For example, in the current college football playoff field, there are five teams with a winning record (.500+) and three teams with losing records (.500- or below). For this one-game bet to win, you’d need to win, on average, 70% of the time. And in order for that bet to pay out, you’d need to be accurate about those odds by a minimum of 2%, meaning that you’d need to call 2/3 of the games correctly. However, it’s worth mentioning that while this is the most probable outcome, there are times when we’re going to miss and then have to do it again in order to succeed.

One thing to keep in mind is that if a game goes into overtime, the outcome may shift considerably, depending on the specific situation. For example, if you bet a team with a winning record to win the game, you may be able to win, but you have a chance of missing the bonus.

You can find out the details of each team’s win/loss record, the average point total per game, and any outstanding tickets here.

The schedule, such as the teams’ home/away records and how much money was won by each team in each of their games can be viewed here.

Final Thoughts

In my opinion, being a regular fantasy football player is both fun and extremely important to win. It is also an extremely lucrative hobby that we enjoy and can help improve our lives. The problem is that it can be very difficult to take your fantasy football knowledge and put it to use in your life, and many times, when someone says they can make you money, they are either either complete assholes or they can’t.