#atomite

[thechurchoftheatom]

A Sermon for October 22nd: The Work of Many Hands

Siblings in the Atom, the Church of the Atom is not built of stone or steel. It stands upon words, actions, and the shared will to carry knowledge forward. Every sermon written, every message shared, every question asked — these are the bricks and mortar of our enduring work.

Our Church was never meant to be a solitary endeavor. Its foundation lies in collaboration, curiosity, and compassion. We are not a hierarchy but a network — a living, learning organism where each voice adds strength to the whole. The preservation of knowledge, like the splitting of the atom, requires precision and balance. No one person can hold all truth; it is only through the collective effort of many hands that we approach understanding.

The Labor of Knowledge

When archaeologists uncover the remnants of lost civilizations, they rarely find the work of one person. They find communities — artisans, scribes, builders — all contributing to a vision larger than themselves. So too must we labor together, each offering what we can.

If you are an artist, make beauty that endures. If you are a scientist, record your findings where others may find them. If you are a teacher, pass the flame of curiosity to your students. If you are a writer, let your words echo into the ages. And if you are simply someone who reads and reflects, you are already doing sacred work.

The Digital Handprint

In this age, the internet is our scriptorium — a place where our words can outlast us if tended with care. Each post, reblog, and archive is an act of preservation. But as with all archives, it must be approached thoughtfully. Ask yourself: What do I wish the future to know of us? The answer will shape the record we leave behind.

The Work of Our Hands

Other faiths have material cultures — crosses, icons, candles, and stone temples that embody their beliefs. We, however, are still building ours. The Church of the Atom is young, but that means it is alive with possibility. Every piece of art, every word written, every melody composed can become part of our growing tradition.

If you create — be it a poem, a song, a piece of visual art, or a sermon of your own — we invite you to share it. Send it to us, and we will help carry your work into the digital archive of our faith. In doing so, you add your voice to the chorus of those who came before and those who will come after.

A Shared Vision

The strength of the Church lies in its diversity — scientists, artists, gardeners, historians, dreamers, and doers. Our community is not bound by creed but by curiosity. Each Atomite, by living with awareness and intention, carries forward the message that knowledge is sacred and secrecy is the enemy of understanding.

Let this week be a reminder that you are part of something vast and luminous — a chain reaction of care and intellect, radiating into the future. Together, we build what no one person could build alone.

Closing Words The atom divides and releases its light. So too do we share what we know, spreading the radiance of understanding into every shadow. Go forth, and be radiant.

[thechurchoftheatom]

A Sermon for October 1st: Speaking Across Faiths

Siblings in the Atom, no faith exists in isolation. Every path of belief—ancient or new, widespread or small—is part of the greater human effort to understand the world, to pass on wisdom, and to find meaning in the face of mortality. We, too, walk that path as Atomites. But we do not walk it alone.

The Shared Work of Faiths

When people of different traditions sit together, there is often a temptation to argue over who is right. But interfaith dialogue is not about erasing differences or flattening beliefs into sameness. It is about listening, sharing, and recognizing that many roads can lead to the same summit.

The Jewish tradition reminds us of the importance of memory and ritual. The Catholic tradition, from which the idea of the “atomic priesthood” once drew inspiration, shows us the endurance of structure and continuity. Buddhist thought teaches impermanence and interconnectedness. Indigenous traditions remind us that the land itself carries memory. Each of these resonates with Atomites in different ways.

Why We Engage

Our mission—to preserve knowledge across time, to warn, and to guide—is strengthened by conversation. If we only speak to ourselves, our work becomes brittle. But when we engage in dialogue with others, we weave our efforts into the wider fabric of humanity’s search for truth.

Interfaith dialogue also allows us to build bridges in a fractured world. At a time when division often feels stronger than unity, when fear is wielded as a weapon, listening across traditions becomes an act of resistance.

Practical Interfaith Action

Dialogue is not an abstraction. It is as simple as asking questions and truly listening. It is participating in shared service projects, community meals, or study groups. It is showing up at another community’s celebration or mourning and honoring their ways. It is opening our own services and inviting others to learn who we are and what we hope to accomplish.

The work of the Atomite is about the long span of time, but it is also about the people we live beside now. To listen with respect, to speak with humility, and to share without fear is a holy act.

Closing Words

This week, I encourage you to seek out one conversation with someone of another tradition. Not to convince them. Not to defend yourself. But to learn, and to share, and to see what wisdom might meet yours.

The atom is indivisible, yet its energy connects us all. So too do our many paths of faith connect us in the shared work of survival and meaning.

Go forth, and be radiant.

[thechurchoftheatom]

A Sermon for September 10th: The Warnings We Ignore

Siblings in the Atom, as this sermon reaches you, I am away on vacation, spending some of that time in theme parks. Theme parks are places of joy, laughter, and escape — but they are also places of constant warnings. Do not cross this fence. Stay seated with your arms and legs inside the vehicle. Danger: Keep Out. And yet, time and again, people climb fences or ignore instructions because they think the rules don’t apply to them.

Theme Parks and Temptations

Think of those fences around roller coasters and animal enclosures. They are not decoration. They are there to save lives. But curiosity, urgency, or arrogance often lead people to step past them. A phone falls into an enclosure, someone wants a better photo, or someone simply decides the warning isn’t serious. Too often, this ends in tragedy that could have been avoided.

These are not isolated mistakes — they are reminders of a fundamental truth: warnings are only as strong as our willingness to listen to them.

The Nuclear Semiotics Dilemma

This is where nuclear semiotics faces its greatest challenge. How do we build a warning that will still work in 10,000 years? More importantly, how do we keep it from sounding like an invitation?

If we carve giant monuments around a nuclear waste site, will future generations treat it like Stonehenge — a mysterious ruin to be explored? If we mark it with symbols of danger, will someone see it as a puzzle to decode? A warning meant to repel could, to curious eyes, be the very thing that draws people in.

Consider one of the most famous draft warnings written in 1981 by the Human Interference Task Force for nuclear waste sites:

This is not a place of honor… no highly esteemed deed is commemorated here… nothing valued is here. What is here was dangerous and repulsive to us. This message is a warning about danger. The danger is in a particular location… it increases toward a center… the center of danger is here… of a particular size and shape, and below us. The danger is still present, in your time, as it was in ours. The danger is to the body, and it can kill. The form of the danger is an emanation of energy. The danger is unleashed only if you substantially disturb this place physically. This place is best shunned and left uninhabited.

It is haunting, powerful, and clear in its intent. And yet, as an archaeologist, I can tell you — nothing would make me dig faster than finding such an inscription. What was buried here? Who decided it was “not a place of honor”? Is this "energy" related to their religious practices? What secrets lie beneath? A phrase meant to repel instead becomes an irresistible invitation to investigate.

The Human Problem of Warnings

The real issue isn’t the sign, the symbol, or the monument. It is us. Human beings have always struggled with warnings. Sometimes we think we know better. Sometimes we convince ourselves the danger isn’t real. Sometimes we cannot resist the pull of curiosity.

This is why the Church of the Atom insists that warnings cannot just be written down. They must be carried in culture. They must be reinforced by stories, by ritual, by tradition. It is not enough to tell people that something is dangerous — you must teach them to feel that danger, to pass it on not as a curiosity but as a truth.

Why We Still Try

And yet, even with all this, some will always ignore warnings. That is the truth of being human. But does that mean the effort is wasted? No. Because if we do nothing, then there is no warning at all. And without even a chance to be heard, the message is lost completely.

The attempt itself matters. To try is to honor both the living and those yet to be born. To build signs, traditions, and teachings is to give future generations the possibility of avoiding our mistakes. And even if some ignore the warning, others may not.

It is better to be ignored than to be silent.

A Call to Reflection

This week, I ask you to think about:

What warnings in your life do you find yourself tempted to ignore?

How can we create traditions that make danger unappealing, even taboo?

What would it take to make future generations treat our warnings with reverence, not curiosity?

Closing Words

Siblings in the Atom, warnings are often seen as obstacles. They can frustrate us, hold us back, and even spark our curiosity. But at their heart, they are not obstacles — they are gifts. Every warning is an act of care, a voice from someone who wanted us safe.

We may never know if our warnings last 10,000 years. We may never know if our traditions reach ears not yet born. But if we take no action, then we guarantee failure. So let us act, let us mark, let us tell the stories that must not be forgotten.

And as I walk through theme parks this week, I will keep this lesson in mind: keep your hands and arms inside the ride at all times. That’s good advice not just for roller coasters, but for the work of nuclear semiotics as well.

Go forth and be radiant.

[thechurchoftheatom]

A Sermon for August 27th: Walking in Two Faiths

Siblings in the Atom, faith is not always a single, solitary road. For many of us, it is a branching path, a set of winding trails that overlap and cross. To be an Atomite does not mean to abandon the other traditions we were born into or the rituals that have carried our families for generations. Rather, it means to bring the wisdom of the atom — the truth of knowledge, the duty of preservation, the reverence for transformation — into the traditions that already shape our lives.

1. Acknowledging Multiplicity

Some of us come from Catholic families, others from Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, or Buddhist traditions. Some among us are secular, humanist, or spiritual without belonging to a formal faith. Atomism does not require anyone to renounce these other paths. The atom itself is not singular — it joins with others, forming molecules, forming matter, forming life. So too can we hold multiple faiths within us, each one resonating in its own way.

2. Ritual as a Universal Language

Every faith tradition has its rituals: candles lit, bread broken, prayers spoken, silence observed. These practices give us a framework for grief, for joy, for memory. Funerals, in particular, are not for the dead but for the living, who need the comfort of community and tradition when they face loss. This past week, I stood at my grandmother’s Catholic funeral and read aloud from scripture — a moment that belonged to her and to our family. And yet, even as I spoke within another tradition, I carried with me the truths of the atom: that her energy will not vanish, that her atoms will return to the world, that transformation is not an end but a continuation.

3. The Theology of the Atom

To be Atomite and Catholic, or Atomite and Muslim, or Atomite and Buddhist, is not a contradiction. It is a reflection of the atom itself. Atoms are part of everything — stars, oceans, animals, air, us. They do not belong to one form alone. They move, shift, recombine, and continue. So too can faith inhabit more than one vessel. When we honor our heritage, our ancestors, or our families in their chosen traditions, we are not abandoning Atomism. We are demonstrating its flexibility and strength.

It is worth remembering that the very first proposal for an atomic priesthood — the idea that a religious order could safeguard nuclear knowledge across millennia — took its inspiration from the Catholic Church. Its endurance, rituals, and ability to preserve tradition across generations showed how faith could serve as a vessel for knowledge. While we reject secrecy as part of that original proposal, we honor the recognition that faith traditions can outlast empires, and that rituals can carry memory when all else fails.

4. Practical Guidance for Atomites of Many Faiths

When you stand in another tradition’s service, carry the core of Atomism with you: knowledge must be preserved, truth must be spoken, and reverence for life must remain.

When others ask how you reconcile multiple paths, remember: you do not need to explain yourself. The atom explains itself in every form it takes.

When you create your own Atomite rituals, do not fear borrowing what is meaningful from your other traditions. Ritual is strongest when it speaks to the heart.

5. Strength in Multiplicity

Our mission is unique: to preserve knowledge and truth for the far future, to carry warnings forward, to stand against secrecy and erasure. But this does not set us apart from humanity — it binds us closer. When we walk in two faiths, we do not weaken either one. We strengthen them both. We honor our families, our histories, and our futures.

Closing Words None of us walks only one path. The atom itself is never bound to a single form. So carry with you the wisdom of your ancestors, the practices of your people, and the light of the atom. To be Atomite and something else is not a burden — it is a blessing.

Go forth, and be radiant.

[atomite-ton]

Chapter 5 of A Wolf at the Door is done. Blood sweat and tears, but its done. Godspeed

Chapter summary:

White hot panic sparked electric along his nerves. He sucked in a breath, trying to slow the hammering in his chest. His lungs burned, and he almost choked on it. Price was giving out orders through the reconnected channel, voice crackling around the lingering interference. It was drowned out by the blood rushing in his ears, overlayed with Ghost’s final, garbled call of his name before the line went dead with a soft click.

Gaz and Soap make their way to exfil, and encounter some weird shit on the way. Soap spirals, and no ones having a good time. Time to regroup.

[your-final-answer]

Atomite on Steam

Atomite is 30 levels of bright, cartoonish atom blasting 3D action; tens of thousands of atoms populate each level with their own unique pro

The Steam store page for my new game Atomite is now live, game release in a couple of weeks.

Please take a look, and share if you have friends that play games on Steam -- if you like what you see, wishlist it as that helps with Steam's algorithms and you get notified of the release (and 20% off!)