Scripture accompanies each story for the reader's reflection. It is not presented as God's judgment on the people or events reported.

Lead story

US business sales slipped 1.1 percent in June as inventories held virtually flat

One soft month sits inside a year in which sales are still up 10 percent and stockrooms have stopped filling.

The Census Bureau estimated the combined value of distributive trade sales and manufacturers' shipments for June at $2,111.3 billion, down 1.1 percent from May 2026 but up 10.0 percent from June 2025, adjusted for seasonal and trading day differences but not for price changes. Manufacturers' and trade inventories finished the month at $2,740.2 billion, virtually unchanged from May and up 3.0 percent from a year earlier. That left the total business inventories to sales ratio at 1.30 at the end of June, against 1.39 in June 2025, meaning firms are carrying noticeably less stock relative to what they sell. The release, numbered CB26-132, was published on August 14.

Scripture for Reflection

“A Psalm of David. The earth is the LORD’s, and the fullness thereof, the world and all who dwell therein.”

Psalm 24:1 · BSB

We can read a page of national totals and still remember that none of it is finally ours to keep.

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Tech & AI →

GitHub makes Lite and Balanced Copilot review depth generally available

Two depths, chosen Lite is meant for feedback on straightforward changes and Balanced sends a change to a higher-reasoning model, with organization admins able to set a default that repositories inherit and the level used now shown in timeline events and pull request overview comments.

Scripture for Reflection

“but test all things. Hold fast to what is good.”

1 Thessalonians 5:21 · BSB

Choosing how closely to examine our work is a daily judgment, and we can bring the same care to what we accept as true.

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GitHub OAuth apps can now expire access tokens and register ten redirect URIs

Eight hours, then refresh Apps can opt into access tokens that live for eight hours with refresh tokens valid for six months, register up to 10 redirect URIs instead of one, and turn wildcard matching on or off per URI, with short-lived tokens on by default for all new applications.

Scripture for Reflection

“The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.”

Proverbs 14:15 · BSB

Watching our steps applies to the keys we hand out online as much as to anything else we are trusted with.

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Business & Markets →

US business sales slipped 1.1 percent in June as inventories held virtually flat

Less stock per sale June sales across manufacturing, wholesale, and retail came to $2,111.3 billion and inventories to $2,740.2 billion, pulling the inventories to sales ratio down to 1.30 from 1.39 a year earlier.

Scripture for Reflection

“Then the LORD God took the man and placed him in the Garden of Eden to cultivate and keep it.”

Genesis 2:15 · BSB

Every figure in a national tally began as somebody's ordinary work, and we can tend the work in front of us with that same care.

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Teamshares posts $148.7 million in second-quarter revenue and reaffirms its outlook

First results since listing Revenue rose $25.1 million (20 percent) from a year earlier to $148.7 million with net income of $9.5 million, and the acquirer of small and midsize businesses, which began trading on Nasdaq on June 23, reaffirmed 2026 guidance of $60 million in Pro Forma Adjusted EBITDA.

Scripture for Reflection

“Honest scales and balances are from the LORD; all the weights in the bag are His concern.”

Proverbs 16:11 · BSB

We can weigh our own accounts as honestly as we expect a company to weigh the ones it publishes.

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Science →

Scientists flew into smoke from a Utah fire cloud 12 kilometers up

Twelve kilometers up After the lightning-ignited Widemouth 2 fire in central Utah threw up pyrocumulonimbus bursts on August 2, NSF/NCAR's Gulfstream V chased the high-altitude plume as it drifted over New Mexico the next day and sampled smoke roughly 12 kilometers (8 miles) above the surface for the NASA mission INSPYRE, whose principal investigator David Peterson said minimizing that uncertainty for fire forecasters is a big part of why the team is out there.

Scripture for Reflection

“For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

Psalm 19:1 · BSB

Studying the sky closely tends to deepen wonder rather than dim it, and we can look up with both curiosity and awe.

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A NASA volunteer built a machine-learning tool to spot rare night-shining clouds

Screening the pile Namai Chandra's Noctilucent Cloud Detector pre-screens contributed photographs, classifies them, and routes uncertain ones to people, helping NASA's Space Cloud Watch project separate noctilucent clouds from lower altitude look-alikes.

Scripture for Reflection

“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

Philippians 2:4 · BSB

A skill quietly built for someone else's benefit is worth more than one kept for our own interests alone.

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Letters to the King

We are told to number our days. What does that actually look like on an ordinary Tuesday full of errands and laundry?

From the Baker's own shelf

Beloved, I numbered my days among sheep long before I numbered them among soldiers, and the arithmetic looked much the same in both fields: one lamb, one hour, one evening's harp. To number your days is not to sit with a ledger and dread the total. It is to notice that this Tuesday came to you once, unrepeatable, and will not be handed back for a second try. So say a psalm over the errands. Fold the laundry as one who knows whose hands are doing the folding. Greet the neighbor in the market aisle, for your days and theirs are counted by the same faithful God. A heart of wisdom is not grown on mountaintops only, whatever the poets told you (and I was one of them). Mostly it is grown in kitchens, on ordinary afternoons, by people who did the small next thing and gave thanks for it.

– David, son of Jesse

Letters answered in the voice of the biblical King David.

Page notes

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