Secular Work as a Christian Ministry

      Christians should insist on excellence because their work is          ultimately done for God and can be seen as an act of worship. An      example from history of a Christian person who understood this is    Brother Lawrence. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brother_Lawrence

 

The insistence for excellence, however, has to be tempered with humility so that it never tips over into toxic arrogant perfectionism. That becomes the sin of elevation of the self above God.

 

Biblical passages which exhibit this idea include Colossians 3:23-24, Proverbs 22:29, and Philippians 4:8.

 

The modern trend is to let things slide, to get by on less, on giving less effort and personal involvement to a situation, not allowing a responsibility to interfere too much with our personal interests. This is sometimes called quiet quitting, doing just enough to not be unpleasantly noticed. This happens even in our churches.

 

The cafeteria in the hospital where I worked before my retirement started exhibiting a symptom of the times in which we live. Suddenly one day, everything was gone: coffee creamer, sweeteners, salt, pepper, ketchup (catsup if you insist), mayonnaise, and mustard.

The cafeteria said that customers could still have these items

but would have to specifically ask for them. Some of the “less sophisticated” (patronizingly read “old” or “rural”) customers seemed to be totally bewildered by this.

 

The hospital cafeteria is a contract service with a commercial restaurant chain which seems to have lost sight of the traditional service provider-customer relationship. Until recently, even though the cafeteria long ago quit washing dishes and began using only plastic plates and utensils, they still seemed to realize that the strict bottom line was ranked lower than providing quality customer service. Condiments, spices, sauces, and other items were understood to be included in the price of the food items being sold.

Yes, I saw some people abusing their customer rights and stuffing things like ketchup packages and napkins into their purses and pockets, but petty theft by an unscrupulous few isn’t enough justification to punish the many who play by the rules.

The only reason the cafeteria doesn’t suffer a customer backlash is that the client base is transient and, at the same time, captive. The choices are the cafeteria or the cracker and peanut machines.

At least plastic plates and cutlery are still provided. It would be really messy to eat spaghetti with your fingers.     

Biblical Sources of Common English Language Phrases: In Your Mind’s Eye

 

 

 

I am one of the 1% to 4% of the world’s population who experience aphantasia, the complete inability to voluntarily visualize mental images. We cannot see a cat or our child’s face in our mind’s eye. We see only a blank mental screen. We do know what a cat looks like. Most people with the condition do not even realize that they have it. I was in my 70’s before I became aware of my condition.

 

Aphantasia is a condition of neurodivergence but is not considered to be a disability or disease. The condition can be congenital (from birth) or acquired after a brain injury.

 

While the condition is not normative, it does not interfere with normal activities, even the production of artworks. Persons with aphantasia may exhibit enhanced verbal skills, conceptual thought, and an enhanced and very accurate spatial memory.

 

The phrase, in my mind’s eye, sounds like it could be from the Bible, but it is not. Ephesians 1:18 speaks of the eyes of your heart and Matthew 6:22 speaks of your focused inner eye. These seem to be speaking of spiritual discernment and not of visualizing mental images.

 

The first known appearance of the phrase in the English language is seen from Geoffrey Chaucer in 1390 as the eyen of his mynde. Not until 1577 does it appear as mind’s eye. By 1620, the phrase was in common use as is shown when William Shakespeare used it in his play, Hamlet.

The Greatest Song Ever Written

 

     Ex-Beatle Paul McCartney says that the greatest song ever written is God Only Knows by Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys. This is indeed a beautiful and masterfully orchestrated piece of music and echoes the tragically sad life story of Brian Wilson.

     Some, however would insist that the song is only one of many claimants to the title. They would include the works of Richard Carpenter, Wolfgang Mozart, Frank Zappa, John Williams, Ennio Morricone, Dominico Scarlatti, Michael Oldfield, and many others.

     I am not an expert in musical theory or musical history, but I would suggest another song. It is a very simple song which has appeared in countless versions over the years.

     Amazing Grace (1772) was written by a man who for many years was a slave trader, responsible for destroying the live of hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of people. If anyone ever knew about guilt, regret, repentance, and forgiveness it was John Newton. After his conversion experience, he became an Anglican clergyman.

     Newton wrote the words to Amazing Grace. The music, which comes from a traditional folk tune, was paired with the poem in 1855 by an American composer named William Walker.

The most well-known performance of the song is by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards. I am of Anglo-Norman and Scottish ancestry and this one always makes my eyes tear up. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8AeV8Jbx6M

My own personal favorite performance is a far-less known one by The Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TpPHH7wQz_M

Welcome, Eswatini!

 Sawubona! 7 Kholwane, Mashi, 2026.

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Subjects in the Labels List Which Begin with the Letters cla to col

This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Below is a listing of the LABELS which begin with the letters cla to col. All can be searched from the list which follows the last posted article on this page or by typing them into the SEARCH button at the top of the page. Most will call up multiple postings in which they appear.

clan, classical music, Claudius, cleansing, cleft palate, Clemson University, Cleopatra, clergy, clerical ostentation, clip art, cliques, cloning, clothing, Clotilde, clotting, Clovis, clowns, Clyde T. Francisco, CNN, Cochabamba, cod roe, coffin, Coffin Joe, coincidence, coincidences, Coins, collection plate, college, college football, college football national championship, college sports, Colombia, color, color blindness, Colorado, Colossians.

The Holy Goalie

 

Álisson Ramsés Becker. born 2 October 1992, is a Brazilian professional footballer ("soccer player" for Americans). He plays his professional football for Liverpool in the English Premier League. Professionally, he is known as Alisson. On 18 May 2026, he was selected to be on Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Because of his German ancestry, Alisson was nicknamed "The German" while playing for Roma in Italy. He speaks Portuguese, Italian, Spanish and English.

Alisson and his wife, Natália, have been WHO advocates for pro-active care of mental health.

Alisson is mentioned in this blog because he is an outspoken Pentecostal Christian known to hold baptisms in his swimming pool. One teammate nicknamed Becker "The Holy Goalie" due to his outspoken faith.

With so many athletes being known for drugs, domestic abuse, out of control tempers, personal arrogance, questionable financial dealings, and any number of other negatives, it is to be praised that Alisson chooses to publicly serve the Lord.

(This is an English language humorous word play. It may not translate well into other languages. "The Holy Goalie" is an alliterative word play on "the Holy Ghost" or "the Holy Spirit.")

Science in Antiquity

 Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

2296 BC/BCE: Chinese scholars make the first known observation of a comet.

Ca 2600 BC/BCE: 1. Imhotep (fl ca 2980-2950 BC/BCE, WBD), an Egyptian physician, discusses the diagnosis and treatment of about 200 diseases. He was a specialist in medicine and priestly magic.

            2. An Egyptian scribe, Hesy-Re, is described in tomb inscriptions as “…the greatest of those who deal with teeth, and of physicians.”

Ca 2700 BC/BCE: 1. Land surveying appears in Egypt.

              2. In Egypt, the first written mention of dentists.

              3. Chinese scholars list 365 plants.

fl ca 2980-2950 BC/BCE: Imhotep, an Egyptian physician, discusses the diagnosis and treatment of about 200 diseases. He was a specialist in medicine and priestly magic.

Ca 3000 BC/BCE:The first historical mention of cancer occurs in Egypt. Breast tumors and ulcers are cauterized with a “fire drill.”

Ca 4000 BC: In the Upper Great Lakes area (USA), copper metallurgy is practiced.

Ca 5000 BC: Bolas are used as hunting weapons in Uruguay.

Ca 6500 BC: Early surgery (trepanation: the drilling of holes in the skull to relieve pressure) is practiced in France.