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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Kusukela mhla tinge-7 Indlovana, sekube nekubukwa kwemakhasi langu-1,270,802 ale-blog. Inani letintfo letibhalwe phansi nyalo ngu 1865. Letintfo letibhalwe phansi tingaseshwa ngekusebentisa umsebenti we Search This Blog. Luhla lwetinhlavu tetinhlavugama lwetihloko leticocwa ngato kule-blog lusephansi kakhulu ekhasini le-blog ngaphansi kwemaLebuli futsi lukhombisa linani letintfo letibhalwe ngalesihloko lokukhulunywa ngaso. Lithuluzi lelitsi Humusha Lelikhasi lingetfula le-blog ngetilwimi letinyenti.

Sigaba se-Labels lesingephansi kwelikhasi siyasita ekufuneni bonkhe Bangcwele kuma-blog posts e-Loose lakhuluma ngesihloko lesitsite. Tifundvo letinyenti tishiwo kule blog. Konkhe, ngendlela letsite, kuhambisana netinjongo tale-blog. Sesha noma nguliphi ligama lelikutsandzako. Kukhona emakhulu emalebuli ngetihloko letehlukahlukene letifaka ekhatsi umusa, kungcweliswa, kuphawula kwemafilimu, kudla, kwesaba, umlingo, kuvubukulwa, i-Star Trek, kungcweliswa, ingati, Pee-Wee Herman, eSpain, kuhlambalata, Inkhanyeti yaseBhetlehema, imfundziso, emahlaya, kushayela lokuphazamisekile, ekklesia, kanye ne-Arianism.

            Le blog ibukwe lokungenani emaveni lalikhulu nemashumi lasihlanu nakubili .

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.

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.

Greatly Earned Praise

 You may notice that I do not criticize individual countries, political parties, or individuals on this blog (unless there is a direct connection to Christianity). That is not its purpose. The blog is intended to be completely non-political and to be devoted to the teaching ministry of the Church. That does not mean that I cannot praise countries, political parties, or individuals.

At the 2026 FIFA World Cup games there have been many positive things: great attendance and enthusiasm, the attendees seriously enjoying themselves, pleasantly surprised positive reactions to actually experiencing the United States, and highly competitive game play with no obviously overmatched teams.

Something not directly related to soccer (aka football) has stood out to me. At the end of all of their games, the Japanese fans have handed out plastic bags and cleaned up all the trash from the stands! What else needs to be said?

Internet Safety: Confirm Who Has Sent You a Mesaage

 This blog is ακωλυτως, unhindered. (Acts 28:31) Any subject is fair game. Since you are reading this post, you are using the internet. While it is not explicitly a Christian subject, internet safety is a very important thing you need to understand. There are many wolves out there who basically see you as food. They would love to drain any of your bank accounts and use your credit card numbers as their very own piggybank. Matthew 10:16 warns us to be as wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Jesus was speaking to the Twelve, and as a first-century Jew, he knew nothing of the internet but his words are applicable to our modern concerns. We really are surrounded by dangerous predators.

We recently received a text message which read:

            A quick reminder to check the email from

            us regarding some important insurance 

            updates!

This text made no sense to us. Who sent it? Was it legitimate? Was it an attempt to get us to make a return call to the sending phone number? Why was the sender not identified? It is possible that merely responding to the text could install malware on your cell phone. Be very suspicious of text messages which come from senders not on your contacts list.

Often, an unknown person desires for you to open a link within their text. When you open the link, or sometimes when you even call the number, malware is installed on your device, giving that unknown person access to all of our personal and financial accounts, probably not a very good idea. 

After much investigation, we determined that this message came from our dentist and was not malicious. It was merely clumsily composed. The sad part was that our dental expenses may be increasing!