2,743 Word Letter

An author wrote to me today -- if it is an author -- a 2,743-word letter, in which she lavished detailed praise on my book (click here) This Town -- noting that it has a "strong score" on the Internet. This would indicate that the public appreciates it, and it would deserve better promotion. OBSERVATION: Now, a 2,743-word letter is as long as ... say, a 20-minute sermon -- not to speak of the time one would need to write it. A little common sense informs one that this letter was not written by a human -- and that the motives are ulterior. Of course, my book has a "strong score" -- that is true.

POSTSCRIPT: It seems to me that the AI works like this: it identifies gems on the Internet which could be doing better. Then it creates a suitable letter, proposing (or even just hinting at) better publicity.

‘Commoner’

Recently, someone called wife E (centre) a "commoner". Oooh. E is descended of both King Mpondo and King Gando -- two separate royal lineages. She said go look up my lineage. The Gando lineage, however, ceased to be a royal lineage when there was a succession battle, and part of the royal clan seceded. That seceded part is still seeking today, hundreds of years later, to have their royal status restored. The Mpondo lineage is still a royal lineage today. OBSERVATION: A few years back, wife E's brother was fined for snubbing the Mpondo clan in his initiation to manhood -- paradoxically an honour and a disgrace at the same time.

POSTSCRIPT: Apparently the royal lineage of Gando has been restored. I received this note over on Facebook: "Our royal linage was restored, because Tshawe and Mkwayi did make peace, under the rule that a son from the amaTshawe clan can marry a girl from the Mkwayi clan, but a son from the Mkwayi can never marry a girl from the Tshawe clan. If that happened, then the amaKwayi clan would be chased out of the royal house ... but the amaKwayi was welcomed back and accepted again into the royal lineage. We fall under AmaTshawe."

A Sense of Peace

We had a couple in Church once who had four children without having married. But the gentleman concerned said to me that there was no sense of security in their relationship, and it worked deeply on his partner's spirit. That this was in fact so, he said, was confirmed when he decided to "do the right thing", and married her. When he did, a sense of peace descended on their home. OBSERVATION: This was a "good one", so I asked him to give his testimony in Church -- and he did.

My Own Helpful Book

I am now preparing course outlines for my upcoming seminary programme. This is a fairly intensive task. One needs to produce a comprehensive, systematic overview of one's courses. Now there is something that I have found very useful in this task, and that is my very own book Everything, Briefly. Because it develops a complete, systematic view of everything, it provides me with many of the concepts that I need. OBSERVATION: In spite of it being a philosophy book, I find it very useful theologically. The book is on (click here) Amazon. 

Buying Electricity

South Africa is enough to drive anyone mad. Today, I wanted to buy prepaid electricity. First I tried PayPortal, which has worked for me before. PayPortal refused to send me a PIN number, and timed out. I tried to call them, and their system reported overload. So I tried FNB bank. FNB notified me that my payment was refused. At the same time, they sent me confirmation of payment. My money was gone (this has happened before, and they would not refund me). I now tried PayCity. They took all my information, then deleted it and instructed me to register. I tried again. But PayCity now refused to send me a PIN number. I tried prepaid24. Again I first needed to register. prepaid24 referred me to FNB to make a payment to prepaid24. Next thing, I was hit by a blizzard of notifications from prepaid24 (I count eight). OBSERVATION: However, prepaid24 delivered the goods. Fourth time lucky -- I had the electricity. Wife E said she wouldn't have had the patience.

Mission Correspondence

I have much of my father's official correspondence from the mission -- he was Chief Missionary in the Gilbert Islands. The London Missionary Society caused him endless grief -- and looking at the correspondence, it seems clear why. The Missionary Society had little idea what he was doing, or what the conditions were: travelling week by week from village to village to strengthen the Church, in primitive conditions. He, on the other hand, wrote to them about the business of the Society: say, ageing water tanks or students' bunks. What he was really doing was documented in other, often local or personal papers. He did an impressive work, and his name is still revered among the people. OBSERVATION: He told me that, when he met with the Society afterwards for a debriefing session, the General Secretary introduced him to the Board as their Chief Missionary from the Gilbert Islands. A Board member asked, "Where's that?"

The Nameless Whole

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has a fairly good grasp of my philosophy by now. Here is what ChatGPT says about my concept of the "Nameless Whole". One can read this by clicking on it -- alternatively right-clicking and saving. It is a very good summary of a major aspect of my thought. OBSERVATION: I believe it is original philosophy -- not a repeat of what anyone else has said.

Simplified Presentation

I have done it! I have improved on perfection! I have further simplified the presentation of my 2025 Malta lecture. This video is only 38% as long as the original. 18 out of 20 sections are presented by AI avatars. One can also jump to individual sections (see below the video). You may click on the image to watch the whole video.

Safety in Elders

In both of my largest ministries, we appointed elders for the first time. Someone mistakenly suggested that this was to increase the minister's authority. In fact, more or less the opposite. The elders ensured that I was acting more safely now with regard to spiritual leadership -- I wasn't a lone spiritual leader. They also ensured that there was shared -- and therefore augmented -- spiritual wisdom. OBSERVATION: One might ask, What about the deacons? In reality, their spiritual input was limited. We needed more.

Visiting a Church

I attended Church this morning -- or perhaps I should say, visited. The first thing anyone said to me was, "Won't you please get out the way." I was in nobody's way. So I got out the way. I left. OBSERVATION: I was distressed. That will go down as a classic Church welcome. I can think of few to beat it. The Church will mercifully remain unnamed. The person concerned looked like an official -- at least acted like one.

Lecture Revision

It took me nearly a month. I reworked the Annual Philosophy Lecture which I presented in Malta last year. This revision flows better --  but that also means that the ideas are better understood. I present it here in 20 one-minute parts -- 18 of which are spoken by AI avatars. Incidentally one can also jump to individual sections of the lecture -- see below the video. Click on the image to watch the video.

Not Business As Usual

A Messianic Jew Edith Sher (pictured) once preached in our city Church. Reflecting on the turmoil in South Africa -- and a state of disaster in our own province, due to xenophobia -- she said, “It is not business as usual for the Church!” OBSERVATION: This is, in my view, one of the biggest reasons why the Church is thriving in South Africa. We are, paradoxically, greatly privileged to be a Church in the midst of extraordinary challenges. We need a gospel that is tough enough to meet that.

99¢ E-Book

I have prepared a series of 20 one-minute videos which represent a radical reworking of my 2025 Annual Philosophy Lecture in Malta. It is a complete metaphysics -- which I define as an all-encompassing philosophy. As a side-plate, so to speak, I shall be providing the complete text of the revision, in the form of an e-book. The e-book is now here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GZMXMVSX/ for a mere 99¢ US. The image shows the e-book on Amazon. OBSERVATION: One difference between this and the original Malta lecture is that this flows better. 

87 Days in the Post

Yesterday, I received my author's copy of SHARE Magazine from Malta. It was posted in Malta on 7 February 2026, and reached me on 5 May 2026 -- 87 days in the post! It is a very sturdy production -- of the kind that would last ten years in a doctor's waiting room. And it is, in my view, the best philosophy magazine, respectively journal out there. OBSERVATION: The editor was anxious what had happened to the magazine. I said, I foresee that it will get here at the beginning of May -- and so it did. This is incidentally a big problem for authors in Africa, where a book was published elsewhere. Just try to arrange a book signing!

Bus Station

I picked up wife E before sunrise, at the city-to-city bus station in the centre of town. She said, "This used to be new. Look at it now." It was built in 1986 -- the twilight years of apartheid. There was water everywhere, with signs: "CAUTION: WET FLOOR". Many panes of safety glass were shattered. Nearly all outside lights were dead. I estimated that one-quarter of the internal lights were out. About one-quarter of the steel seats were smashed. There were water stains all over. Various vagrants approached me. And wife E's  bus was half an hour late.