THE OLD RUGGED CROSS

Not sure where my posting today is headed, but I'll start with the history of religion in less than two minutes.   Gives you a good sense of how religion developed.

The Khan Academy has a You Tube on the five major religions.  You don't need to donate anything.  Just scroll down and click on the play icon.  In some of these videos you might hear no sound.  Sometimes the sound logo is covered with an X.  Just click on it, and you can hear again.  Of course click to skip the commercials.  The Khan Academy was created in 2008 and now has 8000 video lessons used by 70 million people, now seen 2 billion times.

Next, the five major religions by John Bellaimey.  Can you even name them?  Most of you will have difficulty.  There are common themes.  Visit his TEDEd page.  He's had more than 10 million pings.  Or his CredibleMind blog site.  He is an Episcopal Church chaplain from Harvard Divinity School.

Then a musical version about the history of religion by Jeremy Klaff.  Just an ordinary guy and father who found his niche.

Wait, you say, there are at least 12 major religions?  Here they are in song.  But there are others, around 4200, says Wikipedia.  

Perhaps a more appropriate term than religion is belief system or faith.  Will there ever be a single one...or none?

Here are 2 hours of the greatest Buddhist music.  Or 1 hour of traditional Hindu music.  The best of Jewish,  Yiddish, Hebrew and Klezmer music and songs, including the 30 greatest hits.  The best of Islamic music.

Well, maybe not so religious, but Thus Spake Zarathustra provides Nietzsche a reactive platform that lives today even though he is dead.

While my parents were Buddhists, I don't remember any of their music.  Could be because we lived a block away from a Christian church, which had a lot of activities for the community.  This is where I went to Sunday school and sung songs like The Old Rugged Cross.  I don't today see this song on any current list of songs sung in church of Sundays.

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  I see Amazing Grace usually at #1.
• In this top 100 I note Three Wooden Crosses at #42.
• Aha, at #79 is Old Rugged Cross.

I went to Wikipedia for more information:

• Written by Reverend George Bennard in 1912.
• Became really popular from Ernest Tubb's 1952 gospel album.  I was 12 years old.
• More recently, 150 or so versions, including last year by Carrie Underwood, plus Johnny and June Cash in 1975, Loretta Lynn (1968), Dinah Shore and Gene Autry (1959), an early one  by Mrs. William Asher and Homer Rodeheaver in 1921 and the original in 1912 by Bennard and Ed Mieras, maybe.

Day 11 of the Blood Lily:

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