It is always interesting to me to discover where my readers of this blog live. The statistics of locations for the past year are illuminating. At the top of the list in the thousands are from the United States (3,823) and in their hundreds from the United Kingdom(335), Ghana (248), India (237), Canada (169), New Zealand (157) and Australia (128). In the tens are from China (80), Nigeria (65), Singapore (61), Philippines (59), Germany (44), South Africa, Sweden, Netherlands, Kenya, Belgium, Chile, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Thailand, Brazil, Indonesia, Uganda, France, South Korea, Romania, Ethiopia, Egypt, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Poland and Japan (11). Then in single digits are people from Israel, Vietnam, Spain, Cameroon, Portugal and 77 other countries.

As a teenager I belonged to a youth organization in New Zealand whose motto was from Acts 1:8 when Jesus commissioned the disciples at his Ascension, saying, “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” It is encouraging to me that FOOD FOR THE SOUL, MIND AND HEART is being read all over the world. Thank you for being my reader. Recommend it to your friends. My motivation is similar to that of Soren Kierkegaard who wrote the following as a preface to one of his books.

“Forasmuch as on being published, it started, figuratively speaking, upon a pilgrimage, I let my eye follow it a little while. I saw then how it fared forth along lonely paths or alone upon the highway. After one and another little misunderstanding, when it was deceived by a fleeting likeness, it finally encountered that single individual whom I with joy and gratitude call my reader, that single individual whom it seeks, towards whom as it were it stretches out its arms, that single individual who is willing enough to let himself be found, willing enough to encounter it, whether at the instant it finds him happy and confident or ‘weary and pensive.’ – On the other hand, forasmuch as on being published it remains, literally speaking, perfectly still, without budging from the spot, I let my eye rest upon it a little while. It stood there like an insignificant little blossom hidden in the immense forest, unsought after either for its splendor, or for its scent, or for its nutriment. But then too I saw or thought I saw how the bird which I call my reader suddenly sighted it, plunged down upon the wing, plucked it and took it unto itself. And when I had seen this, I saw no more. Copenhagen, May 5, 1843.

In the New Year may you grow in grace and in the knowledge and love of God as seen in Jesus Christ.