Just in case you are keeping count – this is Blog number 593. That’s over 11 years – one Blog every week!
We have traveled together with you, in words and pictures, into over 150 countries and I have had the opportunity to introduce you to thousands of my dearest friends from around the world and have been able to relate to you literally hundreds of my favorite stories and experiences. What a fun adventure!
This last year was unique -- and a bit taxing for me. If you will recall, I had started out writing about the subject of “goodness.” Early into the series, you, the readers, began responding with comments and questions regarding “who is the author of goodness?” “How can I live out this goodness in my daily life?” “How can I explain this “goodness” to my friends?”
Then, some of my friends began asking me “What do you personally believe – can you just put it into simple words for us?”
About that time, I was reminded of C.S. Lewis’s statement that “if you can’t put your faith into the vernacular, it is either because you do not understand it or you do not believe it.” I accepted the challenge to try to simply articulate what I believed in the weekly Blog form (I must admit, it was way more challenging than I figured it would be).
Last week was the final Blog of that series. Those of you who followed along faithfully for the whole last year might be interested to know that we have gathered all those Blog pages together and massaged them into book form. Those written pages have already been turned over to the editors and a publisher. I thank you, personally, for being an important part of the whole adventure! We’ll keep you posted on the progress of that production.
Now, I would like to shift gears a bit. Most of the past eleven years of Blogs have included some pretty deep subjects and some rather lengthy articles. I think it would be fun to switch for a while and present some little nuggets or “gems” of short statements or quotes for personal thought and consideration. Over the past 80 years of my life, I have tried to listen well and observe life carefully. I got into the habit of jotting down and filing away little quotes and seed thoughts I would glean as I would move around this old world. I would like to share some of those tid-bits of thought provocation with you in the up-coming Blogs.
Please beware—this is my caveat: I have no intention of tracing down every author or validating each and every quote gleaned from my years of conversations from around the world. If I recognize a familiar quote and can locate the author, I will pass it on. If it is one of my own quotes from one of my writings – I will follow it with a “JWJ”. I hope the material shared will be both, edifying and stimulating!
I think we will call the following Blog
SEED THOUGHTS
THAT ALTERED MY BRAIN
Let’s have some fun and get started on the new adventure. See you NEXT WEEK!