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I know - yet another anniversary/ Yes, it's a sign of ageing - marking out the passing years but I must mark it's 17 years since 18/19 November 2007 when I began writing this blog. My son, Rob, urged me to jump onto this relatively new social media platform back then. With hesitation and nervousness, I doubted anything I wrote would genuinely interest other people.
Of course, my life back then in the US was action-packed. My first post crammed three different events into in a few lines. I had been to a fascinating science lecture at Fermilab - a large research facility nearby. I recounted how the lecturer breathlessly tackled the subject of missing mass and energy in the universe How little we know - about 5% apparently. I made a Christian comment (that frequently happens!) before marvelling at our grandchild (18 months old). And I also managed in this first post to describe my visit to Christ Community Church in the centre of Zion - a Christian community founded by a visionary preacher John Alexander Dowie who sought to shape whole town living out Kingdom of God principles. How extraordinary.to be in his study and see the fruit of his labours.
I managed 15 posts in the few weeks left in 2007. Such was my keenness and my level of interaction with church, students, and life around that words flowed. It seemed easy to post something mildly interesting. Now, 17 years later, to state the obvious, so much less happens in my life. In my eightieth year the sparseness and thinness of irregular posts is starkly evident.
I have no way of checking the accuracy of google data that accompanies my blog. Frankly I find it unlikely yet it's on the record. Over 17 years there have been 1297 posts; in the last 3 months 4.550 hits; last 12 months 62,000 hits. Leading countries are, in order of hits: Hong Kong, US, Singapore, UK, Canada, India, Germany, China. A world map with shaded areas shows the spread of these hits. How surprising is this. I guess my books which were translated in Cantonese and printed separately in India have something to do with this spread.
But it's barely credible. I am stunned and grateful. Some of you have doggedly held on. Thank you dear faithful readers. Thank you to everyone who has ever troubled to give me a hit! Maybe I ought to keep going a bit longer.
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2 comments:
Dr. MQ: How auspicious that, on the day after I was at Regent College, Vancouver for a faculty meeting and where I acquired your book Preaching as Worship, I would discover your 1297th blog posting. Congratulations on 17 years of electronic newsworthiness.
As dear to my heart as is preaching, what was more "eye-catching" to me was your name; my curiousity is peaked when I wondered which branch of our long-standing Quicke family tree you are descended from? Cheeese or tractor?
My paterneral grandparents were from London, UK with a brief stint in the USA before migrating north to Canada. As adults my father's three siblings returned to the USA, raised families and are now deceased, leaving me hordes of cousins spread across that nation.
In recent years, I have also become aware of relatives whose migrations took them into Australia and South Africa.
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