Someone who commented on one of blog postings, "Whose Glory?" has caused me to think about what happens when we earnestly pray and work to give up self to serve God. I, too, like that individual once thought that if I erased a lot of "me", life would be a void--colorless, dull, unexciting. This is not what happens.
The woman who discovered my religion writes in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" on the topic of becoming closer to God, finding out our true selfhood as His image and likeness: "This scientific sense of being, forsaking matter for Spirit, by no means suggests man's absorption into Deity and the loss of his identity, but confers upon man enlarged individuality, a wider sphere of thought and action, a more expansive love, a higher and more permanent peace." (Page 265)
I have certainly found this to be the case. God has opened up channels for blessing others beyond anything I could have imagined even 4 years ago. And I am not talking just in my locality, but all over this planet.
To go back to when my first book was published: my sole hope was not to just share pretty poetry and interesting essays with others, though there have been plenty of them devoted to the beautiful things in our Father's universe. And I know some readers have found enjoyment, on a certain level.
And frequenting the local public library where I grew up, to check out as many books as they would let me have, I thought how nice it would be to have a book of mine on the shelf of some library. But what I was aiming for in my 4 books so far, and the one due out in September, is to bring God to the thoughts of the reader--to honor our Master, Christ Jesus, and publish the Good News of Christ's saving power. And the heartwarming results of this! rather than just earn money for my books, I wished them to be accepted in public libraries where they could more widely bless. And the places where they have been accepted, and the feedback I have received from readers in many countries, has nearly overwhelmed me at times.
To give my readers an idea of how God has brought about a "wider sphere of thought and action" in my life, let me list just some of the foreign libraries where my books presently are. Too many here in the USA to list.
Liverpool, England
Pusan, Korea
Beijing China
Riga, Latvia
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Port Adelaide, South Australia
Macao, China
Noumea, New Caledonia
Katowice, Poland
Ottawa, Canada
Nicosia, Cypress
Guadalajara, Mexico
Coatbridge, Scotland
Manchester, England
Ontario, Canada
Alexandria, Egypt
Lampeter, Wales
Stirling, Scotland
Dublin, Ireland
Inverclyde, Scotland
Bucharest, Romania
Paisley, Scotland
Beirut, Lebanon
Budapest, Hungary
Valletta, Malta
Blackburn, Scotland
Thessalonika, Greece
Glasgow, Scotland
Orkney, Scotland
London, England
Okinawa, Japan
Bangor, Northern Ireland
Manilla, the Philippines
Lisbon, Portugal
Monkton, Scotland
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
Edinburgh, Scotland
Dublane, Scotland
Paris, France
Newcastle, Australia
Fort Saskatchewan, Canada
Renfrew, Scotland
Zurich, Switzerland
Inverness, Scotland
Isle of Man
Lyon, France
Clydebank, Scotland
Ceredigion, Wales
East Kilbride, Scotland
Hagatna, Guam
Harrow, England
Osaka, Japan
Leicester, England
Tokyo, Japan
Radyr, Wales
Seoul, Korea
Rekyavik, Iceland
Cardiff, Wales
Aberdeen, Scotland
Hong Kong, China
Devon, England
Dumbarton, Scotland
Luxembourg
Bogota, Colombia
Raratonga, Cook Islands
Islamabad, Pakistan
Tbilisi, Republic of Georgia
Windhoek, Namibia
Limerick, Ireland
Dundee, Scotland
Bridgetown, Barbados
Nanjing, China
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Shanghai, China
Santiago, Chile
Copenhagen, Denmark
Canberra, Australia
Kintilloch, Scotland
Rio de Janiero, Brazil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Cymru, Wales
Nagasaki, Japan
Dorado, Puerto Rico
Aberystwyth, Wales
Vaduz, Liechtenstein
Barcelona, Spain
Stourbridge, England
Cork City, Ireland
Yerevan, Armenia
Dunedin, New Zealand
Clackmannshire, Scotland
Sao Paulo, Brazil
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
Wellington, New Zealand
Reims, France
Luton, England
Hamilton, Scotland
Hiroshima, Japan
Regina, Canada
Thimphu, Bhutan
Hamilton, New Zealand
Ballerup, Denmark
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Tallin, Estonia
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Grenada, West Indies
Halifax, Nova Scotia
Geelong, Australia
Panaji, Goa
Aitkenvale; Queensland, Australia
Wenjiang, China
Vaughan, Ontario, Canada
Singapore
Lanarkshire, Scotland
Vienna, Austria
Livingston, Scotland
Swansea, Wales
Chennai, India
Selkirk, Scottish Borders
Galway, Ireland
Hangzhou, China
Dumferline, Scotland
Kiev, Ukraine
Limassol, Cypress
Malmo, Sweden
Abroath, Scotland
Ayr, Scotland
Lllandysul, Wales
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Kirkcaldy, Scotland
Nara, Japan
Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Tauranga, New Zealand
Warsaw, Poland
Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada
Brasov, Romania
Vilnius, Lithuania
St. Andrews, Scotland
Hastings, New Zealand
Kobenhavn, Denmark
Brisbane, Australia
Minsk, Belarus
Moscow, Russia
Trieste, Italy
Swaziland, Africa
The way God's goodness is poured out on us, I except to hear from many more. I suspect there are more libraries that have put my books in their collections being that not all foreign librarians take the time to send me a letter that has to be translated into English. But I'm thrilled with the letters I have received.
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