This blog is mostly about images. A photo captures a moment in time and lets us slow down long enough to see the rich texture of the life all around us. It's mostly for my own amusement, but if you stumbled here somehow, please enjoy.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Keep A Cool Head

I love how these guys are walking so determinedly towards their current emergency (yes, it was a real hotel fire...though not too serious).  Haste rarely makes for a good response, even in a crisis.  Hats off to the pros who handle these kinds of emergencies every day.

It reminds me of the first lines of the poem "If" by Rudyard Kipling:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Sunday, March 28, 2010

Our Love Shall Not Diminish

Our love shall not diminish
Nor fade nor wane away;
Bind us till life we finish
And in the grave we lay.

Pure love leads to perfection,
Joy of our soul and guide,
Gives us true satisfaction,
And leads to heaven's light.

("Our Love Shall Not Diminish", Zion's Harp #137, v. 1, 6)

Yes, I love the candid shot.  The almost and altogether divine instant when a mechanical shutter releases at precisely the right time to capture a fleeting moment.  As a friend with a practiced eye pointed out about this shot, "what a moment on that one!".  I couldn't agree more.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Come Thirsty

To the wounded and the weary come thirsty

Have you built up a resistance
To the sun and to the rain?
Is your life in need of healing
From the heartache and the pain?
Jesus calls to all the searching
To cast your every care on him.
For he offers living water
You will never thirst again.

Have you wandered in the desert
Seeking refuge for too long?
Have the sands of disappointment
Hidden your heart’s song?
A refreshing spring is flowing
For your parched and barren soul.
Come and drink the cup of mercy
For it makes the sinner whole.

Come thirsty
To the fountain that never shall run dry
It’s a soothing sweet oasis
Every need is satisfied
To the wounded and the weary come thirsty.
(The Perry's "Come Thirsty")

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Forest Fire?

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the LORD's name is to be praised. (Ps. 113:3)

Of course it's not a forest fire, just another splendid sunset in our backyard.  The heavens in general, and sunsets in particular, are some of my favorite subjects.  Ever changing and still the same, timeless yet daily reminders that God is in His heaven and that He exhibits limitless creativity and imagination.

Monday, March 22, 2010

Why I Fly IFR

Who layeth the beams of his chambers in the waters: who maketh the clouds his chariot: who walketh upon the wings of the wind:(Ps. 104:3)

I recently gained the right to fly an airplane through the clouds and gain such spectacular vistas.  These were taken with a cell phone camera but still capture the magnificence of the carpet of clouds at about 5000 above sea level.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Smiles

OK, so I'm already "on the record" for preferring candid shots over posed ones.  But I keep coming back to the "million dollar" smiles on this one of some special bridesmaids at our niece's recent wedding.

It's a little cheesy but I'm reminded of a line that has stuck with me: "Smile awhile and another smiles and soon there are miles and miles of smiles!".  So smile a little more today, OK?  :)

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Think Spring!

Yes, this was from last year.  But it can't hurt to hope, can it? And the signs are everywhere that it's on its way!

As I think of the detail in this image, I'm reminded of the myriad intricacies of design evident in Creation.  We are truly blessed to have five senses to enjoy them.  And the closer you look, the better it gets (a definition of quality that I once heard).  God has placed eternity in the hearts of men and throughout Creation (Eccl. 3:11).

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Girl Cousins

Please allow me to tell you why I like this picture. Of course these young ladies are my beautiful daughter and nieces and I love them very dearly.  But a good shot of people to me is often about capturing a serendipitous moment.  This one seems to be at the precise instant where their enjoyment of each other met with a realization there was a camera focused on them...but before they could actually pose for it.  Success!

Sunday, March 14, 2010

Blowing Off Steam

Pent up energy, frustration, anxiety...all good ways to nurture a heart attack.  So whether it's not letting the "sun go down upon your wrath" (giving place to the devil) or simply kicking back and relaxing from a hard week of work, we are supposed to rest and refresh from time to time.  God wasn't tired after creating the world, but He ordained sabbath rest for us anyway, knowing our frame!

"Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy." (Exod. 20:8)

Friday, March 12, 2010

Prints in the Snow

Tracks in the snow or at the beach or in a wood...they always tell a story.  Someone has been here and now they are gone.  Their impact is noticeable yet fleeting.  Scripture says, "we spend our years as a tale that is told." (Ps. 90:9). The snow is gone in the Midwest and so the traces of this critter are long melted away.  Yet the "story" of our lives will ring in eternity.  What is being written of you? Of me?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

The Union of Hearts

This covenant shall then
Endure and stand forever;
There neither grief nor pain
Shall come to part or sever
There God shall e'er abide
With us our truest friend,
Our hearts in Him unite
Forever without end.
(Zion's Harp #79)

I struggle to express how the melodic strains of this hymn combine with its words to pluck my heart strings.  Perhaps it's the countless times hearing it sung at weddings mixed with the threefold cord knit when Cindy and I joined hands and heart in the Lord.  Simply beautiful.

Monday, March 8, 2010

The Happy Couple

The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.
(Deut. 6:24-26)

Our niece Brittany got married yesterday. I could probably go on quite awhile about how time flies and too soon they grow up and do things like this.  Suffice it to say that life is a vapor.  I'm deeply grateful for a loving family and ties that bind.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Trimmed and burning?

 
This little light of mine, I'm gonna let it shine.

As the children's song goes on we are admonished not to "hide it under a bushel" (No!) and to "let it shine 'til Jesus comes".  As you ponder these lampposts, consider not only the obvious obscuration of the one but the condition of its bulbs as well.

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Inbound-Outbound

And he (Jesus) said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat. (Mark 6:31)

I think this is what they call a "money shot".  Trying to capture American Eagle inbound to O'Hare, I inadvertently caught another "bird" outbound (look closely). It makes me think of how we much "coming and going" we do.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Settlers of Catan

This image is really about the warm feelings evoked by having Greg and Ryan home from college for a weekend.  Frankly, my experience with "Settlers" is mostly about getting beaten by these guys so it's best to let them duke it out. They've been friendly rivals for about 19 years now.  Next thing to twins.