Ardent Flames

O that Thy ardent flames were kindled,
Unfathomable depth of love!
May all the universe acknowledge
That Thou art King and Lord above.
--Zion's Harp #73, v. 1

Has love's bright flame died out among us?
Nay, it shall burn intensely and with will;
Ne'er shall Thy love in us be waning,
And as it bound the saints, so bind us still.
It gives us hope where we in fear would groan,
Leads us to trust in Thy good help alone.
--Zion's Harp #192, v. 3

A Moment in Time

I trust the lack of complete sharpness in this image can be overlooked when the speed of the subject is considered.  Just try to imagine--or calculate, if you are so bent--the distance traveled in 1/400th of a second.

As I noted in the blog description above, one of the things I enjoy about photography is the capturing of a brief flash of time.  Some images seem frozen, some shout the fact that there is a before and after.  But in each case, we move through life a second at a time; all too often unmindful of its fleeting nature.

James 4:14.

Ends & Means

How did a "third rate burglary" taken down a presidency?  How could someone who had risen to such a position of power stumble at the most basic moral lessons our parents impart?  Tell the truth.  No little white lies.  No ends justify the means.  Be sure your sins will find you out (Num. 32:23).

Somewhere the big man began to lose his grip with mortality.  Like old King Saul, no longer "little in his own eyes".  Too big and powerful to fail.  No input needed, thank you very much.  Obviously I must know it all if I got to this place. Who would dare suggest otherwise?

We all need truth-tellers in our lives.  Those willing to risk our wrath to remind us we're mortal.  As a good friend of mine says, "Feedback is a gift."

(In case you're wondering, the building is The Watergate. Just a third rate burglary...)

Stay Connected!

This blog hasn't borne much witness to the fact that I'm a train fan, airplanes typically getting the top billing.  While my interest doesn't translate into much of a pursuit of a particular aspect of this subject, I do find them quite interesting.

Sure, there's a romance to riding the rails.  And the technology, though pushing the two century mark, is still fascinating.  (No, I don't like being stopped by a train anymore than the next guy.)

There's something about the way the engine provides power (motive force, if you will) which is transmitted link by link to the very end of the train, perhaps a mile back.  No matter which direction the engine is going, uphill or down, the very last car (enter a plaintive lament for the extinct caboose) will follow.  Indeed there's a fascinating place in the Canadian Rockies where the locomotives emerge from a mountain tunnel directly below and perpendicular to their rear cars as they navigate the famous Spiral Tunnel.

But of course the cars must stay connected to one another if that magnificent train is going to remain a unit and deliver its full load.  How sad when we stop looking for ways to get along and break the links that bind us together.  Our divorce culture has permeated every aspect of life, wreaking its full havoc wherever it is found.  And God hates it. (Mal. 2:16).

Symmetry

This post is really about asymmetry.  The engineer in me likes symmetry.  There's something about things balancing out that just makes sense. At first.  Until you see that God's creation isn't about straight lines or having everything equal on both sides of the line, real or imagined.  That there's really more beauty in the lack of symmetry.  If you don't believe it, just take an image of the prettiest face you can find and reverse one side and substitute the reversal on the other side--ugly!

Then there's the whole "yin and yang" thing which is really a sick joke played on humankind, right up there with karma.

But to return to the lighter side, the Rule of Thirds in photography is an example of how even our eyes and brains don't really prefer symmetry.  I don't think I did too badly on that here, do you?

Wedge

I can't think of anything witty or erudite to say about this (which is not to say any previous posts have fit that description). I just really like the picture and think my wife is amazing for creating such a delightful and tasty subject for my camera and palate at Christmas!

His Government

For unto us a child is born,
unto us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder:
and his name shall be called Wonderful,
Counsellor,
The mighty God,
The everlasting Father,
The Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end,
upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it,
and to establish it with judgment
and with justice
from henceforth even for ever.
(Isaiah 9:6-7)

Merry Christmas!

Where there's smoke?

Our minds are well-designed and well-trained to draw conclusions by what we observe and the "rules" we have learned to apply.  This serves us well in many ways. Yet as we experience life, we come to understand that things are not always what they seem at first.  Or as they appear to us.  Knowledge is not the same as wisdom.  Google provides unlimited knowledge but one must search (no pun intended) diligently for wisdom (Eccl. 7:25).

Knowledge can recite the rules and exactly why the sinner should be stoned.  Wisdom turns the judgment on the judgers and inquires whom among you that is without sin let him cast the first stone.

Knowledge determines the rabbi to be guilty by association.  Wisdom catches His vision that the whole need no physician and that salvation is for those who are able to see themselves as lost.

Knowledge acquired puffs the mind.  Wisdom increases humility.

And, lest we take ourselves too seriously, knowledge is knowing that tomatoes are technically classified as fruit; wisdom is not putting them in a fruit salad!

"So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." (Psalm 91:12)

How shall we sing?

See them, who their harps suspending
On the weeping willow tree,
Lacking zeal Thy pardon spurning,
They could not rejoice in Thee.

But we are in Thee confiding,
Freed from Babylon and sin;
Even tho' our life they threaten,
Thou, O Lord, wilt help us win!
--Zion's Harp #214

"How shall we sing the LORD’S song in a strange land? If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning." (Psalm 137:4-5)

What a sad scene it must have been "by the rivers of Babylon"!  Looking back with hopes dashed, the realization of warnings spurned and pardon missed because of disobedience.  No song would come, no mirth from their grieving and regret-filled hearts.  Yet, at end, a resolve to never forget Jerusalem; the city of David, the embodiment of the once and future time when obedience would flourish again,  accompanied with promise fulfilled of the Lord's blessing.

Thou, O Lord, wilt help us win!

Not one cubit!

If I said it once, I said it a dozen times, "which of you with taking thought can add to his stature one cubit?" (Luke 12:25)  But all three of them passed me up with a grin that seemed to indicate they had accomplished something.  Poetic justice has the youngest now the tallest; some satisfaction in that for dad!