Tangled Webs

Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!
--Sir Walter Scott

It's usually early in childhood that we require admonition to truthfulness.  We are told to always tell the truth and to be sure it will find us out.  To avoid even "little white lies," so called, and to learn that deception can masquerade as truth, or be "technically" true and still mislead.

We can ponder the heart motivations which drive the act of deceiving others but what lies at the root of our vulnerability to accept a lie in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary?  What fans the flame of an effective conspiracy theory?  I will only allude to some of the more famous ones for fear of attracting the same "Google love" that sends their advocates scurrying around the Internet for fodder.

Perhaps the most famous and enduring surrounds the death of a beloved American leader and whether or not his killer acted alone or was "bought and paid for" by enemies, foreign or domestic.  Another suggests that space travel is all contrived and that we never actually landed a man on our lunar neighbor.  More recently the tragic events that toppled buildings in our capital and largest city surely must have been a government plot or something other than what they--Oh, the faceless "they"!--say they were.

Sadly, we're bent to want to believe the negative about others, perhaps especially those in authority.  Somehow it elevates the self.  "Did you hear?" pricks the ears, ready to glean a juicy tidbit however dubious.  So much the easier to swallow--and pass along--if we can make it fit the "pattern".

Fear strengthens the web as well.  "What are things coming to?" we ask, and fill the unknowable void with wild extrapolations and hearsay, satisfied that we've found the answer. Further query is not needed, thank you very much.

Rather that we would ask: Is it true, is it honest, is it just, is it pure, is it lovely, is it of good report?   And surely we'd want the virtue and praise that comes from thinking on such things (Phil. 4:8).

Starting with me.

Sense of Wonder

Solomon records four things which are "too wonderful" for him (Prov. 30:18).  Do you think his list was longer when he was a child?

Watch and Pray

With all the goings on of the papal retirement and the occasion of our Julie visiting Rome right now I thought I'd reach back a bit and dust off this image.

Whatever else might be said about it all, the architecture of St. Peter's is amazing.  Though I'm not aware that Peter ever got anywhere near there, you can hear echoes of the disciples as they came out of the Jerusalem temple, "Master, see what manner of stones and what buildings are here!" (Mark 13:1).

Imagine their disbelief at His response, "there shall not be left one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down."  Followed by the warnings of great and terrible things yet to come.

The concluding thought, for then and now, "watch and pray."

Is My Name Written There?

Today in church we were reminded that our names will be carved in a headstone someday, along with two dates.  And though some might choose to have additional details about their life engraved in granite, the only thing that really matters at that point is whether our names are written in heaven.  In the Lamb's Book of Life (Rev. 21:27).

As we sang in Sunday School:

Lord, I care not for riches, Neither silver nor gold;
I would make sure of heaven, I would enter the fold;
in the book of Thy kingdom, With its pages so far,
Tell me, Jesus, my Saviour, is my name written there?
       --Hymns of Zion #211, v. 1

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!