Smarte

I confess to less than complimentary thoughts when I have seen these cars on the highways of the U.S.  They seem toy-like and downright dangerous as they share the road with SUVs and other behemoths that rumble through our land.

Our recent trip to Greece and Italy changed my paradigm.  These cars were born to ply the narrow streets of Athens and Rome! 

Limited parking?  No problem.  And if even the compact spacing afforded in the above image isn't available; you have other options...

Still not buying or recommending one for stateside, though.

Pillars

Pillar: a supporting, integral or upstanding member or part. (Merriam-Webster).

From a child, I've heard the term pillar used to refer to those who provided support, often in a quiet and unassuming manner, and especially in the context of the church. It always struck me as a high compliment.

Some of the columns are in the sun; up front and visible.  Some stand in the shadows and carry their load unnoticed.  Removal of any one of them would put a greater load on the others.  And who knows how many could be removed before the structure would collapse.

Acropolis

Acro (top), polis (city): City at the top.  T'he semester of Etymology I had with Mr. Tripp back at Hinsdale South was one of the best classes I ever took.

No surprise, I guess, that those Greek roots show up in Athens.  This happens to be from the vantage point from which Paul beheld the city wholly given to idolatry and challenged the Mars Hill gathering that the God they acknowledged as "unknown", was Him "in whom we live and move and have our being".  No less true today.

Soulmate

There's a look that you only give to your heart's love.  A smile that only years of knowing and loving can evoke. 

I love to make her laugh.

Bridges

Actually shot this with my cell phone on an early  morning bike ride recently.  I'm in a race against time as the sun rises later and later each day.  Always some sadness as the days shorten.  Yet peace in the promise that the seasons will follow in sequence until the Lord's return.

I like bridges, roads...connections.  Are we building connections?  Some good advice I heard a good while back; never burn a bridge.

Sometime We'll Understand

Not now, but in the coming years,
It may be in the better land,
We’ll read the meaning of our tears,
And there, some time, we’ll understand.

"Sometime We'll Understand" (Maxwell N. Cornelius")

R.I.P. Patrick Mizwicki, 1997-2011

Watching...waiting

I've been wondering if or how to use this image ever since I captured it in New England last summer.  Though it's not a true "widows walk", it reminds me of that lonely roost where the wives of seafarers would pace; watching and waiting, often in vain, for the return of their loved one.

This week, our son Nelson lost a neighborhood buddy in a tragic accident.  At 14, Pat was "too young to die".  Yet he's gone.

At the same time, my dad is continuing his recovery from open heart surgery.  Doing well at age 70, all things considered.  So thankful; especially in light of Pat.

These things send our minds in a thousand directions.  We hug our kids a little closer. We say our "I love yous" a little more freely.  We resolve to let the unimportant things pass a little easier.  To value each day a little more.

We realize we are all watching and waiting; for the return of something lost.   But while we wait, we must live.  With hope.

Molten Glass

"Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass?"  (Job 37:18)

I don't really know what kind of sky Elihu meant when he challenged Job and his friends with this and several other questions that illustrated how far above men God really is.  But I do love the sky.  A canvas always changing, always declaring His glory.

Union

If you look closely, the peak of our state's capitol rotunda makes a plug for national union (along with the sovereignty of the state).  The more I learn about Lincoln (of which Illinois is "the land of", you'll recall), the more I realize his guiding principle for the nation was union.  While other great causes existed at the time and no doubt inflamed the passions that led to war, it was "staying together" that motivated Old Abe to go to the lengths he did.

How can we apply this today?  When passionate voices cry out for one cause or the other.  Our Southern friends of the past, driven to preserve a way of life, used methods and "moral undergirding" that threatened and ultimately led to secession and war.  Lincoln never blinked in his resolve to preserve the union, believing that only together do we solve the great problems of the day.  And that the very founding principles of democracy were threatened if secession could ever be the answer to the challenges of any particular era.  No, the principles are validated when a people stay together and work those challenges out; however long it takes or however difficult.

I'm with Lincoln.  Because, by the way, he was with the One who said, "A house divided cannot stand..."  And He wasn't speaking of democracy, I shouldn't think.

A Mighty Fortress

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing;
Our helper He, amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great, and, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.
(Martin Luther)

Never failing.  "My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." (Ps. 73:26)