Happy Fourth!

Happy Valentine's Day

Happy Valentine's Day

Creation

Frederick Buechner (Wishful Thinking): If you think you're seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you're crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again either.

I've mentioned before that there are times that my camera helps me to see God around me better than without it. A couple of months last year, I posted an image on Instagram and Facebook each day for thirty days - Images of the day.  I'm posting a collage of the October images here.  If you read the blog, you may recognize some of them, but not all.

I'm going to add a series to the blog called Perspective. I'll post an image and explain what I see in it - the questions it brings to mind. I think I'll do this once a week.

Look around you intentionally.  I think you will see evidence of God. You will certainly find that you will wake up to something new every day.

Open Eyes - Still

I was walking through downtown Charleston during May, and I saw a bookcase out on the street (for those who know Charleston, it was outside of Taylor Books). For some reason, I stopped and snapped a picture with my iPhone. As I thought about that, I remembered that years ago, I would carry my camera around, and use it for a lens to look for God - to open my eyes to God's presence.

In May, I realized that I hadn't been doing that. So, I went onto my Facebook account, and posted that I was going to do a Month of Images: to open my eyes.  I did it, posting images every day for a month.

I did remind me to look around, and I'm still doing it, even though I don't post an image on Facebook every day - just every so often.

What discipline do you use to open your eyes to God?

A Photo Essay

On Wednesday evening, we saw the musical Anything Goes at the Clay Center.  It was great.

But this was the drive home...

We lost power in the middle of the night Wednesday (Thursday?).  It was off until 8:30 PM on Thursday.  This is my hot celebratory hot chocolate after it we had power again.

This is outside this morning.  Blue skies and snow.

Cooper's Rock

Images

My three guys after breakfast

Flowers outside of the Captain's House

Yes, there was a mermaid in our pool.

Blackwater Falls State Park

Magic Hour

I have an app on my phone called "Magic Hour."  Have you heard of the Magic Hour?  It's the time when the sun is between 6 degrees above the horizon and 6 degrees below the horizon.  It's a great time for photography, because the light is great. 

Jefferson Bible

Two of the source Bibles for the Jefferson Bible

Have you heard of the Jefferson Bible?  The Smithosonian has an exhibit in the American History Museum.  Jefferson decided to create a book using the Bible as its source.  With a razor, he carefully cut out sections of the Gospels, placing them in chronological order.   He did not include "references to angels, genealogy, or prophecy. Miracles, references to the Trinity and the divinity of Jesus, and Jesus' resurrection are also absent ..." (Source, Wikipedia). He called it The Life and Morals of Jesus Christ."

Jefferson Bible

He never published the Bible, and kept it relatively private, knowing it would be controversial.  The Smithsonian bought it in 1895 for $400 from Jefferson's great-granddaughter. 

The entire text is available online, page by page, at this link.

Punta Cana Sunrise

Punta Cana Sunrise

Birds

And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.”  (Genesis 1:20)

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you,

or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you...  (Job 12:7)

Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns,

and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

(Matthew 6:26)

It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden.

 It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches.”
(Luke 13:19)

And, yes, the bird feeders are out again.  

Focus and Light

These two pictures are of the same set of arches in the garden at Biltmore Estate. I've focused on the inside of the arches and then again through the arches.

When I focused on the inside, I miss the beauty through the arches. 

Life is that way, sometimes.   Focus only on what is inside, on what is familiar, on what is close, and miss the wonder that is outside our windows.

Wilmington Churches

Cross and Doves

In the comments, Bob asked about the picture of the cross I posted yesterday.

The doves are attached to strong wires. During the memorial service, the family members of pastors who died last year came to the altar, each with one of these doves. The doves were then attached to the cross. The cross that evening also had candles on it. It was beautiful.

The cross with the doves (no candles) was placed in the back of the altar area the next day. It was terrific looking -- as if the doves were flying around the cross.

The theme of Annual Conference involved the idea of power from the Holy Spirit. Doves were everywhere, including flying off the balcony railing. The top middle image in the collage is one of those doves.

Images: (Starting in top left hand corner and moving clockwise, and then finally to the center) Upright of lighted cross, dove flying off the balcony railing, unlighted cross, lighted cross, horizontal railing of the cross, cross prior to memorial service, and in the center, detail of doves, showing wire.

Images

Reflections

Couple of reflection images for you from today. The first one is of a nearby golf course, but once I saw the picture -- look at that reflection -- I thought the fact that it is a golf course was immaterial. I like the reflection.

The second image is from Epcot. More reflections -- these at night.

Image

Leaf, close up.

What details do we see when we take the time to look? How important are they? Do we find God in the details? More or less than we find him in the big picture?

And the Sun rises

Chapel Windows

I mentioned in an earlier post that I thought the windows in the chapel at St. Mark's UMC were interesting and that I would go back one day and take some images for the blog. I was off today, but stopped by the office for another reason -- I went into the chapel and took some pictures while I was there.