Perseverance

I watched him make this. First the idea came, a perfectly splendid idea! He started with a few cards using his newest deck. It wasn't long before he realized that he'd need to use the oldest, most seasoned deck of cards that our house had to offer. I'm sure there's a perfectly good spiritual analogy in there somewhere - ferret it out. As he got down to the nuts and bolts of building this tower, he got some wise counsel from one who had gone before and done this kind of thing in his youth. Next came the season of learning by failure, a difficult season indeed. I will not tell you how many times he kicked the whole thing and sent cards flying through the air in a glorious passion of frustration when the top cards kept toppling (is that a pun?). "Arrrgghhhh!" When the passion was spent, however, he picked them up and started again. The completed edifice is a monument to perseverance. Try it. (Perseverance, not the card tower; however you may choose to learn it the same way he did).

As to the two photos, I wanted to show the contrast between using the flash and trying to go without it. I'm torn. I don't like the artificial light of the flash, yet the photo seems too yellowish without it. I have a lot to learn about lighting. I can't help but think that a faster lens would help (an F stop of 2.8 would be nice). In the meantime, I bump up the ISO and put the F stop as low as I can and hope for the best. Persevere!

Simply Red

Of course, only one of my three followers will understand the reference to "Simply Red," so for the other two, I'll explain that this was the name that a musician in the 1980's went by. The only song I remember of his was one in which the refrain went "that's all I have to say..." It's tempting to end this blog post right now with those words, since I'm not sure I have much to add.

Which of these photos do you think is more effective? I love the brightness of the red ornament against the two different backgrounds. The first photo recalls to mind Isaiah 1:18 "Come now and let us reason together, says the Lord, Though your sins are as scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be like wool." It's thought provoking to consider that our sins are that vivid before the Lord.

Seeing Differently

One thing I'm learning about photography is the need to see things with a different eye, which can be through magnification, angle, perspective, lighting, etc. I had to hold the camera out underneath this item to get the photo and therefore couldn't look through the viewer. It isn't as sharp as I might have liked, but it gave me a new perspective on a lighting fixture that I wouldn't have had before.

One thing I want to do as a Christian is to see things with a different eye, to look for Jesus, to see things through His eyes. "God sees not as a man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, while the Lord looks at the heart." That's it. When I went beyond convention, I saw the heart of the light fixture, the place that nobody else sees and that is surprisingly beautiful. There isn't always beauty at the heart, but the truth is revealed. Lord, help me to see differently, to look at the heart.

Eye Wonder

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. Matthew 6:22-23

A lamp illumines, brings clarity, enlarges our vision. How is the eye like the lamp of the body? How do we get a good eye? Food for thought...

Beautiful Hands

Beautiful because...
...they remind me of my sister Leslie's elegant hands (not nail biters, either one of them)
...they make such lovely items when she gets in the crafting mode,
...they are writer's hands, and...
...these are the hands that help so generously and willingly when the need arises.
Thank you, my daughter.

Seasons Pass

How we all anticipate the Christmas season...and then how short it seems. As I look at these photos of ornaments, I see the years pass by, years of Christmas celebrations. The one at the top was an ornament that belonged to my parents-in-law, no doubt placed on the Christmas tree that Kris looked upon as a child. The other ornaments tell stories as well: our first Christmas with a baby, our Christmases in New Ulm (the handpainted ball with the Glockenspiel on it was given to us by friends when we moved). Each Christmas has been different, significant in its own way and yet each has been tied to all the others by the common thread of celebrating Jesus. The seasons may pass, but Christ Jesus is the same, yesterday and today, yes and forever!

Further In...

True story: I wanted to call this blog "Stories and Pictures," but that seemed sort of blah. I'm fond of alliteration, so the next choice was "Images and Ideas." Hmm...that had possibilities. After all, I really only wanted to start a blog in order to have a place to put some of the photos I've taken and the things I wanted to say about them. I didn't get the nod of approval from the Queen of the Blog (who shall remain nameless; suffice it to say that she helped me set this up), so I cast about for other ideas. What then sprang into my mind is the title you now see: Further Up and Further In, from the C.S. Lewis book The Last Battle. That's the ticket!

I expect this to be a journey of sorts, a journey that takes me further in to the grace and beauty that God sets before me every day, but which I ordinarily do not see. I hope to journey further up as well, up into God's country where I may think and (hopefully) write with clarity. At a time in my life when words are beginning to fail me, this is no small hope indeed.

Come with me, further up and further in!