Category Archives: Photography

Waiting For What?

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This weeks challenge from “A Word in Your Ear” is WAITING.  There are some great waiting photographs and maybe a few waiting poems as well at

http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2014/01/15/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-waiting/

Here is what I have to say about wiating….

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“Patience is power.
Patience is not an absence of action;
rather it is “timing”
it waits on the right time to act,
for the right principles
and in the right way.” 
― Fulton J. Sheen

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“Men trust God by risking rejection. Women trust God by waiting.” 
― Carolyn McCulley

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They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength… Isaiah 40:31

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Man-Made Items

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Hello All,

I am trying this year (as in resolving) to spend a little bit more time each week working on my creative gifts. 2013 was a year of establishing foundations for new ministry. In 2014 I hope to work at placing ministers within the infrastructures I helped to create so that I don’t have to do quite so much of the day to day work. My hope is that will free up some time so that I might dabble my way back into the artistic process I love so much.

Check out some other dabblers with me at Cee’s Fun Foto Stop

http://ceenphotography.com/2014/01/14/cees-fun-foto-challenge-man-made-items/

Here are my dabblations for the week!

The cities of men- Delft The Netherlands

The cities of men- Delft The Netherlands

 

The creations of men

The creations of men

The food of men

The food of men

 

 

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Preoccupied

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I haven’t done a Fun Foto Challenge in a while….It’s a whole new year and I am trying to take back the time that I have given away to other things in recent months. This week we the challenge is to depict the theme Preoccupied. 

The definition of being preoccupied according to Webster’s On-line Dictionary is- to be lost in thought; absorbed in some preoccupation (a state in which you give all your attention to something)

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Discipline means to prevent everything in your life from being filled up. Discipline means that somewhere you’re not occupied, and certainly not preoccupied. In the spiritual life, discipline means to create that space in which something can happen that you hadn’t planned or counted on.

Henri Nouwen

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A lot of people seem to get preoccupied with what I’m wearing as opposed to the music.

Sheryl Crow

Our focus cannot be everywhere. We are finite beings. It’s O.K. to become preoccupied with something. We just need to make sure it’s the right something.

J.E. Lillie

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I hope you enjoy the song.


Weekly Travel Theme: Illuminated

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Ailsa has given us the travel theme ILLUMINATED. Please check out Ailsa’s photos and those of her commentators this week at             http://wheresmybackpack.com/2014/01/10/travel-theme-illuminated/

Here is what I came up with:

“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” ― Anne Frank

Old Orchard Beach ME                                                                                                                                                                                                                            “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
― Anne Frank

Boston Art Museum “We are like the moon. The moon shines anyway, but it does not produce its own light. It reflects the light illuminated onto its surface by the Sun and is never proud to say "I am the source of light". God shines through us, hence He deserves the glory; not us.” ― Israelmore Ayivor

Boston Art Museum
“We are like the moon. The moon shines anyway, but it does not produce its own light. It reflects the light illuminated onto its surface by the Sun and is never proud to say “I am the source of light”. God shines through us, hence He deserves the glory; not us.”
― Israelmore Ayivor

A Word A Week Photography Challenge: Gap

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I haven’t had time to play much with photography of late but I wanted to throw up a few photos I have been working on.  Sue’s  word a week challenge  gave me just the opportunity I needed.

Check out her other subscriber’s work at http://suellewellyn2011.wordpress.com/2013/12/31/a-word-a-week-photograph-challenge-gap/

Here are some photos using the word: GAP

The Way to the Sea

The Way to the Sea

Illusion is an anodyne, bred by the gap between wish and reality.

Herman Wouk
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And I sought for a man among them, that should make up the hedge, and stand in the gap before me for the land, … Ezek. 22:30 KJV

 

 

 

 

Christmas Woosh!

Posted on by under For Family & Fun, Photography

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Dear Readers,

I am sorry I have been so long away from the writing desk. The Christmas Holidays have turned into a Christmas Woosh.

It has been such an enjoyable. powerful, difficult week of ministry. The experiences  have left me  little time for putting fingers to keyboard. I just checked my dashboard and I have logged a little more than a thousand miles of driving since last Sunday!

On Sunday I led worship as Pastor Risto gave his last sermon before leaving for Canada for his Christmas holiday. You can find that sermon here

http://cornerstoneag.net/2013/12/22/the-invitation-to-and-from-the-manger/

 

After service and  Cornerstone’s  cookie fellowship my sister and I drove through a light snow to pick up my daughter Melanie and her fiance James at their pastor’s home in Cambridge.

James Franklin and Melanie Lillie

James Franklin and Melanie Lillie

We dropped the kids off at Melanie’s mother’s home for their family Christmas which was scheduled for the 23rd. That gave me the time I needed to finish up my shopping and wrapping ( yep I had last-minute stuff to buy).

On the 23rd Brenda and I drove to Lynnfield MA to visit with Brenda’s boss who is in the U.S.  for her year of itinieration.

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Judy  gave us a tour of her home, Beth Shan, and took us to lunch at Kouzinas Kitchen in Saugus.

On the 24th I was privileged to preach the Christmas Eve service and then we all (that is Me, Mom, Brenda, Amanda, Melanie and James) nestled in for a long winter’s nap after nachos , Christmas Stolenn and eggnog of course.

Christmas was as Christmas always is a day of celebrating and eating. I made pumpkin pancakes and cinnamon rolls for breakfast, lasagna for lunch and leftovers followed up with pumpkin pie and berry pie for supper.

Yesterday I drove James and Melanie to James’ home in Oakdale CT  so they could be with his family for a few days.

Today I have just come from officiating the funeral of a distant cousin. This last event sort of puts all the running of the season in perspective. The holiday is wonderful in and of itself but all the traditional celebration means nothing if we lose the reason for the season. When all the veneer of frivolity is stripped away and we are left facing life as it really is, full not just of life but of death, what truth do we have to speak into that dark night of the soul?

The people who walk in darkness
    will see a great light.
For those who live in a land of deep darkness,
    a light will shine.
3 You will enlarge the nation of Israel,
    and its people will rejoice.
They will rejoice before you
    as people rejoice at the harvest
    and like warriors dividing the plunder.
4 For you will break the yoke of their slavery
    and lift the heavy burden from their shoulders.
You will break the oppressor’s rod,
    just as you did when you destroyed the army of Midian.
5 The boots of the warrior
    and the uniforms bloodstained by war
will all be burned.
    They will be fuel for the fire.

6 For a child is born to us,
    a son is given to us.
The government will rest on his shoulders.
    And he will be called:
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
7 His government and its peace
    will never end.
He will rule with fairness and justice from the throne of his ancestor David
    for all eternity.
The passionate commitment of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies
    will make this happen! Isaiah 9:1-7

 

 

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Alone

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Cee has given us a great photo challenge this week with the word alone!

http://ceenphotography.com/2013/12/10/cees-fun-foto-challenge-alone/

My blogging time over the last two months  has been extremely limited and I have had to curtail my writing to about 10 minutes daily (it’s good  I had a bunch of material written ahead).  That said this topic was so good I just couldn’t pass it up; So I have managed to carve out a few spare minutes to create a new picture post from the topic.

"Ah, look at all the lonely people Ah, look at all the lonely people Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door Who is it for? All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong? Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear No one comes near. Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there What does he care? All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong? Ah, look at all the lonely people Ah, look at all the lonely people Eleanor Rigby died in the church and was buried along with her name Nobody came Father Mckenzie wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave No one was saved All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people) Where do they all come from? All the lonely people (ah, look at all the lonely people) Where do they all belong?" John Lennon, Paul MCCartney

“Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been,
Lives in a dream
Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door
Who is it for?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?…
 John Lennon, Paul MCCartney

Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear No one comes near. Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there's nobody there What does he care? All the lonely people Where do they all come from? All the lonely people Where do they all belong? Ah, look at all the lonely people Ah, look at all the lonely people John Lennon, Paul MCCartney

Father Mckenzie writing the words of a sermon that no one will hear
No one comes near.
Look at him working, darning his socks in the night when there’s nobody there
What does he care?
All the lonely people
Where do they all come from?
All the lonely people
Where do they all belong?
Ah, look at all the lonely people
Ah, look at all the lonely people…
John Lennon, Paul MCCartney

The idea of  being alone communicates sadness and even fear to many people. Yet in a certain sense we are never alone. Jesus said, ” I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.” Ma 28:20 KJV

So if we choose to acknowledge Christ’s presence being alone transforms itself from a lack to an advantage…the power of one, if you will.

“I learned that in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed.” ― Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One

“I learned that in each of us there burns a flame of independence that must never be allowed to go out. That as long as it exists within us we cannot be destroyed.”
― Bryce Courtenay, The Power of One

That stubborn streak many of us call independence (which I really think is best displayed as a cooperative dependence on God) is what makes aloneness a power rather than a weakness.
Don’t get me wrong. You won’t find a bigger advocate for the necessity of community but when it comes right down to it there are certain places you can only go alone.
Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying. Martin Luther

Every man must do two things alone; he must do his own believing and his own dying.
Martin Luther

Ultimately it is in these alone places, where we discover ourselves separated from all other human comapnionship, that we find out just how much we have come to rely on the One solitary life that was given so we might never truly walk alone.

One Solitary Life He was born in an obscure village The child of a peasant woman He grew up in another obscure village Where he worked in a carpenter shop Until he was thirty He never wrote a book He never held an office He never went to college He never visited a big city He never travelled more than two hundred miles From the place where he was born He did none of the things Usually associated with greatness He had no credentials but himself He was only thirty three His friends ran away One of them denied him He was turned over to his enemies And went through the mockery of a trial He was nailed to a cross between two thieves While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing The only property he had on earth When he was dead He was laid in a borrowed grave Through the pity of a friend Nineteen centuries have come and gone And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race And the leader of mankind's progress All the armies that have ever marched All the navies that have ever sailed All the parliaments that have ever sat All the kings that ever reigned put together Have not affected the life of mankind on earth As powerfully as that one solitary life Dr James Allan © 1926.

One Solitary Life
He was born in an obscure village
The child of a peasant woman
He grew up in another obscure village
Where he worked in a carpenter shop
Until he was thirty
He never wrote a book
He never held an office
He never went to college
He never visited a big city
He never travelled more than two hundred miles
From the place where he was born
He did none of the things
Usually associated with greatness
He had no credentials but himself
He was only thirty three
His friends ran away
One of them denied him
He was turned over to his enemies
And went through the mockery of a trial
He was nailed to a cross between two thieves
While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing
The only property he had on earth
When he was dead
He was laid in a borrowed grave
Through the pity of a friend
Nineteen centuries have come and gone
And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race
And the leader of mankind’s progress
All the armies that have ever marched
All the navies that have ever sailed
All the parliaments that have ever sat
All the kings that ever reigned put together
Have not affected the life of mankind on earth
As powerfully as that one solitary life
Dr James Allan © 1926.

Weekly Travel Theme: Symbol

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I am glad to have some time to work on  a photographic post this week, FINALLY!

The travel theme we have been asked to photograph is: Symbol.

When you are done with my symbols  go on over to Ailsa’s place and find out what her other subscribers are putting forth.

http://wheresmybackpack.com/2013/12/06/travel-theme-symbol/

Here are some symbols I found:

Peacock Design at Delft Factory

Peacock Design at Delft Factory

The peacock is a symbol of immortality because the ancients believed that the peacock had flesh that did not decay after death. As such, early Christian paintings and mosaics use peacock imagery, and peacock feathers can be used during the Easter season as church decorations. This symbol of immortality is also directly linked to Christ.-The meaningsof symbols.blogspot.com

Windmills at Zaanseschans

Windmills at Zaanseschans

When I think windmills I think Holland (or  Don Quixote but let’s stay away from the crazy shall we). Windmills are a symbol of industry and ingenuity overcoming obstacles. A truly worthy symbol if ever there was one!

The Cross Cut Out at St. Bavo's

The Cross Cut Out at St. Bavo’s

No post on symbols by me would be complete without the symbol of the cross. Immortality is awesome! Ingenuity and Industry are great! But none of these are truly possible without the cross! Paul said… “When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.” Col. 2:13-15

Without the cross immortality is impossible. Without the cross ingenuity falls short of eternal accomplishment. And without the cross industry is just so much wasted energy. For the cross is what reconciles us to God and fills the need of true purpose that dwells within the heart of every man.