Month: March 2018

March 31, 2018 Compost

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Look ye upon this photo – really look at it. It’s not terribly appealing. If it were a hot summer day, this would also be covered with flies, and a nasty stench would be wafting up to greet the nostrils. There’s almost nothing beautiful about this, unless, like me, you find the collage of colors interesting. But I’ve told you the truth here. In this world, things die and decay, they smell bad. Can this ugly truth be beautiful? Can we look upon an innocent man beaten, bleeding and dying on a cross and see beauty? My friends, the answer is yes, if you know how to look beyond death and see resurrection. If you can look at this photo and see rich, dark soil being used to grow vegetables and flowers, you’ve learned the art of seeing the resurrection. “For though the outer man is decaying, yet the inner man is being renewed day by day.” Though the eggshells and red peppers are decaying, yet the soil is being renewed day by day. Don’t take my word for it – go start your own compost pile and see for yourself. Better yet, look upon the Man who wore the ugliness of death and then reversed it so that your ugly death could be reversed and the soil of your soul renewed to produce beautiful fruit. Until then, you’re just a pile of smelly compost that never changes.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

March 30, 2018 Robin, my Robin

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I realize that National Geographic will not be needing my photographic services any time soon, but I am so thrilled with this photo! This represents the true maiden voyage of the flagship Telephoto Lens. I’m not counting the photos I took of the tree on that first morning. This is actual Wildlife, doing Wild Things, like eating its Hapless Prey. I can almost hear Marlon Perkins narrating the dramatic action here as the robin ruthlessly tears into the tiny defenseless seed. It might have been even better had this robin been eating a worm, like a good robin should, but alas, I found a vegan robin and this will have to do. I’ve never looked this intently at a robin before, nor appreciated the craftsmanship of its design. Maybe this camera is giving me eyes to see. When I read “Great are the works of the LORD, studied by all who delight in them,” I have to admit I was thinking more on the lines of majestic mountains, stunning sunsets, that kind of thing. But it’s all here in this exquisite little robin. I’m definitely delighting.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

March 28, 2018 Sharpen

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There’s no getting around it – when you sharpen a pencil, some of the good stuff has to go. It seems wasteful, but it’s part of the cost of getting a sharp point with which to draw and color (notice how I avoided leaving a dangling preposition there, and do likewise). It’s interesting how so many things have to be sharpened to be at their best: knives, arrows, scissors, people… Yes, I did that – I added people to the mix. As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another, said the Preacher. Being sharpened usually doesn’t feel good, but it equips us to be better tools for God’s service. Put me up against that whetstone; sharpen me like a pencil. The stuff that grinds off or peels away isn’t essential and I’m better off without it. Give me a nice, sharp point and set me loose.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

March 27, 2018 Ode to Pistachios

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What I really appreciate about pistachios, aside from their charm, good looks and impeccable taste, is that you really have to work for all that goodness.  By the time you’ve amassed a handful, there’s a certain amount of moral high ground you’ve reached in earning the luxury of eating them.  Contrast this to what happens every year on Christmas Day when we go to my sister’s house for the extended family celebration.  My sister and her husband are fabulous hosts, and one of the little extras they provide on that day are bowls full of pistachios without their protective armor.  That’s right: bowls full.  Every year on our way there, I tell myself firmly (very firmly) that I will not lose control with the pistachios, but each year the same, sad story plays out.  It wouldn’t be so bad if I were able to forsake the Christmas cookies to make room for the pistachio gorging, but no.  I hear a little voice in my head saying “YOLO” and off I go.  Well, it’s only once a year…and YOLO.

When I buy them for our home, they come with protective gear and the seemingly impenetrable ones get left for last.  By the time one of those bad boys gets cracked open, the last shreds of potential guilt have melted away and it’s smooth sailing right down the gullet.  Amen.

I’ll probably delete this in the morning.

March 27, 2018 I Will Awaken The Dawn

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This seems unnecessarily complicated.

I’m switching to WordPress from Blogger to get access to the photos on my iPad (my blog there was called “Further Up and Further In,” a nod to C.S. Lewis). https://fari-blog.blogspot.com/

Now that it comes to it, I don’t have much to say about this photo, one of the first I took on my new Nikon D3400 camera with the nifty 70-300 lens that came with it.

I was in my bathrobe and slippers outside on a frosty cold morning when I took this, hoping to see birds in yonder tree, but had to be content with yonder tree against the dawn sky. The Psalmist said, “I will awaken the dawn.” Something tells me that I would have had to be awake before dawn to be able to use that quote accurately.

I’ll probably delete this blog entry later when I get this all figured out (this is somewhat akin to the Dread Pirate Roberts telling Westley everyday “I’ll probably kill you in the morning.”).