Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, May 20, 2026

A few days ago, I was in our garden planting some recent additions when I glanced up at the sky. What I saw was stunning – no filters, no edits. Just a vivid display of color and contrast. The deep blue stretched endlessly, interrupted by a passing cloud – bright white at its edges, yet layered with darker shades of gray beneath. The details almost looked like something underwater, like a wave cresting and churning as it moves.

In that single moment, the sky felt like a canvas—alive with motion, texture, and intention. It was a glimpse of our Creator’s artistry on full display.

David captures this so well in Psalm 19:1:

“The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”

How true that is, not just then, but now. The same sky David looked upon continues to speak, continues to proclaim. Every cloud formation, every shift in light, every hue of blue carries the signature of the One who made it.

Just like an artist carefully places each brushstroke on a canvas, God paints the sky with purpose — blending colors, shaping depth, and creating movement. And yet, how often do we miss it?

It only took a brief pause, one glance upward, to be reminded that His glory surrounds us daily, quietly declaring itself in even the most ordinary moments.

The next time you have an opportunity to gaze at the clouds or the stars, remember the Artist who created these incredible views for each one of us.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, May 19, 2026

Think back to a time when air travel was different than today.  Maybe you can remember when we got dressed up to take a flight.  Somehow suit and tie seemed necessary to board an airplane.  And it seemed almost necessary to complain about airline food, but at least there was food back then.  Now, we’re lucky if we get pretzels (and of course no peanuts due to severe allergies).  Yes, things have change.  Still, some things have fortunately remained the same.  We still have confidence that the pilot and navigator will get us to our desired destination.

Long before we were traveling to Grandmother’s house by air, birds were taking extended flights to places many of us have yet to visit.  One of those that makes the longest migrations of any North American bird is the White-rumped Sandpiper.  It nests in Arctic Canada and winters in the southern portion of South America.  Its fall migration takes it over the Atlantic Ocean, where its flight gradually moves southeastward to take it along the coast before crossing the Amazon basin.  This extended flight takes about a month to complete.  In spring its flight north follows a similar pattern except it does so more quickly employing a fast series of long flights.  One of these can be as long as 2,600 miles without stopping!  Perhaps it is done this way to accommodate the short Arctic summer since its migration starts later than many species.

Long before humans employed this kind of travel and long distance journeys were done by sea, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow understood the importance of correct navigation to reach one’s destination.  He used poetic words to transfer this temporal experience to the spiritual reality each of us must take.  In this way he observed:  “Morality without religion is only a kind of dead reckoning — an endeavor to find our place on a cloudy sea by measuring the distance we have run, but without any observation of the heavenly bodies.”

Photo ©2011 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, May 18, 2026

In last week’s photo parable, entitled “Lord of the Sabbath,” I mentioned that when looking to the west, I could see the top of Mt. St. Helens. The colorful beauty of today’s photo reminds me that the terrible destruction that occurred on May 18, 1980, is not the end of God’s story. On that day, Mt. St. Helens lost more than 1,300 feet of its summit cone. Fifty-seven people lost their life in the event. Humanity’s sin has brought us face to face with its consequences. But, one day, God will bring renewal. Today’s photo cannot capture even a portion of what He holds in store for us.

“Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV).

 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true” (Revelation 21:5 NIV).

Over the past year, photography and my love of the wilderness have allowed me to share just a glimpse of what God wants us to experience. I pray that you and I will be ready for the rest of His story.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, May 17, 2026

Do you see him? Zoom in closer, to see how well this bunny blends in with his background.

As soon as he heard us coming down the path, he froze. He reminded me of long ago days when I would sit very still in the classroom, not moving a muscle and avoiding eye contact with my teacher, in hopes I would not be called upon to give an answer.

Likewise, this bunny did not want to engage with us. We waited and waited, not moving any of our muscles, and he blinked first. He started foraging around for greenery, and we resumed our trek home.

Ever since, I’ve been musing on blending in. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? I think the answer is Yes and Yes. It depends.

And, as always, I thought of people I’ve met in the pages of my Bible. Who blended in, and who did not?

It was much easier to think of those that determined not to blend in. Remember Daniel’s three friends? Did you think of them first? Rather than join with everyone else in kneeling before a golden statue, they literally stood up and stood out as people who worshipped God alone.

Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18 NIV)

As a child, I was mightily impressed with their courage. As an adult, I noticed their clear-eyed acknowledgement that their God was able to protect them, but “even if he does not,” they would not worship false gods. That “even if” faith challenges me!

As a child, I was amazed that the seven-times hotter fire did not harm them; it did not singe a hair on their head, nor did they even smell like fire. And, best of all, Someone joined them, walking with them in that fiery furnace. As an adult, I like to imagine their grandchildren urging them to “tell us about the time you were thrown in the fiery furnace”!

So many other stand-outs come to mind: Noah, Joseph, David, Joshua, Daniel, Esther, Deborah, Elijah, Moses, Peter, Paul, Barnabas, Stephen, all the prophets . . .

How about those that chose to blend in, and it was a good thing? I furrow my brow as I try to think of these people . . . Ruth! In devotion to her mother-in-law she left her home and all she knew, and pledged to fully identify with Naomi:

“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if even death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16,17)

She turned her back on her country’s heathen gods, and became one of five women mentioned in the genealogy of Jesus.

Jesus. He came to be Emmanuel, God with us. He never blended in, but He “took on humanity,” became one of us. He so fully identified with us that He carried our sins when He carried His cross.

So we’ve moved from talking about blending in, to identifying with. Have I veered off-topic? Have I followed a rabbit trail?

All of this musing and meandering because I saw a bunny!

As we hit the trail in this brand-new week, here’s God’s call to us:

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12: 2)

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, May 16, 2026

What you’re looking at in the photo is a story. It’s not an accidental discard of an apple. The reason I know this is that this was the second time this week I saw a partly-eaten apple right at this spot. One day (Wednesday) there was an apple, the next day none, and  today (Friday) there’s another apple.

So what’s going on? First, take a look at the photo. The apple is at the bottom, and beyond it are a couple of construction warning signs. Over between those signs is where the schoolbus stops to pick up kids. So my analysis is that a youngster, leaving the house on the way to the bus stop, is admonished by a parent to eat the apple for lunch. Not wishing to delay the apple’s consumption, and perhaps not wishing to carry the apple around all day, the kid chomps a good portion of the apple and drops it.

Is that what happened? Who knows? Two apples, twice in the week, half-eaten and discarded.

As time goes on, of course, the apple-eater will come to realized how important nutrition is, and how much an apple costs, and will behave in a more stewardship-sensitive way.

Which of course is an excellent reminder to all of us, to do what’s healthy. If you keep up with social media feeds, you’re experiencing a relatively remorseless battery of advice about what’s healthy and what’s not. As someone who has learned this because of a well-informed wife, I can personally testify how important a good lifestyle is.

The Bible has a surprising amount to say about good health. Check out the link just below:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/health

Photo ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, May 15, 2026

During my elementary school years I lived on a little farm which had two large cottonwood trees between our house and our barn. Every spring, those cottonwoods would sprout seed pods, which would then burst and send out thousands and thousands of these little puffballs like the one you see in this photo, which Shelley snapped of my hand this past Wednesday.

Actually, earlier that same day I had spotted the first cottonwood seed I’d seen this year. It was drifting past me, so I reached out and grabbed it. It was smaller than the one you see above, but its seed was surrounded by the same gauzy cotton-like substance. Once I had it in my fist, I glanced around me to see if I could spot a cottonwood tree, and there were none in sight.

This means that a cottonwood somewhere had ejected that little puffball, and the wind had carried it to where I was, in the hopes that a new tree would be created. That’s called influence. The original tree would never “meet” the new tree, but the powerful seed, if given the right care, would grow.

A few minutes ago I was on a phone call with a man who told me that a short while before her death, his wife had purchased a new Bible, and had gone through and underlined her favorite verses. When she died, the man eventually gave her Bible away, and he learned that someone is now reading those verses when times of depression come.

Influence. God created cottonwood trees to spread their influence, and has created you to share yours. For four Bible texts on how to do this, click the link just below:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/witnessing

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Thursday, May 14, 2026

We don’t use this little timer anymore. Technology provides us with better and more audible options with which to time our three-minute Boggle game rounds.

It’s a good thing we don’t need to rely on this timer, because it’s stuck. The little white sands aren’t faithfully filtering down. If we give it a firm tap, a few sands trickle down, then stop.

A reluctant timer is not a reliable instrument for measuring time. And being “stuck” sounds like a negative experience to me. However, I’m thinking that even though flipping this timer upside down doesn’t change much, we can flip this scenario by simply changing our words.

What if we say that the timer is simply pausing, or is a symbol of “time standing still”? Can you think of a time when you were experiencing such joy that you wished time could stand still? I can. We often take photos of such times, trying to capture them, so we can re-live them at a glance.

There are times when time does seem to stand still, to not even exist. I know when I am having a very good time, because I am unaware of time.

It’s ironic that this little timer, whose sands are stuck, reminds me of the concept of “flow.”

A friend introduced me to this concept many years ago, with a book written by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, sometimes referred to as “the father of flow.” This Hungarian-American psychologist is known for recognizing and naming the concept.

Of the many descriptions I’ve read of flow, I offer this one: “Flow is a state where you are so immersed in an activity that you lose track of time, self-consciousness fades, and you feel a deep sense of purpose and enjoyment. We often identify this as the “optimal experience.” (“What is Flow in Positive Psychology?” 9 Oct 2025 by Laura Copley, Ph.D., LPC)

All this flowing reminds me of a chorus that is usually sung with energetic gestures. The gist of it is: “I’ve got peace like a river, I’ve got love like the ocean, I’ve got joy like a fountain in my soul.”

Sounds good, doesn’t it? It sounds both inspirational and aspirational to me, because my days are not always flowing so freely with peace, love, and joy. But I know Who is the true “Father of flow,” and I know He is eager and willing to provide what I lack.

I think Eden was full of flow. I think that in heaven we will be overflowing with flow! We have joys ahead that we cannot begin to imagine now.

But for now, we have this prayer:

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Romans 15:13 NIV)

Speaking of joy, today is our wedding anniversary. How did forty-eight years flow by so fast? To quote a greeting card I bought many years ago, which may be my all-time favorite greeting card, “I wonder where the years have gone, but never how else I could have spent them.”

Happy Anniversary, my love!