Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, July 17, 2026

Thursday afternoon Shelley and I stopped in at a Fred Meyer store to shop for groceries. I’d just turned off my engine when a battered car rolled up in the space beside me. The guy who got out must have been in his early thirties, an intelligent-looking redhead with a crewcut. He gave me a quick, curious glance and strode into the store.

As I emerged from our car, I caught sight of something on his car’s dashboard. It was a thumb piano (also known as a kalimba or mbira). I actually have one myself, built by a relative of Shelley’s. Its flat metal “tines” are alternately arranged in a “staggered scale,” which allows the player to produce chords as well as individual notes.

Instantly, the sight of the thumb piano gave this car a personality it wouldn’t otherwise have had for me. Who was the redhead who drove this car? Did he carry this instrument around with him so he could play music whenever he wanted? And why does he leave it on the car’s dash, in the sunlight, which is probably the reason for the widening split running from the hole to the edge of the box?

The Bible tells several fascinating stories about David, whose rise from shepherd to king is a heartwarmingly complicated story. He seems to have carried his harp with him out to the pasture, and it may have been while trying to soothe his sheep to sleep with music that he wrote his most famous psalm. As you read the words, try to imagine the sound of David’s harp, as he honored His Creator in song:

Psalm 23 [NKJV]
A Psalm of David.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

 Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
Forever.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, July 16, 2026

These Canadian geese are heading out for an evening swim. We saw them do this on both the evenings we were there. It might be a regular activity for them.

It is interesting to view creatures spending time together even if they are wild animals. This scene got me thinking about nature and creation.  The following verse describing Jesus has an interesting phrase related to nature.

In bringing many sons and daughters to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through what he suffered.
Hebrews 2:10

It reminds us that all things exist through God. We can take comfort in knowing that God has a plan for us. Even when things are stressful and problems seem insurmountable, we can step back and know that Jesus understands his creation. Hopefully there are peaceful times where we can spend time reflecting and renewing our thoughts like these geese seem to be doing.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, July 15, 2026

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of taking a hot-air balloon flight. If you’ve never experienced it, let me tell you, it’s not an exact science.

To put it into perspective, before we ever left the ground, the pilot filled several small helium balloons, similar to party balloons, and released them into the sky to study the wind currents. In total, we launched six balloons from three different locations, carefully watching them climb higher and drift across the horizon. Once the pilot was satisfied with what he saw, he gave the signal to inflate the “big one” and invited us to climb aboard.

From our launch site, we spent about 40 minutes in the air. We landed roughly 100 meters from our intended target and about four miles from where we had taken off. At our fastest, we traveled about six miles per hour. More than once, it felt as though we were simply suspended in place, hovering quietly above the world below.

The experience was magical.

There was no rush of adrenaline, no sense of danger or excitement. Instead, it was peaceful. Calm. Almost surreal.

For those who don’t care for heights, I understand the hesitation. I’m not exactly fond of heights myself, although I’ve never let that stop me from climbing mountains or jumping off things now and then. Even so, I expected this flight to feel more thrilling. What I discovered was the exact opposite.

Looking out across more than 80 miles of landscape was breathtaking. From our vantage point above Snohomish, Washington, we could see Everett, Bellevue, Seattle, Mount Baker, Mount Rainier, and everything in between. The familiar suddenly appeared different.

Perspective has a way of doing that.

As I reflected on the title of this entry, Onward and Upward, I couldn’t help but think about how much of life is spent navigating change. There are adjustments to make, decisions to consider, and challenges to overcome. At times, the view from the ground can feel overwhelming.

The good news is that we were never meant to navigate it alone.

We have a loving Father who walks beside us every step of the way. When we invite Him into the process, He provides something we often cannot find on our own: perspective. His view is higher than ours. His direction is clearer. His presence brings peace even when the path ahead seems uncertain.

As we floated above Snohomish, I trusted the pilot’s experience and guidance. He understood the winds, the currents, and the destination better than I ever could. My role was simply to climb aboard and trust the journey.

In much the same way, our true Pilot invites us to trust Him. He sees what we cannot see and knows where He is leading us. When we choose to follow His direction, we find the confidence to keep moving forward, knowing that He is in control.

And with Him right alongside , we can continue moving onward and upward.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, July 14, 2026

Found in the Lesser Sunda Islands, New Guinea, and northern Australia is one of the 22 species of megapodes which one writer described as being “obsessive-compulsive scratchers”.  This bird is the Orange-footed Scrubfowl.  This scratching involves not only its method of feeding but also its method of reproduction.  About the size of a small domestic chicken, this bird scratches through the litter on the forest floor, feeding on seeds, fallen fruit, and invertebrates that make up much of its diet.

But it’s not the feeding method that we find so unusual, it’s the way this bird raises, or fails to raise its young. Like other megapodes, the scrubfowl gathers together large mounds of organic material into a structure that may reach 15 feet high and 30 feet in diameter and weigh over 50 tons!  And it’s into this mound the female, or females, lay their eggs.  Neither the male or the female incubate the eggs, but instead rely upon heat generated by the decomposition of the nesting material.  This, perhaps along with solar radiation, provides the warmth necessary to hatch the eggs.  The parents will dig holes in the mound, apparently to check the temperature, and add or remove material to reach ideal conditions for egg laying and hatching.

When the time comes for hatching after 45 days, the chick kicks its way out of the egg, using its strong feet. It then emerges from the nest, one to two days later, totally unaided by its parents.  All of the focus and attentiveness has been spent on construction on the remarkable mound and none on the upbringing of the young, for they must independently claw their way to the surface and then live entirely independent from their parents.  Because of this lack of parental support, it’s estimated that in a closely related species the chance of survival runs about 1 out of 200!  Not the best of odds.

What a contrast to the picture Jesus painted of His Heavenly Father in Matthew 23:37 where He is compared to a hen that protects her children under her wings.  Aren’t you glad that we have this image of a God who cares for us, who watches over us, rather than an absentee scrubfowl that made us and then left us to fend for ourselves?

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday and Monday, July 12 and 13, 2026

Those of you who are regular readers of our church’s Daily Photo Parables (thank you!) may have noticed that I’ve written a lot recently about our neighborhood’s street paving project. If so, you have probably concluded that I am easily entertained!

That’s true. I am sad to report that the construction crew has pulled all the big rigs from their staging area, leaving only a few small pieces of equipment to take care of some finishing touches, one of which you see in my photo above.

In addition to digging up the streets to a depth of two inches, replacing water mains, and repaving, the crew also dug up this small piece of sidewalk and left it, dirt exposed, for several weeks. Then one morning as we rounded the bend into this cul-de-sac, we saw a man with a long-handled tool, carefully creating a brand-new sidewalk.

I was pleased to see him at work, in part because he seemed to be pleased with what he was doing. He smiled as he smoothed the surface into place.

Every day now when we walk down this sidewalk I picture him at work, and think how much enjoyment and contentment we experience when we create something good, whether it’s a meal or a song or a story or a garden or a photo or a spreadsheet or a friendship or a sidewalk.

I think that must be because our Creator designed us to be creators, too – not only to populate the earth with other human beings, but to bring beauty and goodness into being, as He does. He invites us to join Him, co-creating, and when we lay down our tools (woks or pianos or words or hoes or cameras or laptops or conversations or cement smoothers) we can, with Him, look at what we’ve created, and say with a smile, “It is good.”

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, July 11, 2026

I think I’ve almost weaned myself off the habit of mooning around in thrift store office-supply sections hunting for fascinating notebooks. Part of my recovery is because I actually possess at least one of pretty nearly every kind of notebook, and I really need to weed them out of my life. So nowadays, when I drift through thrift stores, I tend to smile sadly and pass along to the used-book section.

However, a couple of weeks ago I saw this notebook and almost bought it. Its title is slightly misleading. At first glance it might strike you as a sinister and even Satanic manual for heavy-handedly manipulating other people, but it’s not that at all. It’s about dominating your personal day – getting a grip on your priorities and your schedule. If you open to any two-page spread, you are urged to “List the top five most important decision-making criteria,” and it gives you space to do that. Then, “Which tasks do I do that fit into the highest number of these criteria?” Then you are challenged to “bucket your tasks,” and finally to give yourself a reward if you’ve successfully done these things for a month.

As I say, I resisted the temptation to buy this notebook, even though its suggestions are all very good. But since I’m a Christian, and a Christian pastor, I believe it’s less important to mindlessly handcuff myself to tasks which might hamper me from responding properly to a sudden crisis in the life of a church member. Over the years I’ve challenged myself to do my work, on time and as good as I can, while asking the Lord, “Lead me to someone who needs me today.”

Here are two Bible verses to guide us:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, July 10, 2026

Thursday morning, while taking a drink of water from a water bottle I keep in our refrigerator, I noticed this plaintive request from the side of a box of mushrooms Shelley’d purchased not long ago.

This is the heart-cry of every human being, whether they realize it or not. To some degree, we all sense our imperfection, our sinfulness. Yet we realize, deep down, that we were created for better things, for a cleaner and more perfect existence.

Good news. God has provided the opportunity for this to happen in every human heart, no matter how ugly it is. At the link below you’ll find real Bible verses which shows how this happens:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/questions/assurance-of-salvation