Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, July 2, 2026

You may have heard comparisons of the game of chess to the game of life. I can see how useful it could be to apply the logic of the game to the logic we employ every day. In chess, a player tries to carefully consider all possible moves for their turn. If possible, they might consider their opponent’s next move and even try to think about several moves ahead.  Similarly, in life, we might try to consider the ramifications of choices we make and try to find the moves that advance us to our future goals.

I’d like to focus on the concept of fun while playing chess. To many people, chess is not fun. It might even be a battle. It is probably healthy to avoid too much tension while playing. One thing that definitely would not be fun is if we did not play by the rules. If our opponent moved their pawns sideways and backwards, that would entirely ruin the game. We would not have a foundation to work with.

As we go through life, we are kind of learning the rules. Some people might find they can get ahead temporarily by breaking civil rules.  We might also break God’s rules to love our neighbors. But we might question if it is fun. It may seem like it at the time.

Perhaps the way to really have fun is to play by the rules. After all, a chess board has a simple eight rows by eight columns but could have a whopping 10^120 (1 with 120 zeros after it) possible different chess games played with legal moves. That’s more than a googol.

Our lives have many more possible options than that. So, it is entirely possible to learn the rules that count and find ways to have a terrific time doing it.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, July 1, 2026

A couple of weeks ago, I started the project shown in the image. Eventually, it will become a small patio made of concrete pavers, with a picnic table where we can sit and enjoy our garden. But as you can see, it’s far from finished. There are still several steps before I can call it complete.

The first step (pictured above) is leveling the space. The ground has a slight slope, so it needs to be even before anything else can happen.

Next (pictured immediately above) will come layers of crushed gravel (about half a ton) and sand (another quarter ton), each carefully leveled and compacted.

Finally, the patio will be topped with 70 concrete pavers (pictured – at the 50 paver stage), totaling roughly three-quarters of a ton.

There’s still a lot of work ahead. It’s clearly not finished.

When I look at this project, I can’t help but think about my own life, especially my spiritual walk. I know I’m not finished, and more importantly, I know God isn’t finished with me.

I’m grateful that, despite my imperfections, God continues to shape me. Like this project, there are still steps ahead – areas to level, rough edges to smooth out. When I allow Him to work, I trust the Master Builder to mold and refine me into something better.

And the best part? He is committed to finishing what He started.

How about you? Are you willing to let Him continue the work in your life?  If so, pray and give God permission to finish the job!

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, June 30, 2026

“Bizarre” could be the word you might use to describe one of America’s most common shorebirds, the American Woodcock.  To begin with, you wouldn’t find it along the shore.  Instead you’d need to look in moist, brushy areas or in damp fields nearby young forests.  It does appear somewhat like a snipe, only its features are more exaggerated.  To begin with, its large eyes are placed high on its head.  This enables it to see danger even when its long bill is probing deeply into the soil in search of earthworms.  Its field of vision is probably the largest of any bird, encompassing 360º in the horizontal plane and 180º in the vertical plane.

Another area where it would qualify for Guinness World Records involves its flight. Although it is most famous for its acrobatic spiraling courtship flights where it zigzags across the sky, it also sets a record for the slowest flight speed ever recorded for an avian species at five miles per hour.  Amazing it could stay airborne!  But for most of us, what brings the broadest smile to our faces is the way it moves.  This bird has “got soul.”  Whether walking about or just standing in one place, the woodcock invariably returns to an odd rocking motion that is like no other.  Some, trying to develop a reason for such wasted energy, suggest it may be creating vibrations that will disturb the earthworms it seeks into moving.  This goes along with the idea that it can hear this movement underground. Support for this idea stems from the fact that the bird’s ears are placed forward, between its eyes and bill, an ideal place for such investigation.

Those who believe God doesn’t love variety and have a sense of humor must have never seen a woodcock.  Maybe it’s they who need to open their eyes, and their ears.

Photo ©2011 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, June 29, 2026

Like the Coyote in our photo today, I am taking a break.

On June 21, 2026, my older brother, Buzz, and I started hiking south from the Siskiyou Summit trailhead of the Pacific Crest Trail (PCT). Lone Pine, California is our end goal. Our hike consists of nearly one-thousand miles. I hope to re-join you sometime in September with Photo Parables, drawn from views of Mt. Shasta, Lassen Volcanic National Park, and the Desolation Wilderness in the Lake Tahoe area. Finally, I look forward to capturing images of the high elevation stretches through the Sierra Nevada mountains with a potential side-trip up Mt. Whitney.

In 2018, I retired, and less than a month later, I began my longtime dream of hiking from Mexico to Canada (2,653 miles). That first year, I made it to Walker Pass near the southern entrance to the Sierras. Circumstances brought me home at that point and then becoming bored, I started hiking the Washington sections from the “Bridge of the Gods” to Stevens Pass. In 2019, I completed the rest of Washington (Stevens Pass to Manning Park, Canada). By 2024 I had completed nearly all of Oregon.

With God’s blessing, a successful trip to Lone Pine means that I will have completed every mile of the PCT. Your prayers for our health and safety during this journey will be greatly appreciated – CD.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, June 28, 2026

I have to laugh when I walk by this little neighborhood tree, with its different-colored branches wildly bursting out in all directions. It lacks discipline and constraint; the word I thought of when I saw it last week was “unkempt.”

My research discovered that “unkempt” literally means “not combed,” and is usually used to describe something that is untidy, messy, or neglected.

When I laugh at this little unkempt tree, there is not even a trace of derision or scorn in my mind; I have no contempt for unkempt! Because, you see, I can relate. I laugh because sometimes I feel like this little tree looks.

This past week is a prime example. We helped with our Vacation Bible School. We prepared in advance, yet every day this week was filled with more preparation, and every evening we helped at the event itself. I enjoyed every minute of it.

But while we were immersed in all this, some aspects of my “usual” life became a bit neglected, unkempt. I will be in recovery mode this coming week, but it was worth it.

My “unkempt” research led me to another word that is a close cousin – “unkept.” Several commentators urged me to be careful to remember that “unkempt” is commonly used to describe a person, while “unkept” is more often used to describe places – or promises.

It was the latter that caught my eye. Suddenly, God appears, our Promise Keeper:

You will keep in perfect peace
those whose minds are steadfast,
because they trust in you. (Isaiah 26:3)

Return to your rest, my soul, for the Lord has been good to you.
For you, Lord, have delivered me from death, my eyes from tears,
my feet from stumbling, that I may walk before the Lord in the land of the living. (Psalm 116:7-9)

Promises that God will keep us in His care are threaded throughout the Bible, reassurances that we are always on His mind and in His heart. No matter how unkempt our lives may feel, we are kept. We can pray, along with David:

Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings . . . (Psalm 17:8 NIV))

You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light. (Psalm 18:28)

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday and Sabbath, June 26 and 27, 2026

This past Tuesday on a morning walk with Shelley, I happened to glance up and see this dramatic halo around the sun. A bit of research tells me that it’s what’s called a “sun dog,” a name I remember from my youth on the South Dakota prairies. Back then, what my mom called “sun dogs” were most often bright spots on either side of the sun, most often seen close to sunset. Mom spoke about them grimly, warning that they often predicted severe winter weather, maybe even blizzards.

Here’s an explanation I found online, which seems to sum up other accounts of what cause these:

“A sun halo is caused by the refraction, reflection and dispersion of light through ice crystals, suspended within high altitude cirrus or cirrostratus clouds. As light passes through these hexagon-shaped ice crystals, it is bent at a 22-degree angle, which creates the circular halo around the sun.” (Brian Neben, Central Nebraska Today, March 5, 2024.)

Never having seen such a full-formed sun halo, I was startled at first. But remembrance of Dakota sun dogs, plus what I knew of the Bible’s true end-time signs, gave me immediate tranquility.

Want to learn or review some of what Scripture says about end-time signs? Here you go:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/signs-times

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, June 25, 2026

When I look at a scene like this, a couple of things come to mind. One is the amount of effort and coordination it takes to get people to where they are going. The other is all the stories that a scene like this represents.  Each plane has a story and each crew member and passenger have stories.

For example, we can examine the plane farthest to the left that appears to be heading out toward the runway for a takeoff. Where are they going, and what is leading each person to their destination? Are they traveling for work, vacation, or to see family? You can think of your story as you travel whether it is by plane or by walking to your destination.

We know that Jesus loves each person and knows them individually. This brings to mind the following words of Jesus I find interesting and comforting to dig into.

If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.

John 14:15-21