Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, December 21, 2025

I remember bobbing for apples in a metal tub at the Stewarts’ house when I was a child. I was a shy little girl, not eager to plunge my face into cold water in order to chase and grab an apple with my teeth. (And who thought that was a good idea anyway? It seems unattractive and even hazardous to your health, especially viewed through the lens of recent global pandemic experience!)

I hadn’t thought of the Stewarts’ party for many years until last week, when we drove State Route 167 through Kent and saw hundreds of pumpkins bobbing in the flooded fields. A few days later we weren’t able to make that drive; a six-mile stretch of the road, including the route we drove, was closed both north and south due to continued flooding.

Words that have dominated the news the last two weeks include: rain, wind, flooding, forecast, dam, levee, closure, rescue, and atmospheric river. And one more word I heard several times: saturated.

Yes, our ground is saturated, causing concern that strong winds could topple trees made vulnerable by their soggy footing, and those downed trees could cause all sorts of harm.

That word saturated has lodged in my mind. I’ve turned it over and over, thinking of how I usually hear or use the word myself. I hear commentators lamenting that we are living in a media-saturated culture. I remember writing on more than one occasion that we live on a sin-saturated planet. I believe both of these things to be true.

But is there any upside to the word? Can it be positive as well as negative? Is there anything in the Bible that is described as saturated?

To answer the last question, I think of Elijah on top of Mount Carmel, challenging the pagan prophets of Baal to a test to see which God or god would answer a sacrifice by sending fire upon it. As we read the story in I Kings 18, we hear him call for twelve large jars of water to be poured over the sacrifice he has prepared, until it is thoroughly drenched in water. And then:

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.

When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!” (I Kings 18:36-39 NIV)

According to vocabulary.com, saturated originally meant “satisfied . . .” It seems that in this Mount Carmel showdown, God was satisfied with Elijah’s faithful, courageous service, and the people were satisfied that the true God had showed up, and burned up, the saturated sacrifice.

No other saturated circumstances come easily to mind from my Bible memories, but I jump instead to a word that could be a close cousin: overflowing.

I think I made that mental leap because I was still searching for a positive shine on the word saturated, and the word overflowing reminds me of one of my most favorite Bible verses:

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)

This verse seems to be full to overflowing with wonderful words! God, hope, all, joy, peace, trust, power, Holy Spirit! I’ve discovered that I can’t read it without smiling.

As we enter Christmas week, closely followed by the turning of the page to a new year, Romans 15:13 is my prayer for myself, and for you, as we trust in Him!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, December 20, 2025

Though neither Shelley nor I are ones to go all-out with exterior Christmas decorations, our style being more of a modest door-wreath and a small lighted Christmas tree in an upper window, we hugely enjoy the displays of the neighbors in our development. In fact, Shelley is able to keep in mind which neighbor puts up which décor each year, which leads to such exclamations as, “I don’t see the dancing hula-skirt Santa yet,” or “That family’s doing Seahawks-colored lights this year.”

The above display is one we’re familiar with. Actually, the only part of it I normally notice is the huge green inflatable dinosaur which lies collapsed on the lawn, probably because it’s daytime and there’s no need to waste the air-pressure electricity until night-time, when the bulbs inside the “dragon” make it glow green. Then it dwarfs the rest of the lawn figurines.

But now, in the daytime, the Santa and the deer and even the Grinch seem to be rejoicing that the dragon is no longer a force to contend with!

This reminds me of one of the Bible’s most cosmically significant chapters, Revelation 12. Read it all the way through sometime, out loud and with expression.

Revelation 20:1 – 3 [NKJV]: Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

That last sentence can be quite puzzling. Why release the devil once you’ve caught him? It’s a long but very enthralling story. For now, the good news – a few verses later the devil is destroyed:

Verse 10: The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever.

Another puzzling sentence: tormented forever? Another long story, but the good news is that the devil will eventually be destroyed. In Ezekiel 28, the prophet predicts that the devil will finally become ashes:

Ezekiel 28:18 – 19: “ . . . Therefore I brought fire from your midst; It devoured you, And I turned you to ashes upon the earth In the sight of all who saw you. All who knew you among the peoples are astonished at you; You have become a horror, And shall be no more forever.” ’ ”

Don’t obsess about Satan by all means, but if you want to learn a bit more about what the Bible teaches about him, click the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, December 19, 2025

A week ago I was at our local library working on my laptop. Out of an eye-corner I noticed a flash of blue. The young man in the above photo was examining bookshelves behind me, and since I’d caught a glimpse of the message on his hoodie, I whipped out my camera in case he walked away.

This he did, and I snapped the photo. Zoom up the picture as I might, I couldn’t catch if the slogan was connected to a particular product or website. A Google search revealed that “Treasure the little moments” seems to be a general philosophy which is used in various Hobby-Lobbyesque products.

I never saw this boy’s face, but I’m sure it’s engraved in the hearts of his parents. It seems likely that they were the ones to provide him with the hoodie, either that or he was given it by someone who shares the same sentiment and hopes that he and those around him will put it into practice.

Jesus often insisted that Heaven treasures us and our every moment. It’s likely that God’s ability to number the hairs currently on your head is no exaggeration (Matthew 10:30 and Luke 12:7), which means that He is somehow able to value each of our moments far more than we do.

Click the link below to find a Bible tutorial on “true love,” God’s style.
https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/love

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, December 18, 2025

This picture of Snoqualmie Falls was taken a few days after its peak flood level. When it is flooding like this, the normal viewing deck is nearly unusable because the spray rushes up the banks thicker than the rain coming down. Without a full rain suit, it drenches clothes in moments.

Storms remind me of turmoil that might happen in our lives. Sometimes it even storms outside while some problem happens inside. But we have hope that God sees our troubles and cares about us.

He stilled the storm to a whisper;
the waves of the sea were hushed.
Psalm 107:29

When things are tough, that is a good time to look for positives to change our thinking. May the storms in your life be calmed to a whisper as you find joy in your life.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, December 17, 2025

First off, as you reflect on the picture, you should be able to tell this is not my ‘usual’ style of imagery. I typically lean toward including nature images to accompany my written words. Second, it’s a bit embarrassing to share the image AND have to explain why I didn’t swap the filter out sooner!

OK – we’ve established the image you see, is a side-by-side comparison of an air duct filter. The one on the right has a much different hue to its counterpart on the left. Without zooming in (highly discouraged) I can tell you, the hue is not based on a different brand of filter, or a different selected coloring pattern. Nope, the blackness you see is . . . filth, pure and simple. It’s all the dust particles, dirt, and dog hair that were collected over the course of a 6-month period. The embarrassing part of this, besides the stark contrast, is I know better. I know to change these filters out — at least — every 3 months. What happened? I forgot, that’s what happened.

The bright white filter on the left of the screen is clearly the new, the replacement. That’s the good news; I had a replacement. I had one to take the place of the old, tired, and (quite frankly gross) one. I guess you could say, it’s the light at the end of a dark tunnel.

So, what does this have to do with a daily walk with our Creator? Everything. What happens if we forget to check-in with God? What happens when we forget our prayer time, or our scripture time or a literal walk as we bring our celebrations and concerns to our Savior? I’ll give you one guess — it looks a lot like the filter on the right. Our mind and heart start to collect the bad stuff, attempting to filter our own results in the collection of stuff we don’t want at all.

Now, what happens when we change out and replace our filter on a daily basis? You see that beautiful white as snow filter? That’s what our heart and mind can aspire to be — clean and bright.

In Isaiah 1:18, we read:

…Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white snow;
though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

This was a promise God was making to people that were willing to seek Him, obey Him and ask for forgiveness. I truly believe that the same promise holds true for us today. We need to seek Him, obey Him and desire the forgiveness we all need, in order to see that darkness turn pure white!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, December 16, 2025

Whether or not birds and other animals are amoral or not, man has determined that some are detrimental and should be controlled or abolished. Included within that list is the Brown-headed Cowbird, probably the best known brood parasite in North America. At one time they were limited to short-grass prairies where they followed herds of buffalo. But today they are one of the major factors in the decline of songbirds, especially endangered species. Among those are the Kirtland’s Warbler in Michigan and the Black-capped Vireo and Golden-cheeked Warbler in Texas. For that reason, traps have been developed to catch and destroy the offenders.

These traps are used by government agencies as well as private citizens, but those participating in this need training before the traps are used. The idea is simple. Food is placed within the portable 6 X 8 foot enclosure which the birds can easily enter but are unable to exit. Along with food, adequate water and shade must be provided. It must be placed in an area to minimize non-target birds from being caught. This is to be done only from March 1 to May 31 and the traps are to be checked daily. Finally, the birds are to be euthanized humanely, generally using cervical dislocation, which is a euphemistic way of saying wring the bird’s neck.

Is this effective? The simple answer is “yes”. Studies have shown that 90 percent of the Black-capped Vireo nests have been invaded by cowbirds. But through trapping, it, along with the other endangered species, have made progress and their numbers are increasing. However, a less superficial answer would have to acknowledge that something is wrong here. “An enemy hath done this” (Matthew 13:28 ASV) was Christ’s simple response found in one of His parables. Sin hasn’t infected just mankind, but the whole world when in order to save one species we wring the neck of another. We muddle along trying our best to solve this distortion, but an ultimate solution will only come when all things are made new.

Photo ©2005 and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, December 15, 2025

In the photo parable for last week, I shared an image of snowshoers nearing the top of Bryant Peak, near Snoqualmie Pass. Today’s photo provides a view of the summit. Both images were captured January 2, 2005.

Last week we touched on the promise in Isaiah to take our blackest sins and turn them as white as snow. We find the same theme in Revelation:

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore, they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple; and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd; he will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes” (Revelation 7:14-17 NIV).

Today’s photo is a fitting representation of our current Christian state: contours that are softening, a white blanket with some black spots showing through. The closer we walk with Christ, the whiter our covering will become. The day is fast approaching, when in an instant we shall be changed. No more hint of darkness. That is the day we will be clothed with His robe of righteousness. That is a robe that is whiter than snow!