Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, February 15, 2025

The other day, in a hallway in our Seventh-day Adventist high school, I paused by the poster you see above. I don’t know whether this is the office of the Spanish teacher, but the poster’s message is clear: these are important Spanish words (and English words) to be gracious citizens:

Sí. Yes! An affirmation, or a willingness to help.

No. It can be a negative word – “I disagree with what you’re saying, or what you’re trying to get me to agree to.” Or it can simply be an answer to “Is the cafeteria serving pizza today?” And it can also be a word that keeps you out of trouble if you really mean it.

Gracias. Thank you. When you use it, you’re expressing gratitude to someone who has helped you in a large or small way.

Por favor. Please. A gracious way of not demanding but requesting assistance of some kind.

De nada. (Literally, “of nothing.”) When someone tells you thank-you, it’s a self-effacing way of saying “You’re welcome.”

Words are important. Jesus thought so, and so did the Spirit-inspired Word of God. Click this link for more Words about words!

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

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, February 14, 2025

Our local library is well-used by all ages. Here in the teen section (labeled age 13 and older), a day or two ago, I discovered this Valentine-themed display called “Blind Date With a Book.” Looking at the labels – there are two or three per mystery package – I don’t know whether each book contains all of the listed categories, or maybe just one.

Notice the categories? They’ve all been judged on how attractive they’d be to readers of that age group. At this point I must go firmly on record stating that I do not believe in book-banning. I believe that families need to teach their teens to evaluate what they read.

But isn’t it sad to see some of the categories? Revenge, demons, conspiracy . . . Even though the very Bible itself contains all of these, and more, I would hope that the teen would have been taught discernment. I myself read widely when I was that age, and peeked into some of these topics (and sometimes suffered nightmares about them). But since then I have “put away childish things” and become more of a grownup in what I consume.

It might be good for us – whatever age we are – to review some verses the Bible includes about truth. You’ll find several at the link just below:

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

Photo ©20255 by Amber Jurgensen
Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, February 13, 2025

Hummingbirds are often territorial and like to chase each other away from this feeder. But this day must have been cold and snowy enough that they decided to get along together.

I like the following Bible verses:

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
1 Corinthians 13:6,7

I’m not sure these hummingbirds think about love, but I like how these verses in a partial way help explain what love is. It is a single word that almost defies explanation but embodies everything that is good. It is like God took all the good concepts and boiled them down to a single word. Jesus carefully pointed out that the most important laws were to love God and to love our neighbor. But what exactly does that mean?

It seems like that is what we are here to find out. For today I’m going to ponder what it means to rejoice in the truth, protect, trust, hope, and persevere.

It looks like the hummingbirds are learning to coexist while they persevere.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Over the past week or so, we’ve had over a foot of snow fall. One day I measured about 6 inches, then some of it would melt and the next day we’d get another 4-5 inches. This happened over the course of a few days. Even now, our lawns and driveway are covered with the white stuff. With the blanket of snow and ice, I’ve noticed the local birds are left to find different spots of refuge. In fact, the image shows one of those very “shelters.” If you can’t tell, this dome of safety is an upside-down kiddy pool. In the summertime, our chocolate lab finds it filled with water and uses it as his own little spa retreat. In the winter months, I turn it upside down, so it doesn’t collect water. With the first snowfall, it was covered in snow, but the ground beneath allowed for the birds to find coverage and most likely a few bugs to eat as well.

Our lives are filled with “storms” of all kinds. Some tiny and some quite large. Regardless of the specific situation, it’s wonderful to have the knowledge that God is our shelter in the storm. He is there to love and protect us, from all things that attempt to do the opposite.

Isaiah 25:4

You have been a refuge for the poor,
a refuge for the needy in their distress,
a shelter from the storm
and a shade from the heat.
For the breath of the ruthless
is like a storm driving against a wall

Just as birds seek refuge in a wintery wonderland, we too need a safe haven. God provides that sanctuary at His feet. When you find yourself in a difficult situation or in need of protection, turn to Him, and He will be your shelter in the storm.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, February 11, 2025

It’s quite clear that God honors humility and despises pride in mankind. “To fear the Lord is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.” (Proverbs 8:13 NIV) Or put another way: “When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom.” (Proverbs 11:2 NIV) Unfortunately for us, this seems one of the hardest lessons to learn. Fallen human nature is inherently self-centered.

Switching gears, we can see this same self-promotion at work in natural history. Take, for example, the Pectoral Sandpiper, one of the larger sandpipers in a group known as “peeps”. This bird nests in the Arctic with most of the species wintering in South America. A few head more to the west and make their way to Australia or New Zealand for the off season. Either way, this can mean a round trip of 19,000 miles every year. Obviously, traveling this far would necessitate having strong flight or pectoral muscles, which it does, but that’s not the reason for the bird’s name.

That comes from the fact that during courtship, the male develops inflatable air sacs on its breast which are employed to make a booming sound. Thus equipped, he puffs out his chest to twice its normal size and performs both terrestrial and spectacular flight displays to attract the female. One writer compared his colorful appearance to that of a “feathered balloon”.

Such may be appropriate for this sandpiper, but the Apostle Paul warns us against this kind of behavior: “They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure.” (2 Timothy 3:4 CEV) While being puffed up may be appropriate for sandpipers, breakfast cereals, and pillows, we humans would do well to concentrate on being humble.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, February 10, 2025

I had stopped off to get some lunch and see Linden Gardens while en route to visit my family in British Columbia.  Unfortunately, I got there too late in the day and the gardens and cafe had closed.

I decided to carry on past the turn-off to see if I could reach Skaha Lake that way.  At the bottom of the hill, in the small picturesque town of Kaleden, there is the shell of an old hotel.  It apparently closed and was gutted of all useful material during WWI.

At one time, someone had great plans for this building and now this is all that’s left.

“Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust – or – worse! – stolen by burglars.  It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place where you’ll want to end up being.”

Matthew 6:19-21 (The Message)

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, February 9, 2025

What a week for weather! Snow showers, rain drizzles, slush, ice, repeat and repeat!

We’ve kept up with our twice-a-day walking, though. I’m thankful for my hiking pole which helps me navigate through the snowy, slushy, icy spots, and I keep my eyes on the path.

This careful ground surveillance is fun, because I can see the vast variety of shoe and boot prints of those who’d trod the path before us. We’ve made canine as well as human friends in our neighborhood, so we try to guess if we’re looking at the pawprints of Winston, Molly, or Zsa Zsa.

Looking at boot, shoe, and paw prints day after day reminds me of the poem, “Footprints,” also known as “Footprints in the Sand.” Many years ago at a pastors’ wives’ luncheon I had the privilege of sitting next to the guest of honor, Margaret Fishback Powers, the author of “Footprints.” (She originally titled the poem, “I Had a Dream.”)

Margaret was a softspoken, humble woman who had been traveling for many years with her husband Paul as an evangelistic team. I was glad I could share with her a time that her poem had been a great comfort in the life of one of my relatives.

At the time I met Margaret, two other women had each claimed to be the true author of the poem. Eventually, over a dozen women contested the authorship. I was sad to see such controversy and court action over a poem that is all about personal peace, a poem that has been the source of comfort for millions of people.

The poem’s narrator describes a dream she had of scenes from her life, noticing in each there were two sets of footprints in the sand, one belonging to her and one belonging to the Lord.

Then she saw that at the lowest, saddest points in her life there was only one set of footprints, which greatly troubled her. She asked the Lord why He had abandoned her when she needed Him the most.

He responded that He loved her and would never leave her, ending with the reassurance that, “When you saw only one set of footprints, it was then that I carried you.”

Have you ever felt so down, so depleted, so weary and worried that you didn’t know if you could go on? What a lifesaver it is to know the Lord will carry us when we can’t carry on in our own strength.

Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
(Isaiah 46:4 NIV)

He said, “Surely they are my people,
children who will be true to me”
and so he became their Savior.
In all their distress he too was distressed,
and the angel of his presence saved them.
In his love and mercy he redeemed them;
he lifted them up and carried them
all the days of old.
(Isaiah 63:8, 9)

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
(1 Peter 5:6, 7)

He carries us because He cares.

One morning this week as I was admiring the varied snow prints on our path, I thought I caught a glimpse of a heart on one boot print. I backed up to look again, and it wasn’t as distinct a heart shape as I’d thought.

As a child I learned to play a one-handed version of the tune, “Heart and Soul” on our piano. But now I started thinking about Hearts and Soles.

I’m thinking how Jesus tenderly washed the soles of all twelve of His disciples, hours before He was betrayed by one of them and abandoned by all the others. How He must have longed to wash all their souls clean as well.

I’m thinking how Jesus walked this earth depending on His Father for direction and strength, so that we could do the same. His sandal soles bore distinct heart shapes, because His great heart of love walked Him up Calvary’s hill to the cross.

This started out as a meditation on snowy, then sandy, footprints, and has ended up as a Valentine. The best one of all. I love the line in the hymn, “The Old Rugged Cross” that declares, “And I love that old cross, where the Dearest and Best for a world of lost sinners was slain.”

The Dearest and Best. Yes.