Daily Photo Parable

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

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, July 9, 2026

It is the time of year for wild daisies, and they are putting in a good showing.  This field of flowers made me think about looking to Jesus.

I will bow down toward your holy temple
and will praise your name
for your unfailing love and your faithfulness,
for you have so exalted your solemn decree
that it surpasses your fame.
Psalm 138:2

These flowers all seem to be looking towards a setting sun. Let’s keep looking toward God’s son as we enjoy the recent summer weather.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, July 7, 2026

It serves well as the classic example of hypocrisy.  Not that it is, of course, but that’s the role we seem to have assigned it.  For the Praying Mantis is equipped with two-spiked forelimbs which give the appearance of outstretched hands, feigning the appearance of prayer, when in truth, this equips them to bring about death and destruction to any unfortunate victim it should encounter.  This pious stance is transmitted over into its Latin name, Matis religiosa, which carries with it the inference of supposed holiness.  But even mating comes with considerable risk to the male, for he may literally have his head bitten off by the female following copulation.

Programmed with a voracious appetite, this hunter employs a variety of tactics including ambush, stalking, and pursual of their prey until they succumb, weakened by exhaustion. Rather than poisoning their victims, they forcibly hold their quarry in place while they eat them alive.   Their victims cover a wide range of creatures and include moths, mosquitoes, flies, and other insects as well as small mammals, frogs, snakes, and birds.  Found on all continents except Antarctica, there are more than 2,000 mantids in the world with about 20 being native to the United States.

While insects are undoubtedly amoral creatures, we humans cannot use this same excuse, for we do have the ability to distinguish between right and wrong.  Notice the Lord’s condemnation of the hypocrisy found among His people: “You leaders accept bribes for dishonest decisions.  You priests and prophets teach and preach, but only for money.  Then you say, ‘The Lord is on our side.  No harm will come to us.’” (Micah 3:11 CEV)  If this sounds at all familiar, you may be recalling Christ’s condemnation of the religious rulers of His day, which He then extended to the public at large: “That’s what you are like. Outside you look good, but inside you are evil and only pretend to be good.”  (Matthew 23:28 CEV)   It may work for the mantis, but not for true believers.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday and Monday, July 5 and 6, 2026

I’m writing this on July 4. It’s evening, so the bombs are bursting in air.

There’s something about a holiday that takes you back. I’m remembering the 4th of July parades of my childhood, where firemen would throw wrapped candy from their trucks, a marching band would bring the music (“It’s not a parade without a band,” my mother would always say), handmade floats of all kinds rolled before us, kids rode their decorated bikes, and my father made sure we were standing straight and tall, hands on hearts, when the flag passed by.

When the last of the parade moved out of sight and sound, the fun was not over. There was the 4-H Fair, with all sorts of booths and food. The only two I remember are the one where you slung a fishing pole over a hung-up sheet, and reeled it back in when someone attached a small brown bag of goodies to it with a clothespin, and the cotton candy, which visually promised more than it delivered. I can’t remember any other delicacy which brought such annual disappointment.

And then . . . the city fireworks! Late at night, when at last our southeastern Alaskan skies had darkened sufficiently, a spectacular show! I marveled at the beauty, while bracing for the ka-booms. But as explosion after explosion shook the skies, I always knew what would happen the next day, and why.

I knew it would rain. I didn’t know the word “meteorologist,” but I could trace cause and effect. If you shook the heavens that hard, of course you would bring on the rain.

I don’t remember the word “fireworks” being mentioned in the Bible, but some spectacular sky sights are recorded (especially in the Old Testament) and predicted (especially in Revelation).

The shook-up skies of my childhood 4th of Julys remind me of the Biblical descriptions of the heavens being shaken, and I relish each account. Here’s one of my favorites:

The introduction attributes this to David, when he “spoke to the Lord the words of this song on the day that the Lord delivered him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.” And what a dramatic deliverance he describes!

In my distress I called to the Lord;
I cried to my God for help.
From his temple he heard my voice;
my cry came before him, into his ears.
The earth trembled and quaked,
and the foundations of the mountains shook;
they trembled because he was angry.
Smoke rose from his nostrils;
consuming fire came from his mouth,
burning coals blazed out of it.
He parted the heavens and came down;
dark clouds were under his feet.
He mounted the cherubim and flew;
He soared on the wings of the wind.
He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him —
the dark rain clouds of the sky.
Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,
with hailstones and bolts of lightning.
The Lord thundered from heaven;
the voice of the Most High resounded.
He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,
with great bolts of lightning he routed them.
The valleys of the sea were exposed
and the foundations of the earth laid bare 
at your rebuke, Lord,
at the blast of breath from your nostrils.
He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.
They confronted me in the day of my disaster,
but the Lord was my support.
He brought me out into a spacious place;
he rescued me because he delighted in me.
(Psalm 18:1-19 NKJV)

I, too, am delighted! David cried out to God for help, and God heard and most emphatically and immediately answered! David’s call, God’s response – how satisfying! And how we would like the same experience, every time we call out our distress to God!

It’s the waiting that’s hard, or the seeming silence from God’s throne room. We want God to answer now, to “soar on the wings of the wind” to rescue us! In those times we encourage ourselves to hold on, as we remember how God has heard and answered in the past.

I’m thinking that the next time I call out to God (which may be tomorrow!), I’m going to write it down as my psalm to Him, and also write out my description of His response, no matter when or how it happens. There may not be thunderbolts and shaken heavens involved, but I will write it as I see it!

As we step out into this brand-new week, perhaps needing to catch up on sleep due to the Fourth’s fireworks, we slip our hands into the nail-scarred hands of the One who loves us, listens to us, and takes action in answer to our call.

P.S. The photo above is my close-up of a most beautiful floral arrangement by the talented Denise Childs, prepared for our worship service this morning. For a more complete view, see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UPXsKvLCAhA&t=4710s

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, July 4, 2026

Scattered throughout our housing development I’ll once in a while spot neighbors who’ve ventured into solar power. This usually takes the form of three or four modest panels directed toward the east or south, and I have sometimes wondered just how much power they generate.

But this past Tuesday I noticed the above home. Its roof slants toward the east, and if I’ve arrived at a correct tally, I count 28 solar panels ready to bathe in the morning sunlight if such there be. The homeowner wants to take as much advantage as possible of the power from on high.

Though our nation’s Founders were something of a mixed bag when it came to religious preference and practice, they seemed united enough about the existent of some kind of God, so united that they mentioned Him within the first 20 words into the preamble to the Declaration of Independence:

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness . . . .

In other words, in crafting this dreadfully daring declaration, they were invoking a Power from on High.

And when you think of it, God Himself has provided us with a declaration of independence from Satan and his power and his attitudes. It’s the Holy Bible, numbering about 735,000 words, filled with stories and wisdom and laws which show us God, and how much He loves us, and wants us free.

Check out this link:

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