Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath and Sunday, November 30 and December 1, 2024

As I drove along a street in Seattle’s Kenmore area this past July, I saw a blinking police car stopped in a lane ahead of me. I slowed down, then cautiously crept past. It was then that I saw what the police were protecting me from. Evidently, a gravel truck driver hadn’t secured the tailgate on his vehicle, and when he got a green light, his forward lunge had forced a bunch of gravel out the back.

A block later, I saw the same thing. Another red light had paused the truck, another green had lurched it forward, and another, smaller gravel batch had tumbled down.

As I think about this chain of spills, I wonder how the police handled it. Hearing about what happened, an experienced officer probably thought ahead to future intersections where the same thing might happen, and maybe took steps to get a buddy to pull the trucker over to avoid further rock-and-gravel piles.

But even more striking—and even more ludicrous if you think of it that way—is the mental image of the clueless driver, maybe whistling, maybe listening to the radio, completely oblivious to the havoc he was trailing behind him!

Having traveled for several decades along life’s metaphorical streets, I too have left a trail of such spills from time to time. Often I’ve not even realized their effect. But when I have, I’ve shrunk in shame.

That’s when the Bible texts at the following link bring great relief.

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

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Ruth Lemus
Friday, November 29, 2024

[Note from Pastor Maylan: Today’s Daily Photo Parable is by guest blogger Ruth Lemus, a woman who loves the Lord and keeps her eyes wide open to watch Him at work. Thanks, Ruth!]

As I wandered through the airport awaiting my flight, it occurred to me to ask the Lord for a special request on this particular flight. Time and again as I had flown in the past, I was diligent about praying during takeoff and landings but it had never occurred to me to make this particular request which seemed unique.

Boarding the plane, I focused on seeking the first empty window seat I could find. Much to my delight, I soon found the coveted window seat, about midway down the aisle finding an entire row of empty seats.

Once settled in my seat, I grinned as I discovered this was a coveted seat for anyone with longer legs than mine! In order to provide ample access to the emergency exit, the seat that should have been in front of me had been removed.

Tickled by the excessive leg room that my petite stature did not need, I took a quick photo to share with my tall friends later on.

Once all the passengers were seated, the flight attendant came by asking the passengers in the emergency row to confirm that they had no conditions that would hinder their ability to assist in an emergency evacuation. Much to my dismay, I found myself debating my own ability to operate the exit door, understand the emergency procedures and be willing to take on such a responsibility.

In faith that this was the Lord-appointed seat for me and that no emergency would ensue, I decided to stay put and listen attentively to the instructions. Then I proceeded to study the emergency procedure flyer cover-to-cover, carefully noting the wing outside, even locating the small metal ring where the passenger volunteers would need to attach the emergency line.

While debating in my head, I’d been tempted to give up my perfectly wonderful seat. Should I move to another row? No, I needed to stay put. How could I move? Because my prayer request had been to sit by Jesus on this particular flight and I was sure I was sitting in the seat the Lord had provided to answer my prayer.

I chuckled to myself as I thought, Of course! The emergency row is precisely where Jesus would be most called upon should there be a need to evacuate the airplane unexpectedly!

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, November 28, 2024

This blog entry was written last week under generator power after a windstorm hit the region the night before. I was curious if many other people were affected by the storm, so I pulled up the Puget Sound Energy outage map, and this is what appeared covering the Seattle eastside area from Tacoma almost up to Everett. I am near the little blue dot.

It may seem overwhelming how many people were out of power, but we know that forces were working to get it restored. It reminds me of problems we face in life that seem insurmountable. With prayer we can trust that God is working on the problem and cares about what we are facing. He may not answer like we expect, and we may need to wait while we follow Him. But God has a way of working in our lives.

Hopefully, everyone got his or her power back quickly. The news reported that crews arrived from other locations including Canada. Some people may have needed to find accommodations depending on their needs, and in general, everyone needed to have patience.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, November 27, 2024

I believe we all know the promise God made Noah (and all of us as well), when the world was flooded, God promised not to ever send a flood like that again. The symbol of that promise was/is the rainbow. This particular one was captured just off the coast of Akuilau Island in Fiji.

This is certainly not the last promise we receive from God. In fact, another very important one is found in 1 Corinthians. I am sharing the Living Bible version of the text, chapter 10, verse 13:

But remember this—the wrong desires that come into your life aren’t anything new and different. Many others have faced exactly the same problems before you. And no temptation is irresistible. You can trust God to keep the temptation from becoming so strong that you can’t stand up against it, for he has promised this and will do what he says. He will show you how to escape temptation’s power so that you can bear up patiently against it.

What I appreciate most in this message is that God knows the issues of living on a sinful planet. He knows there will be challenges along the way. He also knows He wants to protect us. The temptations, the challenges, the hardships will be there, but so will God. He will be there to ensure we don’t face too much. He will show us a way out, a way through. Just like the symbolic rainbow, promised no more earth covering flood, He promises nothing more than we can handle. Thank You, God!

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, November 26, 2024

Maybe you’ve seen them at the doctor’s office while sitting there, just waiting for your appointment. Or maybe you subscribe to one or more of those magazines that contain full color ads of faraway places you’d just love to visit someday. I picked up one the other day and noticed an ad for the town I live in and it almost made me want to buy a ticket for the place I live and am already at—it looked so good. But that’s what ads are supposed to do, entice us to indulge in whatever they are trying to sell.

I try to take a daily walk, following one of four routes that have become part of my routine. They vary depending upon how much energy I want to expend or just the randomness of the day. One crosses a creek very close to my house which winds its way through the suburbs, unnoticed by the majority most of the time. But since I was walking and not rushing past in my car, I had the time to notice this beaver dam, recently constructed and doing what it was designed to do.

A bit surprised, I stopped for closer inspection since I didn’t expect to see one so close by. And it was then I thought of those glossy ads promoting Shangri-La to the would-be taker. Not that rodent-chewed-sticks is everyone’s idea of the ideal, but you get the idea.

When I compare the idyllic description offered in the magazine and the day to day routine of normalcy, I’m left with two conflicting thoughts. The first is to question whether my eyes are even open to the wonders that surround me. Has the predictable produced the mundane? The second line of thought appealed to my cynical nature – What if those grand and glorious depictions offered at the end of Revelation describing Heaven and the New Earth are just glossies put there by some slick advertising agent? It’s then I remember that John’s training and specialty was fishing, not marketing. Strange, the things we find comfort in.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, November 25, 2024

This is a photo of an agate (microcrystalline form of quartz) slab (slice) that I got at a rock and gem show recently. The lines are called bands. This one has a little crystal pocket as well. I’m not sure where this originated from. I would guess maybe Mexico, as there are some really amazing agates that come from there!

There are a lot of different kinds of agate. Some can be recognized easily and some are more difficult. To identify them, it really helps to know where they were found.

I’m currently in a Bible study where we are studying Exodus 28 and God’s design for the priestly garments.

Fashion a breastpiece for making decisions—the work of skilled hands. Make it like the ephod: of gold, and of blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and of finely twisted linen. It is to be square—a span long and a span wide—and folded double. Then mount four rows of precious stones on it. The first row shall be carnelian, chrysolite and beryl; the second row shall be turquoise, lapis lazuli and emerald; the third row shall be jacinth, agate and amethyst; the fourth row shall be topaz, onyx and jasper. Mount them in gold filigree settings. There are to be twelve stones, one for each of the names of the sons of Israel, each engraved like a seal with the name of one of the twelve tribes. Exodus 28:15-21 (NIV)

Someone brought up the fact that the foundations of the new Jerusalem were also made of stones. Here is John’s description:

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick. The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass. Revelation 21:14-22 (NIV)

According to the Andrews Bible Commentary, page 1999, The twelve tribes of Israel represent God’s people of the OT. The new city will have twelve foundations that have the names of the twelve apostles on them (v 14). The twelve apostles represent God’s people of the NT (Eph 2:20). The coupling of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles shows the continuity of God’s people and identifies the city as the place for all of His people, regardless of the time period in which they lived. The foundations of the city were decorated with all kinds of precious stones (v.19), which correlate with the precious stones that decorated the breastplate of the high priest in the OT and that were engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex. 28:17-21).

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, November 24, 2024

We were walking through our neighborhood at dusk when I spied the strange sight you see in the photo above. I stopped and peered at it, trying to figure it out. Was it an unusually large light in the upstairs window? Or . . . “Look! What is that?” I pointed. “Is that the streetlight reflected in that window ahead?”

My husband explained why it couldn’t be the nearby streetlight’s reflection. I stared with furrowed brow, trying to come up with a better explanation. I could think of only one, but it didn’t seem possible . . . “Could it be the moon’s reflection?”

I turned around and gasped. Large, low, and luminous, the moon smiled back at me. I stepped closer, and took several photos, knowing I wouldn’t be able to capture the full, clear wonder of the sight, but wanting a memento of this moon. The moon I almost missed.

We would have walked home, unaware of the beauty beaming behind us, if not for noticing that unusual light ahead of us, and taking a moment to wonder and ponder.

I felt more than the moon was smiling upon us as we walked home; I suspected God was enjoying our surprise and delight.

In my Daily Photo Parable last week I wrote about Burning Bushes in our lives, those times when God definitely gets our attention, and sometimes upends our lives. This week it’s Moon Moments! But that’s just the jumping off point; I’m extending my description to call these our Behind My Back Blessings.

When we talk about someone doing something behind our backs it usually has a negative connotation – someone is being sneaky or deceitful and trying to harm us in some way. That’s not what we’re talking about here, because we’ve added the word “Blessings.”

Behind My Back Blessings could still include someone doing something in a secretive way, but with the intent of helping rather than harming. We have sometimes been asked to hand someone in need an envelope, so the givers could be “anonymous angels.”

But what I’m mostly thinking about are the blessings I can best see when I stop, turn around, and look back in my life – to yesterday, last week, last year, or a much longer look back. Every Thanksgiving season I like to chant the reminder: “If we pause to think, we have cause to thank.”

As we step out into this brand-new week, filled with old-time traditions, may you carve out time to look back, then look up, and once again give God your heart – full of thankfulness for His goodness, His grace, His mercy, His love.