Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath and Sunday, December 6 and 7, 2025

This past Tuesday I was heading back to my car in a large parking lot beside a busy intersection. I glanced up and saw what I believe are power poles. There were six wires attached to large ceramic insulators on those poles. What I saw – and I love it when I see this – were dozens of large birds sitting side-by-side on those wires. I snapped a photo of them, and I counted them off by 10s, and I estimate that there were at least 100 birds gathered closely together on those wires.

My photo has those birds silhouetted against a bright sky, so I can’t tell what kind of birds they were (though Robert Howson, our Tuesday Photo Parable blogger, tells me with great certainty that they’re Rock Pigeons, who are a communal species).

You see, even though those powerlines stretch blocks and blocks in either direction those birds wanted to be together. They weren’t exactly touching each other’s shoulders — it looked like there were maybe one or two inches separating each one. But there they were, grouped together – yet they gave each other enough space so they could individually launch out in flight if they wanted to.

I can imagine that if Paul could look at that scene, and if the Corinthian church board happened to be nearby, Paul might’ve said to them, “Hey, church board. Look at those companionable birds. Why can’t you be like that?”

He might have gone on to say, “Sure, when they’re down in the parking lot, those birds are probably pretty competitive for any food they might find there. But here they are, gathered back together, comfortable in each other’s company. No church splits, no offshoots, no rebels, just companionable fellowship.”

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, December 5, 2025

Thursday of this week, mid-morning, I was on my way up I-405 to church to meet with someone I’m giving Bible studies to.

I had just passed the on-ramp which fed cars arriving from I-90, when I was intensely startled to see not just one but a whole line of Tesla trucks! I don’t have all of them in the photo above, because I had already passed at two, but above you can see at least five, all the same silver color.

The nearest Tesla is partially obscured by my busy windshield wiper. Beyond it are two more. Still farther away, just past a merging car of another species, I can spot two more (clue: look for the distinctive horizontal taillights). As I moved closer to them, I discovered that as far as I could tell, none of them had license plates.

Just for kicks, I Googled “Tesla truck convoy,” and sure enough, this happens quite a bit. I watched a few minutes of a Colorado sightseeing convoy which contained 31 Tesla Cybertrucks. It was narrated by one of the truck’s drivers, and we got a view from inside the cockpit. It seems like everyone was having a good time. (And the trucks I noticed had different colors and also sported license plates.)

So I’m not sure what was happening Thursday morning, but it was a joint effort, a show of unity.

Unity is a prized Bible quality, when the project is good. At the link below you’ll see two Bible texts which praise it.

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

Photo ©2025 by Amber Jurgensen
Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, December 4, 2025

The things that strike me about this photo of Mount Rainier are the contrasts created by the mountain. It kind of looks like the plane from where the photo was taken has not gained enough altitude to go over the top. Later on, the plane flew over Mount St. Helens, which is about 6000 feet lower.

Regarding the contrasts which include the white snow and height of the mountain, we might compare that to our lives. I’ve heard it said that a good photo has nice contrast between the light and dark areas.

Consider the following verses.

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Romans 12:9-13

The bright tones might be the zeal, fervor, and joyful hope. The dark tones might be the patience in affliction and sharing with people who are in need. But in all the tones, love is working.

So I’m thinking that to lead attractive lives, we need to practice love in all areas whether it be the grand fun areas or the lower more solemn areas. We can embrace those contrasts and not shun them.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, December 2, 2025

A few weeks ago, I visited Granite Falls, along the South Fork Stillaguamish River, just outside the town of Granite Falls, WA. As I was taking pictures of the river, the falls, and the surrounding area, it started to rain pretty heavily. I covered my camera and looked for any shelter nearby. I finally found a spot, literally under a small trickle of runoff, underneath a rock outcropping. I positioned myself, and had the view you see in the accompanying image.

For the most part, I was dry, until the rain subsided and I headed back to my car. While under this tiny “rock roof,” I remembered one of the many scriptures that reflect on God’s protection for us. In Psalms 91, we can rest assured of that promise:

(v. 1 & 2) Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.”

(v. 9 & 10) If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,”
and you make the Most High your dwelling,
no harm will overtake you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

In my particular situation, I wasn’t in any real danger. In fact, the only danger I was in was related to getting wet and making sure my camera stayed dry. Even so, the fact that I was able to find a small resting place, a shelter, was absolutely a God thing. That’s how He does it – before we can figure out, we need assistance, He has a solution. He knows we need protection before we know it. Thank you, God, for watching over us!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, December 2, 2025

Question for you: Is it possible to know something without seeing it? Descartes’ answer was his reaction against the empiricism that dominated the thinking of his day. “I think, therefore I am” was his contention that mental awareness of his own existence was sufficient outside of physical stimuli or any measureable evidence.

Let’s try another. Look at the two pictures shown above. Do you know what happened prior to the exposure being taken? What was each bird doing before the shutter was pushed? In the case of the Pyrrhuloxia shown in the first picture, it’s evident the bird was in the process of landing. Its legs and feet are in a position for braking and the body has not yet attained an upright stance. Momentum will take care of that. In the second photograph it’s not quite as clear, but of one thing we can be certain, the Blue Grosbeak, moments before, was at a higher elevation. We gain this unseen understanding from previous experience and prior observation.

Scripture provides us with insight concerning our limitations, especially when compared to our Father’s. “He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.” (Hebrews 4:13 Living Bible) And the promise to us: “and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” (Ephesians 3:18-19 Living Bible) And the good news? That will be sufficient for us.

Photo ©2003 and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, December 1, 2025

In 2003 Michael and his father invited me to join them on a cross-country circumnavigation of Glacier Peak. Most of the trip was off-trail in rugged mountainous terrain. I carried my first camera, a FinePix 2650. It was simple point and shoot boasting a 2 Mega Pixel sensor. In comparison, my phone now captures 50 Mega Pixels.

Today’s photo-parable captures the conditions that Michael and I experienced on the summit. The clouds were gathering quickly, an indication of impending storm. I took just enough time to snap this one photograph. Look for the light glow highlighting the rugged features of the mountain top. The surrounding darkness provides stark contrast. Beauty and life versus gloom and sinister darkness.

“Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life (John 8:12 KJV). Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee (Isaiah 60: 1-2 KJV).

Light shining on the mountain makes this photo worth sharing. Take away the beam of light and the image would be dull, flat, and lifeless. In the same way, life without the Savior is a life without hope or meaning. So, step into His light and live.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, November 30, 2025

Out of sight, to the left of the photo, is a house and yard beautifully decorated for Christmas. We always thank this several-blocks-away-from-us neighbor for the time and work (and electricity) she dedicates to “making spirits bright.” I asked her last year if she was an interior designer and she said No, she just enjoys decorating their home and yard. I assured her that all of us onlookers thoroughly enjoy what she does so well!

Even though I’m curious, and love to ask questions, I have refrained from asking her about the three little pumpkins huddled together near the back fence.

A week ago they were on the front steps, part of a beautiful harvest display. Now they’ve been sidelined. Not banished, not relegated to the yard waste bin, but definitely sidelined.

One of the online Oxford Languages definitions for “sidelined” is “to remove from the center of activity or attention; place in a less influential position.”

When you mentally skim through the pages of your Bible, who comes to mind as fitting that “sidelined” definition?

Maybe, like me, it took you only a few seconds to think of John the Baptist. One of his most well-known declarations was, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” (John 3:30 NKJV) The “He,” of course, was Jesus.

The beginning verses of the gospel of Mark explain “the beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,” and how John leads the way:

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God, as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way” — “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.’”

And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River. (Mark 1:1-5 NIV)

John was the center of attention, a bold and fiery preacher calling for repentance. After declaring some of the Pharisees and Sadducees who arrived to observe his baptizing, “You brood of vipers!” he explained:

“I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11)

So maybe John wasn’t sidelined; no one demanded he leave the field of action. He knew God’s plan and his purpose in it. He was the messenger preparing the way for the Messiah, ready to voluntarily move over when He appeared.

It can be hard to play a gracious second fiddle when you’ve been very involved in playing first fiddle. How easy it would have been to let jealousy take root in your heart, and cultivate it and let it grow into bitter fruit. But John chose better, not bitter; he chose the unexpected reaction of joy:

Then there arose a dispute between some of John’s disciples and the Jews about purification. And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, He who was with you beyond the Jordan, to whom you have testified—behold, He is baptizing, and all are coming to Him!”

John answered and said, “A man can receive nothing unless it has been given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ,’ but, ‘I have been sent before Him.” He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. He must increase, but I must decrease. (John 3:25-30 NKJV)

These are not bitter words, but the confident rejoicing of a man who knows he has fulfilled his God-given mission.

I have not confided in our neighbor the fact that her three pumpkins huddled in the shadows by the back fence remind me of John the Baptist. It’s enough for me to quietly enjoy that leap from her yard to the New Testament.

And it’s enough to encourage me to be content with whatever mission(s) God points out to me. I remember a jaunty poem I learned as a child, “Be the Best of Whatever You Are”:

If you can’t be a pine on the top of the hill,
Be a scrub in the valley — but be
The best little scrub by the side of the rill;
Be a bush if you can’t be a tree.

If you can’t be a bush be a bit of the grass,
And some highway happier make;
If you can’t be a muskie then just be a bass —
But the liveliest bass in the lake!

We can’t all be captains, we’ve got to be crew,
There’s something for all of us here,
There’s big work to do, and there’s lesser to do,
And the task you must do is the near.

If you can’t be a highway then just be a trail,
If you can’t be the sun be a star;
It isn’t by size that you win or you fail —
Be the best of whatever you are!

Douglas Malloch (1877-1938), public domain.