Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, November 15, 2024

This past Tuesday Shelley and I wandered through a HalfPrice Book store. This bookstore chain always makes sure that its categories are clearly labeled, as you see above. I paused when I got to this section, and mused on its title: “Aliens/Unexplained.”

Since my main focus was on the category title, I didn’t spend any time looking at the book titles. But from what you make out, you can probably get the general drift of what the category contains.

It will come as no surprise to you that a lot of people these days seem to put God into the “unexplained alien” class. Who is He? Why is He? Does He feel emotion? What does He think of people who use His name to express anger or surprise (OMG!) or some other emphatic emotion?

The good news, and by good news I mean gospel news, is that God is not an alien, and that He has made it possible for us to understand Him—at least as much as our limited human minds are able to. Jesus’ classic comment shows just how much we can know: “He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) Want to know what God is like? Watch Jesus in action!

Would you like to review some of what the Bible says as it tries to explain God? Click the link just below:

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

Photo ©2024 by Lorlyn May Jurgensen
Commentary ©2024 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, November 21, 2024

My granddaughter is pausing for a needed break from apple picking. It is hard work to harvest apples when it is tough to reach the branches. It took a little help from her mom and great-grandparents.

When pondering a scene like this I wonder what things we value as a society. Do we focus enough on the value of accuracy in big and little things? Do we value education that builds on the knowledge of those before us and tries to avoid the mistakes of the past? Do we value integrity and honesty in working relationships. Do we value looking out for the little guy?

I think we do value these things since they are products of love for God and love for our neighbor. Let’s ponder our real values as we move into the upcoming holiday season.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, November 13, 2024

As you can see in this image, this branch is connected to the rest of the maple tree, showing off the beautiful fall colors. This is only possible with the branch still connected. If for any reason, the branch was severed, all the foliage would wither and die. We can read how this translates to our spiritual (and physical) lives in a few verses in John 15.

Verses 5-8 (NLT)

“Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.”

Our God wants us to be connected. He wants us to produce the fruit (or gorgeous colorful leaves), as this shows we are fully connected to Him. What a thought – fully connected to our loving Father. Why would we want it any other way?

How do we stay connected? Our daily walk with Jesus. It’s a relationship that needs to be nurtured and attended to. We can think of these verses in our thoughts and actions – “those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit.” Remain in Him. Stay connected.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, November 12, 2024

The ad agency responsible for this year’s offerings from Revlon, Toyota’s product development team, and the Glidden Paint crew each have the same assignment: coming up with new names for the colors being offered in this year’s lineup. Creative they are in their efforts to induce the consumer to purchase their product. God, on the other hand, is not in the business of selling; He’s a giver and He does so with limitless abandon. Let’s start a short list of the shades of red He has offered us: crimson, ruby burgundy, cherry, rose, and those aren’t even on the “creative” list.

And then there is vermilion, such as is used to describe the Vermilion Flycatcher. Flycatchers usually come in shades of drab olive, but for some reason this one splurged with color. Biologists would offer an explanation that this color in the male attracts the female and thus the survival of the species is ensured. While this seems reasonable, it doesn’t explain why the drab male Olive-sided Flycatcher is equally adept at finding female Olive-sided Flycatchers with which to breed.

It’s certainly not scientific, but maybe God just liked this shade of red and opted to give it to this species. Or maybe it was just a gift to us, knowing we’d enjoy this splash of color on our eyes. It just sounds like something God might do.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, November 11, 2024

I saw this pair of swans flying just above a very muddy field in the Skagit Valley. Spring is my favorite time of year to look for birds there and it doesn’t hurt that you can see wildflowers and tulips too.

Sometimes, we just need to get outside and see what God has created!

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Your glory is higher than the heavens.
You have taught children and infants
to tell of your strength,
silencing your enemies
and all who oppose you.
When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—
the moon and the stars you set in place—
what are mere mortals that you should think about them,
human beings that you should care for them?
Yet you made them only a little lower than God
and crowned them with glory and honor.
You gave them charge of everything you made,
putting all things under their authority—
the flocks and the herds
and all the wild animals,
the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea,
and everything that swims the ocean currents.
O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!
Psalm 8 (NLT)

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, November 10, 2024

I wasn’t sure what to make of the tangle of Halloween ornaments huddled together at the edge of a cemetery this week. At first I thought it was an unusually large collection marking someone’s grave in holiday fashion.

And then I thought a more reasonable explanation might be that the cemetery groundskeepers had collected these Halloween decorations from various gravesides because the holiday had already happened – or perhaps because they were deemed inappropriate.

Mulling that over, I could agree that some of it was dubious décor to greet people visiting the graveside of someone they loved. Especially the witch flying by, with the words “Trick or Treat” below her broomstick. And then there’s the large cheerful scarecrow holding the sign that bids us “Welcome.” Grinning pumpkins galore, including two that form the two “o’s” in the word, “Boo.”

I’ve never wondered about the history and definition of the word “Boo” before; its meaning seemed very clear. But just for fun I looked it up, and found that the online Merriam-Webster dictionary’s first definition is an interjection “used to express contempt or disapproval or to startle or frighten.” Sounds about right.

It was the slang definition listed that reminded me that the word had a positive side: “boo” is a slang term for “a romantic partner,” with synonyms of “sweetheart” and “honey.”

I spied one item of décor in the collection that seems supremely appropriate for a graveside, no matter the holiday or season – the cross on the right side of the display.

The cross was not originally designed as jewelry and ornamentation; it was an instrument of torture and death. The cross is not so much décor as declaration. It declares that Jesus chose to die on the cross although He was totally without sin and had done nothing to warrant crucifixion. He chose this death so that we would never have to suffer it; He chose to give us eternal life.

I noticed this collection of Halloween décor as we walked away from a freshly dug grave into which a heartbreakingly small white coffin had been lowered.

We had stood around the graveside and sung a song the parents requested, the Gaithers’ “Because He Lives.” We’ve often sung this song in church on Easter weekend, but never like this, standing among gravesides with tears and hugs and lumps in our throats:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow,
Because He lives, all fear is gone;
Because I know He holds the future,
And life is worth the living,
Just because He lives!

And Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25 NKJV)

And all His people said, “Amen. Thank You, Jesus!”

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, November 9, 2024

Friday evening of this week Shelley and I were taking a leisurely stroll through our neighborhood, and I happened to glance up at the moment when a long jet-contrail ended near a cloud-fuzzed moon. It looked as though a brilliant comet or shooting star was tumbling waveringly toward earth.

Grabbing my smartphone, I snapped this scene, and spent much of the rest of the walk home musing about it.

I’m going to be very frank here. I find it numbingly shocking that a growing number of politicians are grasping and using the vocabulary of Jesus’ faith without a vapor-width of Jesus’ true spirit. Because of this, and I know this as a fact, many non-Christians watch this happening, and sense its hypocrisy. In their minds, Jesus’ own “star” (already fuzzed and obscured by filters people have subjected it to) begins to fall, soon to disappear below the horizon of credibility.

The truth, of course, resembles the facts behind this photo. No, Jesus’ “star” isn’t affixed to public opinion. Like the moon, Jesus is many miles distant, and popular opinion doesn’t change His reality in the least. But though currently distant, He is still very close, and ready to be welcomed as a personal Guest in our hearts.

To read a bio of Jesus, made up of several Bible verses, click the link just below:
https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/jesus-christ