Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, October 16, 2026

This past Tuesday morning as I was finishing up my post-breakfast walk in our neighborhood, I glanced to the west and discovered this rainbow. I can’t remember where I learned a rainbow’s colors and the order in which they appear, but I was taught to think of the fictitious name Roy G. Biv – Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet. I studied my Tuesday rainbow and ticked off the colors one by one, and found them all present and correct.

As a child, I also learned that God attached a promise to the rainbows that appeared after the Great Flood rains subsided:

“I set My rainbow in the cloud, [He said] and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. The rainbow shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.” And God said to Noah, “This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and all flesh that is on the earth.” Genesis 9:13 – 17 NKJV

And that is only one of the promises God tells us about in His Bible. To read others, click the link just below, which will lead you to a page jam-packed with promises and links:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, October 13 – 15, 2026

Just a walk down two aisles of your local grocery store is enough to convince even the most ethno-centric person of the almost limitless variety found within humanity.  Not just the basics of height and hair color, of complexion and age, but myriads of details that physically set you apart from all others.  This uniqueness is so engrained in our thinking that we pause to marvel when we see two identical twins that look so much alike that only those closest to them can tell them apart.  And yet, for some unexplainable reason, we assume all those of a different species must be cookie-cutter duplicates of each other when in reality, there is tremendous variation there as well.  This is especially evident among the raptors, those hawks and their relatives that grace our skies.  There can be light morphs and dark morphs of the same species that challenge us to even make correct identification as to the species.

Such was the challenge I faced when I came across this buteo in Eastern Washington.  My initial guess was that it was a Harlan’s Hawk, a subspecies of Red-tail found primarily in the Midwest.  After careful study I found I was still uncertain and so contacted the leader of Falcon Research, trusting his experience would bring about clarification.  He confirmed that it was indeed a young Red-tailed Hawk but couldn’t say with absolute certainty that it was a Harlan’s, so graciously he sent my photograph on to the world’s leading expert of Harlan’s Red-tails who lives down in Texas.  He quickly responded that he believed it was indeed a young Harlan’s, but couldn’t be absolutely certain without seeing a dorsal view of the tail.

Uncertainty is that unsettled reality with which we are forced to live.  It may be the unanswered question as to what is causing that nagging pain in my leg,  or whether or not I should sell that stock I purchased last year.  Even the experts seem not know for sure.  Even the Bible, which we trust is God’s word to us, and which we believe is dependable, contains parts that we still don’t understand.  And so we are left with uncertainty.  But that doesn’t mean we should stop looking, should stop seeking to understand.  It simply means we must go forward based upon what we do know for certain.

Photo ©2004 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, October 12, 2026

Today’s photo displays a nice example of the Red-Belted Conk (Fomitopsis pinicola). This is just one type of “Shelf Fungus” common across the Pacific Northwest. This hard, woody shelf grows on both dead and living conifers. It is easily recognized by the bright reddish orange, “varnished,” band running along its lower margin.

In Pacific Northwest folklore, shelf fungi were believed to absorb or reflect human thoughts and words. They were thought to literally “echo” back negative intentions, thereby acting as a shield to protect people from those who wished them harm. As such, many of the varieties of shelf fungi, artist conks, (and other names) were called by some of the native peoples by a name that translates to “echo” and they carried deep spiritual significance.

The Bible contains many passages wherein God is described as our protector. One of my favorites: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1 KJV). I encourage you to share some of your favorite “God is my protector” verses with someone this week.

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, October 11, 2026

What do you see when you look at this shadow on our neighborhood trail? I first saw a cross, and then I saw the off-ramps.

Near the base of the cross was a shadow leading to the right, and above that were more of the same. I saw them as paths leading away from the cross, easy off-ramps.

Perhaps this came to mind because I’d recently been reading about Jesus’ baptism:

 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him. And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:13-17 NKJV)

God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit all together in a moment of supreme joy – immediately followed by the wilderness, the forty days and nights of fasting, and ravenous hunger.

Who then appears? Who has been waiting for this moment?

The diabolical deceiver, long ago hurled out of heaven:

So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. (Revelation 12:9 NKJV)

He has been busy deceiving and destroying ever since, and revved into high gear when Jesus was born. He has been stalking Him since birth, and is now ready to take advantage of His weak and weary condition.

He is ready to offer off-ramps to Jesus.

Off-ramp #1 speaks to His obvious need: “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

Off-ramp #2, spoken from the highest point of the temple, “If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down.” 

Off-ramp #3 —  Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” (Matthew 4:8-9 NIV)

Notice how all the off-ramps are if-ramps. The devil, who had successfully and fatally planted doubt in Eve’s mind in Eden, tries to do the same here. “If you are the Son of God . . . if you will bow down and worship me.”

Despite all this bedevilment, Jesus in His weakness met each “If” with strong words from the solid word of God: “It is written . . .”

Three times the devil offered Him off-ramps, easy ways to avoid the pain and humiliation of the cross. Fresh from His baptism, Jesus could bypass the hard road ahead and accept all the kingdoms of the world as a gift Satan promised he could deliver.

I like to say that Jesus was cross-eyed and mission-minded. He kept His mind and His heart focused firmly on His Father, spending long nights in prayer to receive from Him the strength and power to resist any and all temptations that would take Him off course.

And there were so many, including one we can never face: He resisted the temptation to use His divine power for His own benefit. He poured it out, as He received it from His Father, for the blessing of others, but not for Himself.

As we step out into this brand new week, we must keep an eye out for any off-ramps the devil may offer us, any temptations to stray from walking with Jesus, by keeping both eyes, and our faith, fixed on our Savior.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling,
And to present you faultless
Before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy,
To God our Savior,
Who alone is wise,
Be glory and majesty,
Dominion and power,
Both now and forever.
Amen. (Jude 24, 25)

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, October 10, 2026

Quick quiz question: What’s wrong with the above photo?

I spotted this garbage-can display a few weeks ago in our neighborhood, and since I’ve been a resident here for several years, I immediately noticed what was wrong. Can you spot it?

Here’s what I think. Since there are two green, two blue, and two gray containers, I’m almost certain that they belong to two side-by-side neighbors. (I mean, what kind of regular household would generate this mindboggling amount of weekly waste?)

Okay, so what’s the big deal? Why can’t two neighbors cuddle their waste bins together in this companionable way? Well, if they made a habit of this, they’d get dinged by the trash-picker-uppers. That’s because the rules say that bins must be left a couple of feet apart so that a trash-truck’s metal grabber-arms can have room to get a good grip before heaving the bin up and dumping it in the truck.

My thought is that the bins were separated in the usual way, emptied by the successive trucks, and later a mildly obsessive kid wandered by from school and decided to re-order them to his or her liking, maybe as a joke.

Here’s the parable point, or at least one of them. You and I need soul-trash-removal on a regular basis, and we need to allow the celestial Recycler elbow-room to do what He does best. Sometimes this means putting distance between us and other influences so that God can clean us up.

For more info about this, click the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, October 9, 2026

Thursday morning of this week, I saw this heart-warming sight. A man and a little boy (probably dad and son) were walking slowly down the sidewalk across the street from me, and I couldn’t resist snapping this picture once they were past me.

What was so touching was how slowly Dad was walking. His normal stride would have been four times the boy’s, yet he was going only as fast as his son could go.

Did you know that in the four Gospels, Jesus referred to God as “Father” right around 200 times total? He rarely called God anything else, because that’s how He wanted us to think of the King of the Universe.

Many years ago, a man named John Hopp (who is so non-famous as not to be found on Wikipedia or Google) wrote the lyrics to a gentle melody in the form of a prayer to God the Father:

Father, lead me day by day,
Ever in Thine own sweet way;
Teach me to be pure and true;
Show me what I ought to do.

When in danger, make me brave;
Make me know that Thou canst save;
Keep me safe by Thy dear side;
Let me in Thy love abide.

When I’m tempted to do wrong,
Make me steadfast, wise, and strong;
And when all alone I stand,
Shield me with Thy mighty hand.

May I do the good I know,
Be Thy loving child below,
Then at last go home to Thee,
Evermore Thy child to be.

— John Hopp

Photo and Commentary ©2026 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, October 8, 2026

It is always great to see Mount Rainier come into view, and I can’t help but take a few pictures. Here is a Bible verse that seems to fit the picture well.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.
Isaiah 26:4

It is easy to forget to trust in God. It seems like that is why verses like this are so powerful. They take something that is way bigger than us and relate it to God so we can get a better sense.  Mount Rainier has not gone anywhere in a long time. God promises He never will.