Daily Photo Parable

Photo ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, December 30, 2025

Religion goes deep within the psyche of man. According to Philip Yancey, “No society in history has attempted to live without a belief in the sacred, not until the modern West.” (Rumors of Another World) One of the possible reasons for the secularization is the opportunity to travel and be exposed to the religions of other cultures. While we may hold tenaciously onto our own beliefs, those of another culture may seem foolish or primitive from our perspective. That was something I struggled with while visiting Bali. Even though the island of Bali is strongly Hindu, the nation of Indonesia, of which it is a part, is predominately Muslim. In fact it is the largest Muslim nation in the world.

We were there on their New Year’s Day which this year happened to fall on March 22. Nyepi is a Balinese “Day of Silence.” Everything shuts down. From 6 a.m. to 6 a.m. the next morning the day is set aside for self-reflection, silence, and meditation. There are to be no fires, working, or travel. Even the international airport is closed. Not surprisingly, there are certain aspects of this I found very attractive.

The day before Nyepi is celebrated with a ritual procession through the streets led by children carrying symbolic statues made of cloth, tinsel and Styrofoam. These Ogoh-ogoh, or demonic statues, symbolize malevolent spirits which control their lives. This display ends in an open-air auditorium where these statues are paraded around and sometimes shaken until they fall apart, much to the delight of the onlookers. I wouldn’t be so presumptuous as to think I understand their religious thought process, but I do feel it is unfortunate they believe they can rid themselves of the evil that is within through this human manipulation. However, the positive takeaway is that they recognize the very real war going on within themselves. We can learn from all.

Along this same line of thinking I came across something written by a fellow Christian who, though not part of my own denomination, spoke eloquently about something that is important to me—the Sabbath. Eugene Peterson wrote: “If you keep the Sabbath, you start to see creation not as somewhere to get away from your ordinary life, but a place to frame attentiveness to your life.” Amen and Amen!

Photo ©2006 and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, December 29, 2025

The image for today’s photo parable shows the steep path up the final ridge of Pratt Mountain. The photo makes clear that a winter ascent is best accomplished on snowshoes. Seeing a well-defined path is an indication that the journey, no matter how difficult, is possible.

To be with Jesus during the years of His ministry must have extremely hard. But during those years He led His disciples as a shepherd leads his sheep. Christ always provided a path.

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” At once they left their nets and followed him. Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him (Matthew 4:18-22 NIV).

Even as His path became more difficult, He was there in the front: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me (Matthew 16:24 NIV).

As Peter wrote his first letter, he must have remembered his last walk alone with Jesus. Jesus asked three times if Peter loved Him. “Feed my sheep.” Through his letters, Peter is still feeding His sheep.

To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps (1 Peter 2:21 NIV)

I hope that this photo reminds you that a life lived for Christ is a life full of following. Study His path and follow in His footsteps. Feed His sheep.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, December 28, 2025

He tore off the giftwrap with an anticipatory grin, then slumped back on the couch and wailed, “But I already READ this!”

I was nonplussed, disconcerted, and vainly searching for the right words to help the situation, when my young relative’s mother stepped in and tried to both soothe his disappointment and encourage better gift-opening behavior.

I remembered this young lad a couple of weeks ago when I was trying to find gifts I thought the recipients would be happy to receive this holiday season. And I thought that, even though Scripture says it is more blessed to give than to receive, sometimes it is also easier to give than to receive.

That’s especially true if you are expected to unwrap a gift in the presence of the giver. How do you react if you are allergic to the gift, or if it is something you can’t quite recognize, or – as in my above example of young relative meltdown – something you don’t want. Your immediate reaction may be to wail, “But I already HAVE this!” or to forthrightly ask, “What IS this?” but manners you learned at your mother’s knee prevent such ungrateful responses.

I couldn’t quite place the context of that Bible verse about giving and receiving, so I hunted it down. I found it in the book of Acts, where Paul is saying farewell to the Ephesians elders, after telling them that none of them would ever see him again.

Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. I have not coveted anyone’s silver or gold or clothing. You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:355 NIV)

So these are not the words of Jesus recorded in one of the gospels, but Paul reminding people of something Jesus said. I wish I knew the context of Him saying it. I wonder if this is something He said more than once, with a twinkle in His eye, as in, “Now, remember . . .”

There’s another Bible verse about receiving that hit me hard when I first read it. It immediately earned a prominent spot on my refrigerator, reserved for frequent viewing:

For who makes you differ from another? And what do you have that you did not receive? Now if you did indeed receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it? (I Corinthians 4:7 NKJV)

It’s Paul again, encouraging better gift-receiving behavior. He says he is writing not to shame them, but to warn them, as his beloved children. Apparently they were getting a bit high and mighty, rather than keeping low and humble.

Sometimes when I walk by our refrigerator I mutter to myself, “What do you have that you did not receive?” and it gets me to recalling blessing after blessing after blessing I have received from the hand of my good God.

Which reminds me of one more Scripture passage on gift-giving:

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. (James 1:17)

The best gift of all is Jesus, our Saviour, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. When we’ve taken down the tree and the lights, eaten the last of the Christmas goodies, and written all our thank-you notes, this truth remains.

We celebrate this Gift at Christmas and Easter, but He is not only the reason for these seasons, but our Emmanuel, God with us, walking beside us every day, all the way Home.

Hallelujah!

Photo and Commentary (c)2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, December 27, 2025

This week on a visit to our local library, I paused in front of the Friends of the Library shelves, where donated books are offered for sale (paperbacks 50 cents and hardbacks a dollar).

What caught my attention, and the reason why I positioned the camera so it was front-center, was The Berlitz Self-teacher: Italian. My mind whooshed back to the end of my 8th grade year at a one-room Seventh-day Adventist grade school. My very perceptive teacher, who was leaving, gave me a few of her personal books, and my favorite among them was The Berlitz Self-teacher: Spanish.

After my first glance inside the book, I was filled with electric ambition. “I can do this,” I said to myself, and that whole summer I burrowed relentlessly through its pages.

One thing that encouraged me was that all through the book, there were three lines of type. The top was Spanish, and just below it were phonetic pronunciations. (“Libro.” LEE-broh.) The third line was English.

Another thing that made the book interesting was that it was intensely practical. This was no dry, head-in-the-clouds textbook. Instead, the Berlitz people presented their instruction as though you were visiting Madrid and wanted to talk your way into cafes, bookstores, the train station, major tourist sites, all using those delightful three lines of print. At the end of each chapter, a cartoon “professor” gave you an easy quiz on the material.

By the end of the summer, I was by no means able to hold my own in a Spanish conversation, but I knew a few of the basics. I could repeat the alphabet, count the numbers, and notice the excellent sense of putting exclamation marks and question marks not only at the end of sentences but also at the start. This way, you could work up the necessary emotion in expressing a sentence’s meaning.

If you’ll glance at the other titles on this shelf, you’ll see that this is the “self-teacher” section. Starting from the leftmost book (I’ve got a Grill, Now What?) to Robert Fulghum’s best-selling All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, these books insist that by turning their pages you’ll be better prepared for life.

As someone who’s spent nearly four decades reading and preaching on the Bible’s 735,000 words, I can confidently say that Scripture could be wedged onto this shelf. Through its history, stories, songs, proverbs, not a single line veers off into misty-wisty philosophy.

Why not make it a New Year’s resolution to regularly read large portions of Scripture in 2026? If you do, you’ll learn something far more important than tourist-Spanish. You’ll learn the habits and the language of heaven!

To review what the Bible says about itself, click the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary (c)2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, December 26, 2025

If you’re a regular student of these Daily Photo Parables, you might remember that a few weeks ago I posted a photo I’d snapped in a thrift store, which featured an ancient adding machine and a couple of typewriters.

A little over a week ago I visited that same thrift store, and the above typewriter was the only machine of the three left. But as you see, this one’s in trouble. Someone was typing on the keys, and a couple of the type bars stuck together, and the person just kept on typing, and more bars became became tangled.

At this point I’m not sure what happened. Maybe the typist blinked in horror, said “Whoops! I broke it!” and vanished. Or maybe he or she did something equally ineffective — grabbed hold of the plastic lettered keys and tried to pull them back to home base that way. That won’t work, and might even cause the plastic keys to come off.

But one of the first things I learned in typing class as a high school freshman was the correct way to solve the jammed-bars problem. From above, use the fingers of one hand to brush the jammed typebars back one by one. And in just two or three seconds, you’ll be ready to start typing again.

Now you’ve seen the photo. Here comes the parable.

Sometimes life becomes like those jammed typewriter keys. Problem piles upon problem, until it seems as though you can’t go any further. That’s when you need to turn your life over to the One whose mighty hand can descend and start untangling things.

Remember, you’re not alone. Even if you’ve really damaged yourself and your usefulness by repeated bad choices, God cares, and promises to help if you ask.

For some amazing and refreshing Bible texts about this, click the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, December 25, 2025

These Canadian Geese waddled up to the edge of Silver Lake and paused to survey the water. They did not seem to be in any hurry. About 20 minutes later when I left, they were still there.

Maybe they were taking a mental accounting of the lake ahead and what they would do once they entered the water.

On this Christmas day, I suspect there will be a wide range of activities that take up our time. Maybe there will be a few moments in there to ponder and look ahead. How does the life of Christ affect us, and what do we do about it?

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Isaiah 9:6

Jesus was highly people-oriented, and valued relationships. Hopefully, you have a chance to spend time with family and friends or find ways to communicate with them to develop those relationships, which is what matters most.

Whatever you find to survey and ponder, have a peaceful Christmas day.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, December 24, 2025

This is one of my favorite times of the year for several reasons. Of course, we have the celebration of Christmas and the true meaning behind it. It’s also a season when many of us get the chance to spend time with family and friends—time we don’t always have throughout the rest of the year. The weather can be cold, but when the snow begins to fall, there’s something magical about it. All that said, if I’m completely honest, this season can also bring its fair share of stress.

For those who don’t know me well, I could be characterized as an introvert. It’s true—I tend to be on the quieter side, and I’m most comfortable in small, intimate settings rather than big gatherings. As we know, this season often comes with more gatherings than usual, and with larger crowds. All that can be overwhelming, and stress starts to creep in.

One of the reasons I chose the image I did is because of where it takes my mind. Instantly, I’m transported to a quiet, sunny beach on the island of Maui. I can almost feel the warm sand beneath my feet, hear the gentle rhythm of the waves, and soak in the golden sunlight. In that moment, the stress starts to slip away, flowing out with the retreating tide.

When you think about it, God is that “beach” when life becomes stressful. He brings calm to our restless hearts. He leads us to a quieter place. He surrounds us with warmth and peace. He is the refuge we all need.

The next few days may be perfect for some and challenging for others. But no matter what this season looks like for you, we ALL have a God who cares deeply for us and wants to walk beside us. Whether you’re lifting up praise for joyful moments or asking for peace in stressful ones, He hears and responds.

Thank you, God.