Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, November 16, 2025

It seemed a bit early. We ate our breakfast with a chainsaw snarling loudly somewhere nearby. When we headed out on our post-meal walk we discovered a man dismantling a tree in our next-door neighbors’ backyard.

When we returned home he was higher up in the tree, having trimmed branches below him, and I snapped the photo you see here. I wanted to stay and watch how he was going to finish his task, but he worked slowly and methodically and I had a to-do list beckoning. I reluctantly left him to his work, minus my camera and my curiosity. As I moved about the house during the next three hours, the noise continued off and on, so he must have been trimming more than one tree.

It seems a bit early for another kind of tree trimming, since we are only half-way through November, but last night as we drove through our neighborhood we saw a Christmas tree shining in a living room window.

I am susceptible to walking down memory lanes during the holidays, and the sight of that tree took me back to my childhood Christmases. My parents and two older sisters and I would trudge through snowy woods belonging to a family friend in order to find the best possible tree, bring it home, and rearrange all the living room furniture to give it pride of place.

After my father secured it in its base, and festooned it with our big multi-colored lights, he carefully positioned a dozen or so fragile ornaments that were his favorites. Only then did he allow the rest of us to trim the tree. The final touch was something that seems to have fallen out of favor in recent decades – tinsel. It was painstaking work, at least the way we did it. There was no thought of tossing the tinsel haphazardly on the branches; we draped it, strand by strand, so that the finishing touch was one of balanced beauty. (Since we were thrifty folk, it was even more tedious to untrim the tree, since that meant removing each strand of tinsel, gathering it together without tangling it, and storing it with the ornaments until next December. We recycled without knowing the word.)

And yes, all this makes me think of Jesus.

“ . . . [He] who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by whose stripes you were healed. (I Peter 2:24 NKJV)

We were glad to see that our neighbors’ tree trimmer took no chances. He was wearing a hardhat, and boots with special grippers, and a safety harness. Every move he made was slow and deliberate, since missteps and accidents could be fatal.

In stark contrast, Jesus wore nothing and risked everything. He knew the consequences of the cross would be fatal. For him, that is; life-giving for us. The only “decoration” on His tree was His blood, staining the wood but gaining the victory.

A few of our neighbors are combining holidays on their front lawns. One in particular makes me shiver. A skeleton rising up twelve feet in the air has been joined by a large inflatable turkey. I’m waiting to see if they’ll clear the decks for Christmas, or simply add a Santa to the mix.

I’ve started combining holidays, too, though not on our front yard. I celebrate Christmas and Easter year round now. Jesus was born to die, but also to rise again, so that we, too, could rise to eternal life!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, November 15, 2025

A couple of weeks ago I dropped by a favorite thrift store, headed to its office supplies section, and spotted the above glorious display. Ancient as they are, each of these machines was once received with gladness or relief by employees who’d previously had to do their work without them.

On the left is by far the oldest of the three, a Victor adding machine. You punched in numbers, you pulled the handle, and the machine stamped those numbers on a paper strip. The handle also advanced the paper so you could enter more numbers. When you were done, you did something with the buttons (I’ve never worked one of these, so I don’t know what), and the entire column would be magically added!

On the right you have a Tower manual typewriter, which used ink ribbons and your finger-muscles to type letters (and if you were sensible you used two sheets of paper with a “carbon” sheet between so you could keep a copy. This was before copier machines.)

And in the center is a handsome Smith-Corona electric typewriter, which did exactly what the Tower did but had a much lighter touch and a built in error-correction system. (What’s fascinating to note is that when I zoom in on the covers of both typewriters, the store is charging much more for the manual Tower — $199.99 – than the electric Smith-Corona — $42.99. “Antique value” at work!)

But what would be truly breathtaking to the original users of these machines is that I snapped these machines’ photo with a device which performs the function of all three – my smartphone — which I carry in my shirt pocket!

My Bible tells me that advanced knowledge is only one of several thrilling signs of Jesus’ return. To read about these signs directly from Scripture, click this link:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/signs-times

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, November 14, 2025

Thursday of this week I spent some time at our local library working on my sermon. Not far from where I sat was this water fountain.

A young mom approached the fountain accompanied by a little red-haired girl who couldn’t have been much older than a year old. The toddler was staring around at everything with intense curiosity. Mom rolled the black plastic stool in front of the fountain, and lifted the girl so she could stand on it.

Then Mom demo’d how to use the water fountain, and the little girl tried it out. She knew that to get water, you had to push the oblong metal button, but she didn’t know you had to keep the button pushed. So she pushed the button, saw the arc of water, then took her hand off the button, and as she leaned forward to drink, the water stopped. At this point I strolled past, on my way to the books-on-hold shelves to see if anything had come in for the Schurch family. In passing, I asked mom, “First time at the water fountain?” Mom gave me a delighted smile. “Yes!” she said, and pulled out her cell phone, prepared to snap a photo of the girl and her attempt to get a drink.

I’m still grinning when I think of that little scene. It reminded me of how Jesus called Himself the Water of Life, and how patiently He introduced Himself to first to a Samaritan woman (John chapter 4) and then to us, and offered us a drink.

I’m sure that after a few more moments, the little girl became expert at operating that water fountain. And I’m just as sure that Jesus is overjoyed when we make it a habit to drink of that Living Water.

To learn or review what the Bible says about Jesus’ mission, click the link just below:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/jesus-christ

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, November 13, 2025

In thinking about the meaning of fall leaves, I looked up some details about what makes up the material in a leaf. I was surprised to learn that most of the material comes from the air in the form of carbon dioxide. Only about 1-2% comes from minerals in the ground.

I wonder if our lives are kind of like that, where 99% of our lives are powered by God’s gifts to us and maybe 1-2% comes from our own efforts and will power. It is hard to qualify, but it is really amazing how much we take for granted.

Let’s think about what God does for us as we move forward in using his gifts.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, November 12, 2025

I am sure I’ve mentioned it before, but it’s worth saying again: I love trees. I really enjoy walking through a forest, looking up and viewing these magnificent trunks reaching for the sky. I have a feeling God likes trees as well. One of the reasons I say that is, in the NKJV, there are 137 mentions of trees. Another reason I say God enjoys trees, is that they are mentioned at the beginning, with Adam and Eve. God created the Tree of Life, which was extremely important to the Earth’s history.

So much life comes from trees. Whether we’re talking about fruit we can eat, structures being built of the wood — Noah’s Ark, the Tabernacle, etc., all the way to the wooden cross where we were all saved from sin. Trees are very important now, just as much as they were important back then.

Let’s take a look at reference to trees, and their act for God

1 Chronicles 16:32-34

Let the sea, roar, and all its fullness;
Let the field rejoice, and all that is in it.
Then the trees of the woods shall rejoice before the Lord,
For He is coming to judge the earth.
Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!
For His mercy endures forever.

How about that? The trees shall rejoice! What about you? Do you rejoice before the Lord?

Let’s make sure our priorities are aligned with the rest of God’s creations — including trees — and rejoice with them!

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, November 11, 2025

The very act implies a loss of stability, but it is, in most cases, required for flight. The act of leaning does put one in a vulnerable position but it can also indicate a focus or intensity needed for learning. To clarify, look at the White-faced Ibis shown here, about to take flight. To become airborne it must first tip slightly forward to redistribute the weight load to the wings. This same action would cause the bird to fall face-forward into the water should the wings not be engaged to do their part. In this case, intent prompted the action which resulted in flight.

We find another example in Scripture which seems to indicate a fear of vulnerability on the part of Peter. To his credit, Peter’s actions show he was more than just passively interested. The setting was this. Christ and the disciples had met in the upper room to celebrate Passover and Jesus had just washed their feet. To unwilling ears He confirmed His death and then, unbelievably, announced that one of them would betray Him. It was at this point Peter’s body language revealed his concern: “He simply leaned forward on Jesus’ shoulder, and asked, “Lord, who is it?” (John 13:25 J.B. Phillips New Testament) I suspect this wasn’t a casual leaning forward, as the word “simply” implies, but a focused intensity that was deeply personal. This particular leaning did not result in flight. On the contrary, each of His followers must have crashed as Christ revealed more of what was to come.

How about our leanings? Does it stem from lukewarm apathy precipitating slumber? Or are we focused on what Christ has to say to us leading to a flight to be with Him.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, November 10, 2025

Capturing images of the Milky Way was the highlight of my recent stay at the Granite Mountain Fire Lookout. Astrophotography requires long exposures, and it is vital for the camera to remain still. This requirement reminded me of the song that the Sons of Korah wrote: “Be still, and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10 KJV).

While the camera was doing its four-minute thing, I lay back to take in the majesty of God’s creative power.

And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the fourth day (Genesis 1:14-19 KJV).

For those who are encumbered by light pollution, I hope that sometime this week you find a dark location to view the stars. Some place where you can be still and know that He is God.