Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, November 9, 2025

This “tree tear” stopped me in my tracks this week. It has been a wet and windy week, and as we walked through a narrow part of our neighborhood trail, I suddenly saw this waterdrop suspended in space close beside us.

A snippet of song from decades ago surfaced in my mind: “Tears are a language God understands.”

I’m so glad He does. Sometimes I don’t understand my own tears, much less the tears of others. I cry when I’m embarrassed, when I’m angry, and when I stand and put my hand over my heart as the flag passes by in a parade. I cry when I vote, when memories of all kinds show up, and when kindness crosses my path. And much more.

I also don’t always understand my lack of tears, only that sometimes I’m too sad to cry. I think God understands our tearlessness, too.

I’m sure there are scientific or psychological explanations for all of this, but I don’t really need them right now. I just need to stop to think and thank.

Because in November I remember . . .

I remember how my mother died one wet and windy night, 43 years ago today, 3 days before her birthday.

My mother was the first person close to me to die, and I was shocked and shaken to my core . . . and way too sad to cry. I grieved for her, and grieved on behalf of my father, who lost his wife and best friend of 44 years.

I stop now, all these years later, to think less about her death and more about her life. I thank the Lord for a mother who loved Him and me, and kept me covered in her prayers. She wanted above all that He and I would become forever friends.

We have attended two memorial services this past week. I learned that the kind and gentle father of one of our friends died last Sunday. A longtime friend asked us to pray because her daughter was in jail. Another dear friend was hospitalized in ICU care. Tears mingle with my prayers.

Two of many Scripture passages that reassure us tears truly are a language God understands:

You keep track of all my sorrows.
You have collected all my tears in your bottle.
You have recorded each one in your book.
(Psalm 56:8 NLT)

He is despised and rejected by men,
A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Surely He has borne our griefs
And carried our sorrows;
Yet we esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten by God, and afflicted.
(Isaiah 53:3, 4 NKJV)

Thank You, God, for understanding the language of our tears; help us better understand the language of Your love and grace.

* “Tears are a Language God Understands” (Composed by Gordon Jensen, 1971)

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, November 7, 2025

As you’re aware, the government shutdown means that SNAP funds (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) are being cut off to their recipients. While the courts decide if this is permissible, some Americans are moving into compassionate action.

Thursday afternoon of this week, I arrived at our local library a bit after 4 p.m. to see these food items parked on a bench outside the library door. (Sorry for the badly-focused photo.) As you can see, there’s no accompanying sign, just the food. But it’s obvious that a generous soul parted with some personal funds to provide help.

An hour and a half later, as I departed, here’s what was left.

We don’t know what the future holds for SNAP funds. And I also don’t know if all this food really went directly into the automobile of a needy person or two. But I do know that generosity is a gift of God, and those who exercise it are noticed, and rewarded, by our generous Creator.

To refresh your thinking about this, click the link just below:

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

Photo and Commentary (c)2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, November 6, 2025

These leaves on an old cedar-shake roof make me think about the words of Jesus regarding people who have passed away.

But in the account of the burning bush, even Moses showed that the dead rise, for he calls the Lord ‘the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’
He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive.
Luke 20:37,38

It is comforting that Jesus strongly tells us He does not forget us. In fact we are still in His mind as if we are living until the resurrection when all will see His people in living color.

Read more about this in context at https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke%2020%3A27-40&version=NIV

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, November 5, 2025

I’ve spent nearly my entire life in the Pacific Northwest, with more than half of it in the Snohomish area. Yet, despite all those years, I had never visited the Granite Falls fish ladder—until recently. The photo you see here captures that very spot along the Stillaguamish River. If you’re local, I highly recommend taking a short trip out to experience it for yourself.

Depending on the season and recent rainfall, the river can be incredibly dynamic—rushing over rocks, carving through the banks, and creating a powerful, resonant sound. When I visited, the water was roaring, and the sheer force of it was both loud and awe-inspiring. It gave new depth to the phrase “living water.”

In the Gospel of John, we’re introduced to the true meaning of Living Water:

John 7:38 — “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”

This passage refers to the Holy Spirit—God’s promise through Jesus before His ascension. Though first given to the disciples, this gift is extended to all who believe, both then and now.

When we believe, the Holy Spirit not only dwells within us but flows through us. Imagine that: the Spirit of God moving through us, guiding us, and touching others. We become vessels of His presence, conduits of His grace.

As I stood beside the Stillaguamish, I could hear, see, and feel the river’s power. It was a vivid reminder of the strength and vitality of Living Water. It made me wonder—what if we could feel that same power when the Holy Spirit flows through us, reaching those around us?

May we all experience that moment. May we be open to it. And may we pray for the opportunity to let His Living Water flow through us.

Amen.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, November 4, 2025

You’ve probably never heard of Alexander Anderson, a 19th century doctor who practiced medicine in what later would become Bellevue Hospital. But that’s not why we’re mentioning his name here. He is included because of an illustration he created in protest to the Embargo Act of 1807. President Thomas Jefferson had just signed this act which ended the shipping of all exports to England and France. Many saw this as hurting U.S. farmers as well as the mercantile and shipping interests of New England and New York. But it was Jefferson’s nonviolent protest against British and French ships that attacked U.S. merchant ships suspected of transporting munitions to one of the participants in the Napoleonic Wars.

Anderson, as a citizen of New York, let his views be known by creating a cartoon. In it he showed a Common Snapping Turtle, which was apparently under the direction of Jefferson, applying a vicious bite to the rear end of some poor merchant. In response, the victim yells out “Ograbme!” Thus, this creature of the shallow waters of the eastern half of the United States also became known as Ograbme. These amphibians will eat just about anything they can bite off and swallow, including your finger should it wander too close. And just in case you didn’t notice, Ograbme is Embargo spelled backwards.

Strange, isn’t it, that a name like that would still be associated with this animal after all these years? Apparently Jefferson didn’t let the name bother him too much. He wouldn’t let secondary issues like this detract him from his primary objective. In the same way, Jesus let the disciples know they needed to focus on what was most important. Luke 10:20 puts an emphasis upon this: “However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” (NIV) For Him, having your name in the right place was most important.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, November 3, 2025

Last week the image I presented was a compilation of seven overlapping photographs.

Today’s image is another panorama that was compiled from views to the left of last
week’s image. If you stitched the two images together, you would indeed see a bigger picture.

When it comes to secular topics of the day, we may wonder how people can have such a limited viewpoint. We might be tempted to encourage them to see the bigger picture. Often that “bigger picture” is bigger because it includes ideas to which we subscribe. Last week, I suggested that God desires us to be different, that we begin to see as God
sees.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV).

In spiritual matters, only God’s plans have meaning. Seek to know His will for you: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

Do not let the panoramas of the world (e.g., Little Chief, Middle Chief, Summit Chief, Chimney Rock, and Overcoat Peak) distract you from the bigger picture, i.e., God’s plans for you.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, Sabbath, and Sunday, October 31, November 1 and 2, 2025

This past Tuesday I made a quick stop at a thrift store. As I usually do, I drift past the office supplies area, and discovered a poignant notebook.

In the photo above, you see that it’s made with a handsome leather or leather-like cover, with a heart-pounding title: Thoughts and Dreams. I can’t tell you how many similar notebooks like this I have gazed upon, my sternum tingling with excitement: Maybe this is the one—the perfect journal which will focus my mind on truly important matters!

That’s why my heart warmed sympathetically when I opened the cover:

As you can see, whoever wrote down their thoughts and dreams eventually decided not only to stop recording them, but to tear them out and donate what was left of the notebook to a thrift shop.

But actually, I’m impressed at the thickish wad of ripped paper left behind. Usually, the journals I see in thrift shops mostly are missing only the first couple of pages, and sometimes the journalers forget to remove the written sheets, which means that browsers get to read them. It’s possible that this book’s owner really did put her (or his) heart into the writing, and may have gone far toward resolving the reason for writing in the first place.

Christians who journal most often use notebooks to write about their faith journey, and even write their prayers to God Himself. (I’ve done that.) After all, God gave us the desire and the ability to make plans. And He’s even has given us Biblical guidance about successful planning. You’ll find some of that advice if you click the following link:

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