Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Cheryl Boardman
Monday, July 8, 2024

These wildflowers are called scarlet gilia or skyrockets. They grow on the east side of the Cascades in Washington and are found from Southern British Columbia down to Northern Mexico. Their bright red color is kind of hard to miss when they bloom on the side of the road but they are also quite delicate and tend to blow in the breeze – especially when you are trying to get a picture of them.

According to Lewis Clark, Wildflowers of the Pacific Northwest, they have an “unpleasant smell and wilt almost immediately after cutting.” That is all the more reason not to pick them as they are also not common. Apparently, if you try to grow them on the west side of the Cascades, the plant will grow but doesn’t flower.

In the book of Isaiah, people (part of creation) are compared to flowers that don’t last, but the word of God (the Creator) lasts forever:

A voice says, “Shout!”
I said, “What shall I shout?”
“These people are nothing but grass,
their love fragile as wildflowers.
The grass withers, the wildflowers fade,
if GOD so much as puffs on them.
Aren’t these people just so much grass?
True, the grass withers and the wildflowers fade,
but our God’s Word stands firm and forever.”
Isaiah 40:6-8 (The Message)

For further clarification, God was before the beginning and the Word was God.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 (NIV)

There are two barks in this photo, but only one is visible. The other is audible, on random days. Too audible!

You’re looking at the short trail that connects our neighborhood sidewalk with the Lake Youngs Reservoir Trail, a favorite part of our daily walks.

To the left of the photo are trees I pause for; I love to run my hands over their bark. I may not be a tree hugger, but I am a tree smoother. Smoothing is soothing!

I have a deep affinity for forests, and all things green and growing (except mold . . . can’t get too lyrical here!). Just reading about all the benefits of walking through the woods lowers my blood pressure.

To the right of the photo is a tall wooden fence. The homeowners of the backyard behind the fence own two dogs, and we never know when one or both will be outside. A loud, sharp barrage of barking lets us know that while they cannot see us, they can hear us.

I try to brace for the possibility of their barking, but it still disturbs my peace and hurts my ear when it happens within a foot or two of that ear. I am annoyed.

But only for a moment. When my adrenaline calms down, I am all in favor of dogs who bark to protect their property and alert their owners to possible problems.

Our own house is surrounded by dogs – two small yipper-yappers on one side, a golden retriever on the other. Our back fence borders the backyards of two houses, each with a resident dog. We like having five alert watchdogs around us.

Two kinds of barks – one to bless and one to alert.

I started musing about finding these two types of barks in the Bible, and thought of this passage, as Moses presents two clear choices to the people he has led for forty long years through the wilderness:

“See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the LORD your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the LORD your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the LORD swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”
(Deuteronomy 30:15-20, NKJV)

We see the bark of blessing God wants to pour into their lives, if they’ll choose to love and walk in His ways, and we hear the bark of alerting: cursing and death will result if their hearts turn away and worship and serve other gods.

The message is for me as well as for them: “choose life,” “cling to Him”!

These two phrases remind me of John 15, where Jesus tells His disciples He is the vine and they are the branches. Abiding in Him results in bearing much fruit; not abiding in Him results in being cast out as a withered branch.

I have never thought of Deuteronomy 30 and John 15 as companion chapters, but I like looking at them this way. Both passages present clear choices; both tell us how to live a life that is productive, loving and full of joy.

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.” (John 15:11)

In this brand-new week, whatever trails we travel, or trials we encounter, Jesus the Joy-giver walks beside us.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, July 6, 2024

Several times in our blogs, Shelley and I have mentioned the Lake Youngs trail, along a high wire fence which encloses one of Seattle’s most important water reservoirs. We’ve also mentioned our favorite stopping-place along that trail, just outside the board fence of a woman who has turned her backyard into a registered Wildlife Sanctuary. She regularly fills her many bird-feeders with food and water, and hummingbirds and other species consider it a welcome waystation on their travels. The woman also owns dogs, and she foster-parents other dogs as well, and lavishes love and no-nonsense discipline on them to keep them safe.

In the photo above, you can see this woman’s fence (and also her left knee). Shift your gaze to the photo’s center and you’ll see the head of the most recently-arrived of these foster dogs trying to escape through a hole he has dug.

The woman was talking to Shelley and me at this moment, and I directed her attention to the furry Houdini. She chuckled, and said that he had escaped a few days before this, and she had had to track him down in the neighborhood. So now, she rebuked him, and finally put a large flat rock like the foundation stones you see directly in front of the hole, to prevent a further departure.

As I look at this photo now, I find myself thinking, This dog doesn’t know how good he has it. He’s taking all the regular food and water and love for granted, yet his curiosity drives him to see what’s beyond the barrier.

Sort of like Eve and Adam, right? There in a stunningly beautiful Eden, their needs completely met by their genius and generous Creator, they still felt the itch to distrust and disobey the One they knew, in favor of the seductive promises of a talking snake they’d just met.

Their story (which you can find in Genesis chapter 3) reminds us of how important it is to trust the Owner of earth’s original “wildlife paradise.” He knows what is best for us.

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

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, July 5, 2024

Earlier this week Shelley and I were in a thrift store in Vancouver, Washington. On top of a bookshelf was perched this imposing tome, its title promising everything important to know about life.

Looking at the design of the book, you’ve probably suspected—as I did—that it isn’t exactly recent. Sure enough, here’s a shot of the title page. Take a look at the date at the bottom:

1962 means that this book and its contents are 62 years old! I’m sure its compilers meant well, but can you imagine how little of its “essential knowledge” is actually usable anymore? A friend in the medical field recently told me that a couple of decades ago, pretty much all this person had learned in school had had to be revised and in some cases reversed, simply because better information had been discovered.

The Bible is a far older book, having been written over a period of 1600 years, concluding in the early 90s AD. But its wisdom—which includes its moral teachings, its history, its poetry, and its prophecy—is still as fresh as ever. Far from being relegated to a thrift store shelf off which no one has bothered to acquire it, God’s Word is treasured by billions as a dependable guide to the past, present and especially the future.

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

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

Photo ©2024 by Amber Jurgensen
Commentary ©2024 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday, July 4, 2024

It took a little bravery on the part of our granddaughter to feed the chickens by hand. Some chickens peck a little roughly as they go for the good bits of grain. However, this white Silkie named Tofu was relatively gentle with its pecks. Even so, you might be able to see little bits of cracked corn flying from a recent peck.

Many things in life take a little bravery. But a few things can help ease the strain. One of those things is knowing that Jesus forgives us when we ask, and we have assurance of his love for us. When we know this, we have a glow of joy in our hearts that we can remember when things are rough.

So maybe bravery and joy go together because we face many different challenges. In each of them we can remember that special joy that comes from Jesus.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, July 3, 2024

A few days ago, as I was working in my office, I kept hearing a small thud out in the living room. I went out to check on the dog to see if he might have been the culprit causing the noise, but he was fast asleep on the couch. I looked around to see if something had fallen off a shelf, and suddenly heard the thud again. It was the window. A small (U.F.O. – since it was still an “unidentified flying object”) was banging into the window. It came back for another thud, and that’s when I identified it as a small bird, later to be fully identified as a Western Flycatcher (previously known as the Pacific-slope Flycatcher). Not the greatest photo image, but it’s what I could manage through the glass (and between thumping to the window). I recognized it from two years ago, when it had a made nest under our garage eave. This time it was more interested in the window, vs. tending to a nest.

With the power of technology and little web searching, I now understand that this type of behavior from a bird is due to them attempting to defend their territory, after seeing their own reflection on the glass — thinking it’s another bird that needs to move to another location. In fact, the biggest reason for defending the territory is for breeding purposes. You see, this bird comes up to the Pacific NW (or even up into Alaska) to breed, during the warmer months. When it starts to get a bit colder (September/October) it will start a journey to warmer locations. According to Wiki (and a few other bird related sites) these birds can travel all the way to southern Mexico for the winter. The mileage during their migration is somewhere between 1,500-2,500. Crazy! I think I would get tired flying in an airplane for that distance, let alone flapping my little wings all that way.

That level of migration is nothing short of a miracle. Speaking of miracles, our Creator is the source of those very miracles AND is the designer of our feathery friends as well. I must believe these particular creations are special as the word “bird” is referenced over 120 times, in the NIV, and that doesn’t count the times they are called by name – raven, eagle, sparrow, etc.

Luke 12: 6 & 7:

Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? Yet not one of them is forgotten by God. Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

In the case of this little Western Flycatcher, and the wing flaps it puts into their migration process, it’s very clear God cares about them tremendously. Yet, in verse 7, Jesus speaks of how much more important WE are than many sparrows (or Flycatchers). This is a great lesson to never doubt the love God has for each of us. We should never doubt how far He will go to protect and guide us, on our migration journey through life. All we need to do is, stop and ask for directions, God will provide the rest. Amen.

Photo and Commentary ©2024 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, July 2, 2024

The ideal is what we long for – blue skies, good friends, close family members, good health, and you can fill in the rest of the list. But that’s not always what we get. Just ask the Bible hero Job if you have any doubt about that. It’s true, he did have those days of blue skies but that’s not what makes up the majority of the book given his name. Nevertheless, that’s what I pray and thank Him for on days like that when I can bask in His generosity.

But even I recognize that’s not what always brings out the best, in me, or that which surrounds me. In our mind’s eye we picture the perfect landscape involving the greenest of green trees, mountain caps painted in almost blinding white perched atop purple mountains majesty; and to finish the picture – a blue sky. If we’re in a generous mood, we might throw in a few fleecy white clouds.

But look at today’s picture, a portrait of a male Mountain Bluebird. It’s set in good light, showing off the bird’s colors. There’s action included to liven up the scene, and it’s shot in an appropriate setting offering a glimpse of sage where these birds are often found. And there is blue sky – but that blueness detracts rather than highlights the subject. The bird doesn’t stand out, but instead almost blends in as just another part of the sky. Blue is my favorite color, and I don’t know what I’d put in its place to improve the picture, but it needs something. I still pray for sunny days with blue skies, but I also recognize God may have a better picture in mind for me which only He can envision. Until that time, we would be wise to give thanks for today and its blessings and for the security of knowing what will look best in our album.