Daily Photo Parable

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Russell Jurgensen
Thursday and Friday, May 22 and 23, 2025

With so many flowers out in May, I can’t get all of them in one photo so here is a sample. These Rhododendrons caught my eye because of the contrast of the flowers and the utilitarian road. Someone a long time ago thought that this might be a good place to cheer up an otherwise unremarkable location. I’m thankful for their efforts.

Likewise, when we start to listen to the words of Jesus, we begin developing likeness of thought that can bring hope and light to people years down the road.

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 15:5-6

Enjoy the flowers this May, and I let’s look for opportunities to share Jesus’ positive attractive attitude.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Darren Milam
Wednesday, May 21, 2025

Last year, we had the opportunity of visiting a local iris farm, where the sheer variety of irises was both stunning and a bit overwhelming as we tried to choose a few for our garden. A quick Bing search revealed that there are around 300 different variations of irises! Fortunately, this particular farm offered a generous selection, but not that many — I’d estimate at least 40 varieties. After carefully making our selections, the bulbs were shipped to us at the appropriate time, and we eagerly planted them, awaiting their bloom in early April.

As you can see in the image, the results did not disappoint. The vibrant hues and intricate details serve as a beautiful testament to God’s handiwork.

Watching them sprout from the very spot where we planted them reminded me of a powerful truth — irises don’t worry about how they’ll grow or what they’ll become; they simply respond to the light, water, and soil they’re given. In the same way, we are called to trust God, knowing that He is cultivating something beautiful in us, right where we are meant to be.

As the verse in Jeremiah 29:11 reminds us: *“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.”

God has plans for each one of us. We are called to trust and obey. That trust allows God to work through us, providing the necessary ‘nutrients’ to anyone we come in contact with. That trust and obey process starts right at home and in our communities. This week, ask God to allow you to be used in the way He wants – projecting His beauty to others.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Give them credit, the ancient Egyptians worked hard at making sure their bases were covered. They had a god for every possible situation, and some, such as Thoth, served multiple roles. Thoth was often depicted as a man with the head of the sacred ibis. Upon him fell the responsibility of maintaining the stability of the universe, and should he have any time left over he was to arbitrate in disputes between the other gods, encourage writing and the development of science, as well as judging the dead. It appears as though he had a full plate.

Should you see a silhouette of the White Ibis coming in to roost at their communal resting place after a long day of doing whatever ibis do, the image created by its long downward curving bill would be a close parallel to the image of Thoth. Unfortunately for the Egyptians, Thoth really had no power, even less than the ibis after which he was stylized. Each year a sizable portion of their eggs are destroyed by extremely high tides which ruin their nests. Between 1989 and 1990 as a result of Hurricane Hugo, a colony in South Carolina plummeted from 10,000 to zero as freshwater foraging areas were inundated with salt water.

We also worship a God who is responsible for maintaining the universe and serves as the final judge, not only of the dead but also of the living. But unlike the busy Egyptian deity, we were made in Jehovah’s very image. Luke expresses it this way: “For in him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28 NIV) In other words, everything we are, the totality of our existence, is caught up in who God is. No wonder He never sleeps.

Photo ©2007 and Commentary ©2025 by Chuck Davis
Monday, May 19, 2025

On the Pacific Crest Trail, just north of Snoqualmie Pass, hikers encounter the Kendall Katwalk and views of The Four Brothers. At the Katwalk, the trail crosses the backbone of the Cascade Mountain Range. At the spot where I stood to capture this image, the raindrops that fall on the left side of the trail flow to the west and the Snoqualmie River. Those raindrops enter Puget Sound. Raindrops that fall on the right side of the trail make their way east to the Columbia River and the Pacific Ocean.

If a raindrop could choose, which side of the trail would it fall upon? Twelve inches one way or the other would make an insignificant difference in the life of a raindrop. Slight changes in our choices, however, have a lasting effect.

Contemplate the choice that Joshua posed for the Israelites. Joshua 24:15 KJV: “And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Little consequence for a raindrop at the Kendall Katwalk, but our choices carry the weight of eternity. Pray that your choices today are with the house of Joshua.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Shelley Schurch
Sunday, May 18, 2025

I’ve shown you this weather vane before; it’s one we see at least once a day as we tread our neighborhood trail. But this week I looked at it with “anniversary eyes.”

On Wednesday we celebrated our 47th wedding anniversary. I type those words calmly, yet with astonishment. It seems only a few years ago that our families and friends traveled by plane, car, and bus to witness our wedding vows. We pledged our love and loyalty with eyes wide open, but we were still blind to all that would befall us – banes and blessings – as the years rolled on.

I remember hunkering down together in our living room last November as a ferocious storm roared outside. This storm didn’t take us by surprise; we’d been warned that a “bomb cyclone” would hit our area.

We’d never heard that phrase before, and we’d never experienced such severe winds before. They buffeted our house for hours. We prayed for the winds to stop, we prayed for our roof to stay attached, and for no trees to fall on it, or branches to blow through our windows. We prayed for all our neighbors, and for the whole region being pounded and pummeled so relentlessly.

Finally the winds moved on. We had survived, roof and windows intact. We had weathered the storm. We had weathered the weather!

How aware of and thankful we were that the “we” did not refer to just the two of us, but also to the Lord who heard our prayers and was in the middle of the storm with us, holding us safe.

That’s how we’ve weathered all the storms of life these last 47 years, facing them together, and asking the Lord to be in our midst, to provide and guide. The two of us and the Trinity, we’re walking Home together.

I looked again at my weather vane photo, and laughed. I realized that in focusing on the WE letters, I’d not paid any attention to what was fastened above them: a horse and buggy. A snatch of an old song floated into my mind: “Love and marriage, love and marriage, go together like a horse and carriage . . . ”

Although I don’t suppose they always do. I’m glad that all those years ago when we said, “I do,” they did – and that they still do!

Thanks be to God, giver of all good gifts.

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Sabbath, May 17, 2025

Every day after breakfast I walk around a mile-long loop. A couple of blocks from home I pass the above maple, which Shelley and I have taken to calling “the glory tree,” not only because of its magnificent symmetry but how it looks after its leaves turn gold in autumn.

Friday morning of this week as I passed beneath its branches I saw the scene below:

Only a few leaves had fallen on the sidewalk, but there were thousands of the boomerang-shaped seed pods at the top. I immediately thought of the “ABG Fallacy.”

This fallacy, “Anything But God,” is resolutely adopted by people who choose to go through life determined to deny the Creator any role in designing and manufacturing His planet. This means, of course, that the ABG-believers must somehow come up with other explanations for not only splendid, symmetrical maple trees, but for the fantastically fool-proof method by which sunlight and water cause them to grow, and for the elegantly designed propellers which carry their seeds on the wind.

Paul was no stranger to the ABG Fallacy. In Romans 1:28, he alludes to unbelievers who “did not like to retain God in their knowledge” [NKJV] and whose resistance to their Creator opened them up to all kinds of tragic consequences.

To ponder eight Bible verses about Creation, click the link just below:

https://www.bibleinfo.com/en/topics/creation-and-evolution

Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Maylan Schurch
Friday, May 16, 2025

A little over a week ago, as Shelley and I took our after-breakfast walk, I caught sight of this discarded bandaid on the sidewalk. As you can see, it’s fallen with the protective gauze pad facing up, and the pad looks pretty clean. So it seems as though whatever wound this may have covered was pretty well healed, so that this may have been a final precautionary application, maybe affixed by a loving and germ-phobic mom.

As you probably know, Jesus’ first ministry to people was most likely a healing one. Whole villages would hurry to Him, guiding or even carrying friends who were sick:

“Then great multitudes came to Him, having with them the lame, blind, mute, maimed, and many others; and they laid them down at Jesus’ feet, and He healed them.” (Matthew 15:30 NKJV)

In fact, if there would have been bandaids back then, Jesus’ healing touch would have instantly made bandages or other healing devices obsolete, as the formerly wounded stared in disbelief at their perfectly-restored skin.

When it comes to our health, we should make use of whatever remedies restore us, but we should never forget to get Jesus involved. Check out both the following links for some of what the Bible says about health.

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

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