Photo and Commentary ©2025 by Robert Howson
Tuesday, December 2, 2025
Question for you: Is it possible to know something without seeing it? Descartes’ answer was his reaction against the empiricism that dominated the thinking of his day. “I think, therefore I am” was his contention that mental awareness of his own existence was sufficient outside of physical stimuli or any measureable evidence.
Let’s try another. Look at the two pictures shown above. Do you know what happened prior to the exposure being taken? What was each bird doing before the shutter was pushed? In the case of the Pyrrhuloxia shown in the first picture, it’s evident the bird was in the process of landing. Its legs and feet are in a position for braking and the body has not yet attained an upright stance. Momentum will take care of that. In the second photograph it’s not quite as clear, but of one thing we can be certain, the Blue Grosbeak, moments before, was at a higher elevation. We gain this unseen understanding from previous experience and prior observation.
Scripture provides us with insight concerning our limitations, especially when compared to our Father’s. “He knows about everyone, everywhere. Everything about us is bare and wide open to the all-seeing eyes of our living God; nothing can be hidden from him to whom we must explain all that we have done.” (Hebrews 4:13 Living Bible) And the promise to us: “and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God’s children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.” (Ephesians 3:18-19 Living Bible) And the good news? That will be sufficient for us.