A prayer. Hebrews 13: 20
May the God of peace,
who through the blood of the eternal covenant
brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus,
that great Shepherd of the sheep,
equip you with everything good for doing His will
and may He work in us
what is pleasing to Him through Jesus Christ,
to whom be the glory,
forever and ever.
Photos taken this day (6/27/2010) at sunrise in my woods.
Whatever is true, whatever is noble
Whatever is right, whatever is pure,
Whatever is lovely, think on these things
Philippians 4:8 …mostly :)!
Nothing is more beautiful than the loveliness of the woods before sunrise
Reading about nature is fine, but if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for the woods speak with the voice of God.
Amen.
Words from George Washington Carver – one of the people I’d invite for dinner if I could – you know, that exercise of who, living or dead, would you like to invite for dinner…
Photos taken, 4/26/2010.
Still water, so still that without the perspective of the shoreline there was that illusion that it was possible to fall into the sky.
Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10
I can’t help but think of that verse when standing at this point on the lake on a day like this day.
Be peaceful, be quiet, be still.
Lake McDonald in Glacier National Park, January 29, 2010.
This is what the Lord says – your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel:
I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is best for you, who directs you in the way you should go.
If you pay attention to my commands, your peace will be like a river.
Isaiah 48:17,18*
Peace like a river.
photos taken on January 24, 2010, McDonald Creek in Glacier National Park, Montana
*my edit of verse 18
Karl and I walk down the driveway first thing in the morning and last thing at night. From late September through early March, these walks are in the dark…in the woods.
This week our walks have been by moonlight. This morning, a warm, rainy front is moving in with blustery winds ahead of it. The temperature was a warm feeling 46F and the wind through the pines felt dry and fresh.
It struck me this morning that I have never felt fear walking in the woods, in the dark. I’ve walked out to the eastern edge to look at the mountains in the night and down the driveway often. I am familiar with all of the creepy fairy tales, but for whatever reason they did not leave me with any fear.
These words of Brennan Manning are often near me and even more so this morning.
Let go in reckless confidence all that shackles you to yesterday, imprisons you in your own small self today and frightens you with the uncertainty of tomorrow.
I find it easy to walk in the dark, in the woods, in reckless confidence. I live much of my life with a spirit of reckless confidence and I’m grateful for that. As I thought about that, there was that flash of insight about at least part of my life where I have allowed fear to imprison me.
Moonlight is reflected sunlight. To photograph the moon, you need to understand that and set the camera accordingly, counterintuitve to typical nighttime settings.
To negotiate life’s scary parts, to go forward with reckless confidence – counterintuitive to past experience and failures – maybe my focus should be set on reflected Son Light.
Photos taken 11/6/2009 shortly after 6:00 a.m.