Tag: Jesus Christ

When The Quiet One Speaks

Church, Thoughts and Musing, wildlife

It’s in those moments of peaceful contemplation that you really get to know the voices the speak to your spirit. We all have theses inner voices that speak to us throughout the day. The voice that tells you that you have chores to do, the voice that talks you out of doing those chores. There’s a voice of confidence. ( Be careful about this one because he can get you into trouble. ) There’s the voice of doubt. ( Also not to be fully trusted. )

I suppose that if we were to take inventory of all these inner voices that the list could be quite long. But the one I want to focus on is the quiet one. The voice doesn’t speak often. He patiently waits for an opportunity to make his point. The quiet one doesn’t compete with the other voices. He doesn’t have to. He doesn’t argue or complain. The quiet one is logical and honest without being judgemental. The quiet one is the voice of Truth. He’s that Still, Small Voice. He is the voice of God. One of my atheist friends once expressed concern ( while smirking) about people who think God speaks to them. My only answer there is that God speaks to everyone, it’s just that not everyone listens. As I said, He doesn’t compete with the other voices. He simply waits to be heard. This why in a lot of my writings I like to focus on the opportunity to sit in quiet and peaceful places. It’s why I strive to push back the world with its ads and loud voices that attempt to dominate your every thought. Because when that Voice Of Truth speaks I don’t want to miss out on what was said. His words are life that added to my day.

Light And Shadow

black and white photography

Tonight’s image is the little foot bridge at Cathedral Falls in Gauley Bridge West Virginia .

How do I start this conversation? What clever words can I use to open eyes and hearts? Art is supposed to imitate life. Right? I often get a lot of positive feedback on the light in my photos and I’m always humbled by it. But the truth is that without the shadows you wouldn’t notice the light. Life is a composition consisting of ups (the light) and downs (the shadows). Art gives us the advantage of observing light and shadow from an outside perspective. But, with life we are inside the composition. During the incidents of shadow we don’t really get to observe the light. It exists just outside our perspective. But it is there and as we move on through the composition we will encounter the light as well. We will move through light and shadow in different patterns throughout our lives. It the areas of shadow that gives us an appreciation for the light and it’s the downs of life that makes the up times so special.

Just a few thoughts to keep in mind during dark days. Your life is your own composition. During the times when shadow seems to dominate, it helps me to get out and go find the light.

Lies Live In Darkness

Color Photography, Thoughts and Musing

About the image. Photo taken with my Samsung Galaxy 6 active. Image of the sun burning through a storm as it passes. The picture was taken on a whim.

What lives in darkness?

Something thrives on ignorance.

Something that feeds on fear.

Something that is selfish.

Something that threatens mutual destruction.

Something that has secrets.

Something that is weak.

Something that has no real power.

Lies live in darkness and starve in the light.

– Lloyd A Dempsey II

Lies. That’s been the topic of several blogs I follow.

A lie is like a cancer to the soul. The longer it’s allowed to exist the more it consumes. Paul Gerhardt was the one who first said that “when a man lies he murders some part of the world.” ( thank you Google) I would add that the liar is his own primary victim. A person may believe that they’ve sent the lie out from themselves and used it on someone else but the truth is that the lie never truly leaves the heart of the liar and a darkness is born. From that moment on the lie takes over the liar. A person does tell a lie, he hosts it like one might host a parasite. The lie will speak to liar from within and the threat is that “I’ll take you down with me.” But, there is a way to freedom. Simply letting in the light. Confessing to the lie and speaking the truth robs the lie of power and shrinks the cancer of the soul.

John 8:32

“And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”

Life Returns

Church, Color Photography

“And he saith unto them, Be not affrighted: Ye seek Jesus of Nazareth, which was crucified: he is risen; he is not here: behold the place where they laid him.” Mark 16:6

We have a tendency to think of Mary and her companions walking mournfully through a beautiful garden to meet the angel. But I think it was much bleaker than that.

The morning had finally arrived. The small party of four people walked along the dusty road carrying the supplies needed to care for the body which was in the borrowed tomb. It had to be the worst weekend in history. They had lost a son, brother, teacher and friend to an angry mob. The murder was brutal and carried out in full view of the public. The landscape they passed through had suffered earthquakes and unnatural darkness. The main temple was in ruins. The vail that protects the holiest of holies was utterly destroyed and the sacred place violated. If you have lived through a natural disaster then you have an idea of the shock and fear. There’s such a sense of instability that it’s overwhelming. This was so much worse. They would have passed by families who were beginning the clean up process. Families would have been huddled around those who needed comfort. The men would be trying to rebuild while on the lookout for looters. The Roman soldiers would be trying to keep order while offering assistance.

As they arrived at the tomb and saw the stone removed it would have at first seemed like the earthquake had shaken it loose. The next thought would have been of Vandals. But then the angel spoke and hope returns to the world like the morning sunshine. The dark clouds are burned away and light washes through the land.

Day Two, A World In Darkness

Church, Color Photography

“And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour.”

Mark 15:33

The day after the Crucifixion of The Lord Jesus Christ had to be the most depressing day in history. The Messiah was dead. Hope, healing and restoration was gone. The disciples were scattered. The Roman Empire had placed guards at the door of the tomb. I can’t imagine the despair of those who walked with Jesus and helped feed the multitude, listened to the teachings and saw the miracles. Hope wasn’t just lost. It was taken by force. The twelve apostles were being hunted down and it’s a safe assumption that a similar fate was planned for them.

When I face dark times in my life and my own faith is being tested I try to put myself in the shoes of the twelve apostles on day two. Even though they had been told what the future held they couldn’t see the outcome. We know how the story ends. We know that victory is on the way. But sometimes our human nature blinds our faith and our perception is a world in darkness. Hold on. Daybreak is on the way.