Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Last night was new moon so we decided to make our way to Clingmans Dome so I could try my hand again at photographing the milky way. We got there a little before sunset and there were a lot of people there. While I was waiting with my camera set up a young man from Louisiana named Nick started a conversation by asking questions about the area. He was a very friendly and outgoing young man. He asked if I could send him my pictures so I gave him a card with my website and email. I told him about the chance of seeing the milky way in about an hour and he decided to stay. I watched him walk through the crowd stopping to talk to people. He told several people about the chance of seeing the milky way. He and a couple from Australia decided to stay with us to see the night sky. So we all sat together at the place I staked out for a couple of hours talking and laughing and just being amazed at the beauty of the stars. I learned a lot from that young man. When he spoke to people he asked their name and told them his and then he remembered their names. This was such a simple gesture but one that made a difference. This is the way to show the love of Christ, just simply taking the time to start a conversation and remembering someone’s name. Notice I didn’t say it was easy, just simple. It means we will have to let go of our fear, be a little vulnerable, and listen as much as we talk. And just maybe we may entertain an angel or more importantly share the love of Christ with someone who needs to know his love.
And for Nick with gratitude: I pray you have a safe trip and if you go to my portfolio page (Here) you will find my pictures from last evening. Let me know the ones you want and I will send you copies. Prayer Loving Father Open our eyes to the people around us today who may just need a smile, a kind word and someone to remember their name. Amen
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One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: I almost decided to skip this part of my walk this morning since I had so much on my plate today. I am so glad that I decided to walk this way. I just had my phone so the image couldn’t capture all that I saw, but the sky was beautiful this morning. Sometimes you just need to sit still in the world God made and add his beauty in your life. These moments are often unexpected and bring tears to your eyes. We worship a God who is beautiful and who creates beautiful things - and I am so glad that I walk this way with him.
Prayer Great God Thank you for this beautiful world you made for us. Keep us close to you and show us your beauty today and all the days of our lives. Amen The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Rainbows are rare treasures. The conditions have to be just right, sun low in the sky and the right amount of moisture in the air. So when I saw this one I got home as soon as I could, grabbed my camera and my tripod, and ran up the hill to a place where I thought I could get a good picture. I knew that I wouldn’t have long, for the light was golden and the shadows were growing. I was so thrilled when I caught the last fleeting colors before they disappeared. I want to be that thrilled about seeking the kingdom of heaven. It is hard sometimes to think about totally surrendering to God’s will. I do know that the times when I have fully surrendered and followed Jesus, even when it was difficult, I have found great joy and beauty. I also know that unlike the rainbow, the kingdom of heaven will not disappear. It is truly a treasure that is worth selling all you have to buy.
Prayer Loving Father Give us the courage to sell all and follow you; knowing that the only real treasures of beauty and joy are found in you. Amen O Lord, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; It had been several years since we hiked to Spruce Flat Falls. In the past I thought of it as a relatively easy hike. It is only a mile to the falls. We didn’t even start out very early. However, the trail wasn’t the way we remembered it. It seems that while it is a well-marked and well-traveled trail, it isn’t a maintained trail. There were many places where the trail was worn away and now there were large steps over roots and several places where the trail was covered by rocks that had to be climbed over. It seemed more like rock climbing than hiking. If this had been our first time to the falls we probably would have turned around halfway. But we kept going because we knew what was at the end of the trail, one of the most beautiful waterfalls in the park.
There are many difficult trails in our lives, times we thought would be easy. We take trails that can lead us far away from God and we turn away from him. We can get so lost we wonder why we keep going. Then we remember that God restored our lives from the pit before and we keep going on the trail to see the beauty that awaits us. We experience God’s discipline and weep, but joy comes in the morning. Beauty, peace, and rest rise before us as we sit again in his presence. Prayer Lord of the Morning Remind us of your love and presence along difficult trails and during dark nights. In the morning we sing praises for your beauty as we sit in your presence. Amen How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all; The wood lily’s bloom is not just one but many small blooms. You don’t see this until you get up close and see that it is a flower made up of flowers. While each little flower is similar it is also unique in its coloring. And this is just one small part of God’s creation, a creation full of amazing diversity. When I see the wood lily, this small part of God’s creation, I can hardly fathom the wisdom of God that created this diverse, complex, and interrelated world. So I sing praise to him and I will sing to the Lord every time I step into his beautiful, amazing world.
Prayer Great Creator God May our praise be pleasing to you this day in your beautiful world. Amen Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us. Yellow lady slippers are such a rare flower in the Great Smoky Mountains that during wildflower season there are park rangers and volunteers who walk the trails where they are found to protect them from poachers. It is kind of an unwritten rule that if you post a picture of a lady slipper online you should not post where you took the picture. I found my first yellow lady slipper 2 years ago with the help of another hiker who showed me where to look. Now that I know where they are I go back each year to see them again.
We have been entrusted with the treasure of God’s word that is as rare and beautiful as the yellow lady slippers are in the mountains. We must seek to find their beauty with the help of sound teaching and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. When we find God in his word we must guard this treasure he has entrusted to us. We need to keep returning to God’s word over and over again until his words and his beauty fill our lives in such a way that others can see him. Prayer Lord God Help us to guard the treasure that you have given us. May we reflect your beauty and love as we grow closer to you. Amen “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.” Taking pictures of wildflowers is a challenge. First you have to know where to find them and do some hiking to get there. Then the conditions have to be just right, soft light from the right direction and little or no wind - and a few drops of rain are even better. You also have to have a camera that can focus on close objects. Our modern digital cameras are really amazing light machines, especially the ability to autofocus, which works when we simply push the button. The simplest and most accurate kind of autofocus is called contrast detection. It works by looking for the contrast, the difference, between areas of light. Still taking a picture of an object as small as a hepatica bloom less than an inch across requires the photographer to develop skill and have patience.
In a way our eyes work the same way that a camera interprets light to create a clear, sharp image. How you focus your eyes, where you gaze, illuminates your thoughts. When we set our focus on God his love dispels the darkness of the world. But is easy to get drawn out of focus. It takes effort to develop our contrast detection autofocus abilities. When we do allow our focus to be drawn to God we see his beauty and the beauty of his world. It changes us from the inside. His light illuminates us and we can be a light in the darkness of this world. Prayer Father of Heavenly Light Help us hone our focus on you. Open our eyes to your beauty. Illuminate our souls so that we can see where we can best meet the needs of others in the world. Amen Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. It is wildflower season, otherwise known as spring, in the Smokies. Yesterday I took my first “photographing wildflowers” adventure of the season. It was the perfect day for this, cloudy with rain drops still on the vegetation. There were only a few flowers in full bloom, but there were buds. Each spring I get another chance to develop my photography skills, for taking good images of wildflowers is a challenge for me.
Seasons are one way that I think that God uses nature to teach us about his love and ourselves. Every spring the plants that have lost their bud and lain dormant during winter sprout again. So in our lives we have the chance to be new, to lay our sins at Jesus feet and experience his forgiveness. We have reason to sing new songs when we see the beauty of the spring wildflowers that God uses to paint his world. Prayer Creator God Thank you for teaching us of your love through the seasons of your world. Make our hearts new again. Teach us to sing new songs of your love. Amen When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him? My macro lens has given me a way to see very small things that I wouldn’t have seen before, like the ice that formed on this small petal of my hydrangea bush. There are lens which can magnify things even more, not to mention microscopes that have given us the power to see things that can’t be seen with the naked eye. Then I switch to a wide angle lens and see the vastness of the sky. The complexity of our world, both great and small, is beyond our comprehension. Like King David we marvel at a God who cares about man. And then we hear Jesus tell us how even the smallest part of us is known to God. Look to God’s world today, both the great and small, and be amazed at the Great Creator God who loves you beyond your ability to measure.
Prayer God of Great and Small We marvel at the beautiful, complex world you have created and that you love us beyond measure. Show us your beauty and your love today. Amen In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. When the alarm sounded this morning it was still very dark and it was warm and comfortable under the covers. I almost didn’t get up, especially since I was going to have to go by myself. I am so glad that I did make that effort. I began my day with a sunrise at one of my favorite sunrise spots. The clouds made the sunrise one of the most unusual ones that I have seen. I spent the rest of the day going to many of my favorite places and took lots of images. With each place I stopped, I was more overwhelmed by the beauty of the heavens and earth God created. It was a special time of worship as each place became a sanctuary, a sacred place.
Prayer Great Creator God I bow before you in awe at your creation for your beauty was everywhere I looked today. Teach me to treasure each day and relish each sunrise. Amen Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows. While visiting the Chicago Botanical Gardens I learned that there were some cacti that only bloom one day a year and that day was projected to be the next day. So the first place I went the next morning was the desert greenhouse and there, along with a good number of other visitors, I saw the showy blooms. But while everyone else was looking at the big blooms I happened to notice a little ways away this small little cactus, only about 6 inches high, with the smallest little bloom. I thought it was so striking, the pink flower against the white and green of the plant. Sometimes we see our self as this little plant, unnoticed, unimportant and of little value. But like this little plant you have made us beautiful. No matter how small you may feel sometimes remember that you are of great value to our loving father.
Prayer Loving Father Remind us that you see us as valuable and love us so much even when we feel of little value. Help us to see the beauty in all those around us, especially those the world considers unimportant. Make our actions reflect the love you have for us for those who need to know how much you love and value them. Amen Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. I love willow trees mostly for their contradiction. They grow strong and tall but their leaves are small and move so easily with just the slightest wind. From afar they look so fragile and wispy and soft but up close the trunk and branches are strong. In one of my new favorite songs by Ken Medema, “Have a Blessed Day,” a song about the Beatitudes from Jesus’ teachings, he defines the word meek as gentle and strong. He sings, “blessed are the gentle and strong for the earth shall be their happy place.” Ken’s song made me think about this verse in a new way about being gentle and strong.
When you are gentle and strong you see a beauty and find a joy in God’s world that you don’t see when you are only strong or only gentle. When you are only strong you focus on taking action and getting the job done and don’t take time needed to see beauty. When you are only gentle you don’t see the complexity of God’s world and see only the few things on the surface. But when you are gentle and strong you see past the surface to the deeper things and then take the time to intently gaze at God’s beauty. God’s world becomes a place where you have the strength and gentleness to see beauty and joy in the place where you live. Prayer Strong and Gentle Master Teach us to be both strong and gentle and to see beauty and joy in the world you have created. Amen Send out your light and your truth; let them lead me; When the sun is low in the sky, like after a sunrise, it changes the color of things. Rocks that are gray and black now reflect a beautiful golden glow. The water reflects the blue of the sky and the clouds reflect the light of the sun. To see this beautiful light you must get up in the dark, make your way to a place to see the eastern sky, and wait patiently for the sun rise over the horizon. Then when you think it is time to pack up, look around and you and see the way the sun lights up the surroundings.
We need to look for God’s light and his truth like a photographer looks for the golden light after sunrise. When we do we will see beautiful things that can only be seen when we seek him. His light will lead us to a holy place, a place where we live and walk with him in our lives. Prayer God of Light, Shine your light and truth in our lives today. Help us to follow your truth to a holy place where we can dwell with you. Amen But I trust in you, O LORD; I say, “You are my God.” We were very lucky to be in the Chicago Botanical Garden on that rainy day. I was disappointed because it was raining thinking that our day in the garden would be ruined. Since we couldn’t be outside in the gardens we went inside to the greenhouse. And on that day in the desert greenhouse, the cactus that only blooms once a year for a very short time, bloomed. It was intricate and beautiful, like nothing I had ever seen before; and it wasn't what we went to the gardens to see.
God’s time is like that, perfect in every way. It usually isn’t the timing that we would chose and we can get discouraged when things don’t happen the way and the time that we want. It is hard sometimes to wait on God, we want things right now. We rush ahead to get things done. But when we wait on God and accept his timing we see beautiful things that on our own we would have missed. Prayer O Lord, Teach us to trust you and to know that our times are best in you hands. Amen So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; Today I have seen the beauty of God’s creation in my walk in the woods and the beauty created by man in a small chapel on the grounds of St. John’s University. I have often heard people say that they are not creative, but this is so wrong. Maybe they mean they are not an artist that can draw or paint, but we are all creative. We are created in the image of God the great creator. We all have a need to create for we are created by God to be creative. Think about your work today as a way to create - create a great lesson, a well organized home, a loving way to discipline a child, or solve a problem in your daily life by looking at it another way. Search for beauty in the small things - a knob on an old drawer, or a beautiful tree - and you will find it.
Prayer Great Creator God Open our eyes to seeing your beauty. Show us the gift you have given us to create and help us to use that gift to share your love with our world. Amen For who in the skies can be compared to the Lord? In the past few days the conditions have been perfect for beautiful sunsets. The sun has reflected off the clouds in such a way as to color almost the whole sky. While we can compare sunsets for their beauty, there is nothing that can compare to our awesome God. May beautiful sunsets remind us of the beauty and greatness of our God.
Prayer Great God Thank you for skies filled with beautiful colors that remind us of your greatness. We worship you, Lord over all things. Amen For our boast is this, the testimony of our conscience, that we behaved in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not by earthly wisdom but by the grace of God, and supremely so toward you. One thing that I have learned about composing a photograph is that a beautiful photograph has a single focus. The photographer must use her knowledge of the camera and the environment to make sure that the subject of the photograph stands out. A good photograph will simplify the scene and draw the viewer's eye to the subject of the photograph. If really well done the beauty of the photograph will make an emotional impact on the viewer.
This same idea about composing a photograph applies to our everyday life. The more we seek to behave simply and sincerely in the world leaning on the grace of God the more of God’s beauty we will show to the world. Prayer O Great King Thank you for the wisdom that comes from making you the single focus of my life. Help me to simplify my daily life so that I reveal your beauty to the world. Amen The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. I don’t know how flowers get their common name, but I think “bleeding heart” describes this flower well. It is a beautiful small heart-shaped flower with several blossoms on each stem. There are times in each life when we are brokenhearted and these are the times when the Lord seems nearer. I say ‘seems’ because God is always the same distance from us, just a cry away. But it is in the brokenhearted times that we actually cry for help and we feel him nearer. I think this flower has something to teach us about dealing with brokenhearted-ness. As the blooms grow taking nourishment from the same stem, so we need to be close to others who find their nourishment in Christ. We need others who will walk with us and carry us to Christ in their prayers. We also need to be sure that we reach out to those who are hurting. This small flower is beautiful and in its beauty we find hope when we are brokenhearted for it was Jesus’ bleeding heart that saves us and brings us hope.
Prayer Lord of the Brokenhearted, When we cry out to you from a broken heart, we are grateful for your presence. Open our eyes to those who need us to carry their hearts to you. Most of all thank you for the bleeding heart of Jesus who saves us. Amen When you send forth your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the ground. Every so often, now more that I have my camera, I am amazed again by the beauty and order and wonder of God’s world. There are so many lessons to learn here. The coming of spring is a reminder that God provides for everything on earth. The bud of the flower tells us that something beautiful is coming. He is renewing the earth after the cold of winter. Just as the Spirit renews the face of the earth, he also renews our lives and brings us the promise of new life in Christ.
Prayer Great Lord, Renew our lives with your Holy Spirit. Bring forth beauty in our daily lives as you bring forth beauty each spring in the buds of flowers. Amen And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? I found them again, the beautiful yellow lady slippers. There were in the same place they were last year. I can’t explain the feeling you get when you see them there, standing tall in the morning sun. Nothing can compare to the beauty in God’s world. Why do we worry about unimportant things like how we look or what other people think? The next time worry creeps into your thoughts, look at the flowers God made beautiful and know that he will take care of you, like he takes care of the yellow lady slippers.
Prayer Loving Father, Thank you for the beauty in your world. Help us to replace our worry with faith in your constant loving care. Amen |
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Soli Deo Gloria,
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan
1 Corinthians 10:31
© 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Karen Milligan