Playing around with my long long long zoom lens in the cold of February. Temperatures were into the minus double digits Fahrenheit and a couple of feet of snow. I’ve tended to be wimpy about getting out in these conditions, but really, there’s no need to stay inside. Just wear the proper clothing. In this case, I did get a little wimpy, stayed in the car and shot out the window. I have a “photography bag”, just a canvas bag filled with beans that I lay across the bottom of the car window and rest the camera lens on it. Makes a great cheap tripod. Using my Nikon Z-50 camera and 200-500mm zoom lens I get an equivalent of about 750mm focal length. Great for wildlife!
“The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”.
There is no “New Normal”. People are still people, despite what the “news” or government says. I spent a little time walking around photographing happy people, doing happy things.
Today we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. Never give up being truly human!
Jesus said, “Fear not! I have overcome the world.”
It’s so easy to feel frustrated and powerless in this time of “crisis”. The world seems to be flying apart, out of control, exploding before our eyes. We anxiously and desperately look for a way to fix it, convince people of the fallacy of the fear that is everywhere. And we just can’t see a way out of it. There seems to be no hope.
This “control” we seek of our world, is a fallacy itself. The truth is, we have no control over the world, never have. We plan and plan and plan, only to see it all go down the tube. We see the overwhelming “power” of politicians, media, TV; and we feel totally incapable of fighting it.
Well, the truth is, we ARE totally incapable of controlling the world. The control we thought we had of our lives has always been a delusion.
The control of life is not our place. Really, only God has control. The “power”, “influence”, and “control” that people think they have……is nothing. In Scripture is the story that Jesus told of the man who decided to pull down his barn to build a bigger one. Then he would be “safe” and secure. The Lord then said what a fool he was. He didn’t know that his life would end that very night.
In this season of Advent, we read about Mary. This little girl, probably in her early to mid teens, was nothing as our world judges worth. She lived in a little shack in Nazareth, betrothed to a poor carpenter, going about her daily life of household chores, possibly working in the garden. She had no ability at all to change the world around her, seemingly destined to an obscure life of a peasant.
Then……the Angel Gabriel appeared to her, saying “Hail, full of Grace”. And the entire universe was changed forever by her simple words: “Let it be to me according to your word”.
“I have said this to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world”
John 16: 25ff
Yes yes yes, fear fear fear, the sky is falling. Such is the only and constant message of the “news media”. They have as their only goal; to make us terrified at all times. It increases the ratings, you see.
The truth is, the world is just as beautiful as always. Silly humans, falling for the deceptions of the evil one. As our pastor recently said: “Christ is the king, king of the universe, king of life, king of covid!”
Walking to town to get my mail this morning, looking to the left, God gave me this!
It’s amazing what a simple iPhone camera can do! I used an app called “ProCamera” to take full control of the iPhone. For you photo nerds: Shutter speed 1/4367 sec, ISO 20, f/1.8.
