You who created everything, My sweet Father, heavenly King, Hear me, I your son implore, For Man this flesh and bone I bore. Clear and bright my breast and side, Blood on the whiteness gushing wide, Holes in my body crucified. Held stiff and stark my long arms rise, And dim and dark fall on my eyes: Like sculptured marble hang my thighs. My feet are red with flowing blood, Their holes washed over by [...]
How could a friend betray you, A follower deny? How could they then forsake you And leave you there to die? How weak our claims of fealty, How little does it take — A handful of their silver To put your life at stake? Yet you, when handed over, Accepted at the hands Of brutal and dishonest The pain of torture’s brands. And when they crucified you, You prayed, “O God, forgive”; You knew the [...]
Air One, The Positive Alternative, is the radio station generally on when I drive anywhere. With so many negative influences in the world, I appreciate a positive one when I find it. The other day, a new song by Fireflight filled my husband’s Audi. A few lines of “He Weeps” caught my attention: Where is God when the child cries, And no one bends to pick her up? Could someone tell me what He does? [...]
With crumbs of stale bread, He devises to expose The Great Mystery; The choicest fruits are transformed Into the nectar of love; And with these simple pleasures, Soft breezes, wildflowers He offers us a taste Of heaven above. —Erin Brierley
A blank canvas intimidates me, but ruled paper has no such effect. I’ve been trained to start at the upper left corner and write my way across and down. While it’s natural to balk at rules and try to break free of boundaries, they’re not all bad. Rules and boundaries can make us feel secure; they can give us a starting point and help us narrow our focus. When Jessica and I started Faith-filled Photographers, [...]
I find it difficult to bare my soul. I’m lucky if I can even manage a barely audible, “I’m sorry, I don’t like onions,” when I’m offered a dish covered in them. I don’t want to offend. I don’t want to put in the incredible amount of effort it seems to take to be understood. I don’t want to burden anyone else with my problems. This is especially true in spoken conversation. I’ve had too [...]
The earth was moved and trembled when your way led through the sea, your path through the mighty waters and no one saw your footprints. (Psalm 77)
Before the fruit is ripened by the sun, Before the petals or the leaves uncoil, Before the first fine silken root is spun, A seed is dropped and buried in the soil. Before we gain the grace that comes through loss, Before we live by more than bread and breath, Before we lift with joy an empty cross, We face with Christ the seed’s renewing death. —Thomas Troeger Magnificat, February 23, 2012
I love literature. It’s as simple as that. But it’s not that simple. For me, reading is not just an escape from everyday life (in fact, it is seldom an escape from everyday life). For me, reading is about finding connections. How does this character connect to my life? How do the struggles of that character mirror the struggles of my life? And perhaps more importantly: what does that character’s response to his struggles teach [...]
“A Bestiary is a collection of short descriptions about all sorts of animals, real and imaginary, birds and even rocks, accompanied by a moralising explanation. Although it deals with the natural world it was never meant to be a scientific text and should not be read as such. Some observations may be quite accurate but they are given the same weight as totally fabulous accounts.” The Aberdeen Bestiary
Next in our series on composition and intent, we will look at another way of dividing photographic intent: Is the subject to be treated in a documentary type way or a more personal, expressive way? Documentary If the main intent of the photograph is to simply relay how something looks, composition is not necessarily all that important. After all, mug shots aren’t exactly the most artistically rendered portraits, are they? But they accurately describe how [...]
I’ve come to the realization that I’m creative. And all along I thought I was analytical. I’d allow that I was maybe a creative problem solver. But not creative. I mean, to be creative, don’t I have to be able to create beautiful things? Shouldn’t I be compelled to skip through fields singing (in key, of course) improvisational songs; paint, draw, do woodwork projects of my own design, photograph like Ansel Adams, write witty posts [...]
