I'll Have a Double...

I'll Have a Double Originally uploaded by use2blost

I love espresso! A gift from God to illustrate the principle of quality, not quantity. Unlike the Morning Pot of Coffee, espresso does not really lend it self to pre-programming or the the hectic life. The Real Deal is a slow process of preparing your device (old-fashioned, heat driven, baby!) and then waiting.

John Ortberg talks about "ruthlessly eliminating hurry from your life" (The Life You've Always Wanted, I think).

Wait on your espresso.

“Be still, and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10)

Lazy...

PSSD (Post Scholastic Stress Disorder) is a seasonal disorder, commonly affecting men and women between 35 and 45. Sufferers experience the onset of symptoms as early as late April, but most of the affected population reports episodes beginning in late May, through the first week of June. The Victim is often woken up by his first episode of the season. Typically, he is driven to consciousness by the sensation of being well rested.

It was strange, to open my eyes and look at a quiet alarm clock, glowing faintly in full daylight. It Began to sink in. I don't have to regurgitate a huge wad of microbiology or logarithms onto a piece of paper today. It's been raining, and the vegetables are fine...furthermore, It's too wet to cut the grass. I don't have to read anything. I can edit a few pictures, visit my Aunt in the nursing home, and clean my house. The only jobs I have lined up are outdoor work and the weather is looking prohibitive for the next ten days (that's actually pretty uncool... I had a postponement on a window installation that should have put some house payment in my wallet this week). I am relatively free, today. Hmmm.

Redefining Reality.

Scramble, originally uploaded by use2blost.

This girl looks like she's strugglin' (probably every bee you've ever seen was female). Her job, day in and day out for one to four months of life span, is to fly to and then clamber over, landscapes of incredible beauty, and to then fill her leg baskets with "another load of pollen!". (There is no real struggle here...it's all in the camera, a posture frozen in time-insects can lift many times their body weight, casually...one of those strange aspects of physics that are over my head.)
I wonder, is it possible that as worker bees, we no longer see the flowers? Scott Peck tells us that " life is difficult" (or something like that...) and we nod in agreement, thinking that life is difficult.(that's not the royal "we", it's the trailer park "we". Perhaps it doesn't apply to my readers- both of you.)
When I begin to take the flowers for granted, I forget that I'm a member of a minority. As part of this exclusive group (80% of humanity lives on less than 10 bucks a day), I have a roof over my head... hell if I want, I have a roof over my car. I am so affluent that I can spew drinking water outside on my grass, and pay to feed animals who do no work. I am acquiring a college education in spite of youthful irresponsibility, and poor choices, and I get to walk around in the mountains a couple of times a year. My difficult life is littered with flowers. I even get to blog a little, when school is out.

Toss Me a Beer.

Toss Me a Beer., originally uploaded by use2blost.

this cropduster came in by blowin' treetops out of his way. I've never been that close to an airplane I wasn't boarding. We pulled over in a convenience store parking lot to find my lighter, and then he roared over. I got one or two interesting shots, but I missed the humdinger. My first sight of him was as he blew over us from behind... as he waggled in silhouette, My mind's eye went "click" and I grieved a little.
I did get one of him waving at me...
Large

I don't know which I like better...

old man... reworked, originally uploaded by use2blost.

Extreme HDR or a treatment so subtle that you must disclose it in order to discuss it. This remake of Jack is about as heavily edited as you can get without becoming abstract, but this picture:

could conceivably be straight-out-of-the-camera, with a filter.

Belonging to God

Anonymous said...

hmm, maybe you and I don't belong to God..,

"He who belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God." - John 8:47

I cannot say that I have fully given my life to God or Jesus, I have lots of attachments like beer, money, etc.

Reckon these vices keep me from belonging to God?

TJG

April 23, 2009 7:51 PM

Perhaps you and I don't belong to God... but maybe we do.

³⁴When the Pharisees heard that Jesus^£ had silenced the Sadducees, they met together in the same place. ³⁵One of them, an expert in the Law, tested him by asking, ³⁶“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” ³⁷Jesus^£ said to him, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’^{£ 38}This is the greatest and most important^£ commandment. ³⁹The second is like it: ‘You must love your neighbor as yourself.’^{£ 40}All the Law and the Prophets depend on these two commandments.”

This is what Jesus says we must do. This is the most important thing, according to him. What is interesting is that Jesus, who knows a whole lot, including the hearts of men, chooses to answer a one - answer question, with two answers. He tells us that All the Law (a vast do-and-don't database) and All the Prophets can be distilled to these essentials... hmmm. All means all. Law..... Prophets.... This tells us that when we violate the Law, or fail to apply the wisdom of the Prophets, we are either not loving God, or not loving our neighbor (and remember, Jesus tells us these are flip sides of the same coin, goes so far as to say that not loving our neighbor is not loving God: "first be reconciled to your brother...." ).
Now, I don't like the notion that breaking a commandment means that I am not loving God. It is a nagging rebuttal from the peanut gallery, that rings out when I am trying to bask in self-righteousness, or privately congratulate myself on my down-to-earth spirituality. I would LOVE to correct Jesus. (Whoa, Lord! you've made a mistake in your thinking... let me explain it to you...) To tell us that obeying the Law, and applying the wisdom of the Prophets, are manifestations of loving God and my Neighbor, and that these two things are the One Thing that matters most to God, is shining an inconvenient light into the corners and shadows of religion.

TJG, you ask if your vices keep you from belonging to God:

I cannot say that I have fully given my life to God or Jesus, I have lots of attachments like beer, money, etc.

Reckon these vices keep me from belonging to God?

I think everything already belongs to God, but here is perhaps some food for thought.

1. Must you love God in order to surrender to him? Hopefully these are issues of degree, with a correlation between them.
2. If drunkeness and goldigging cut the telephone line to God, What about hypocrisy, chasin' ho's (or just thinking about it :D), overeating, ...driving past the homeless, hungry dude on the way to Wallyworld to get a fishing license? ...ordering the first (or any) crusade? What sins are exempt?
   

Around the same time I bought my house,

I am a Big Girl, originally uploaded by use2blost.

About a year ago, Kylee moved in next door with her grandma, aunt, cousin, and mom. This was also the period where my love of photography began to run away with me, and I itched for a good shot of Kylee, and got a couple... I was very much a beginner (still am) but loved some of those pictures. Kylee has since moved away, but comes back to visit for a few days here and there. I have lately been learning about HDR and shooting in RAW format, and it was a treat to catch this picture and tweak it. It is amazing how you can take an unremarkable shot and really bring out something special... sometimes. This picture of Kylee was a happy accident. I had actually gotten my camera to take a few pictures of the new baby and got to fartin' around with Kylee,

who had a trampoline accident yesterday, giving her the black eye.

I love the way this turned out.