In the Hollow 2017 Calendars on order.

   A limited quantity of 2017 In the Hollow Calendars will be available by mid Autumn.

They will feature one photo per month with an inspirational quote that will also

be part of the book upon completion.

Look here for ordering info in the coming months.

Selective Hearing

Also do not take to heart everything people say, Lest you hear your servant cursing you.

Ecclesiastes 7:21 (NKJV)

     A little selective hearing at times is just what is needed. We can be so careless in the words we speak. What horror would strike us if folks could hear everything we say and took it seriously. We might suffer a great many troubled relationships.

      There is wisdom in silence, and strength is displayed by ignoring many of the foolish and meaningless things that people utter in this world. “The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, And his glory is to overlook a transgression.” Proverbs 19:11

      Better yet, why not be slower to speak at all. So much trouble is ignited by loose talk. A bit more thought before we launch our tongues would cost very little and benefit both us and our hearers.

The Antidote of Prayer

Prayer is the antidote for the disease of self-confidence, 

which opposes God’s goal of getting glory by working for those who wait for Him.

John Piper

Making God known in our spheres of influence should be the goal of every child of God. When our purpose is to merely survive or to self-actualize our earthly existence we reveal an almost total lack of understanding of His character or nature. Giving God glory is good.

Prayer, which necessitates bowing and acknowledging our inability to meet our every need, is a remedy. We are a needy people, and acknowledging our utter dependence upon Him for our daily bread, breath and well-being is the essence of spiritual maturity.

Patience is crucial in this equation, because it requires that we relinquish control to the one who makes it all happen.

Vulnerable

One of the reasons Jesus is so loved is His vulnerability.                                                                   The need to defend ourselves from insult and injury clogs the flow of God's Spirit.

How insecure we all are. So many filled with fear and anxiety, constantly dreading humiliation. How the human race has survived this long is a mystery to me.

It is so refreshing to engage a secure and balanced soul, comfortable inside their own skin and without pride or conceit. Jesus was such a person when He walked this earth. He operated from abundance and gave because He had little need.

We are all raised differently, with widely different opportunities to end up well-rounded and secure or to allow the world to overwhelm us and define who we are. Some are bullied or feel like outsiders even as children. Schools and neighborhoods do not always provide the safety from insult and rejection we would hope for. Even home is a place of torment for some. The world can be a cruel place.

Once our character and personality have been formed by these painful youthful experiences we can carry them for the rest of our lives...or not. There is only one remedy to restore the bruised or battered soul. Until we find our security in Jesus, who loves us unconditionally, and has the ability to restore, we will struggle with pathetic remedies like medicines, therapists and addictions that will only distort the persons we were meant to be.

Jesus said of the Father... "He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted..." Luke 4

Everybody Needs Beauty

                      Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in                        where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.

John Muir

John Muir is the father of our national park system in the United States. He was from a devout Christian family, but felt a calling to the wilderness in his youth and left the family to hike and engage with nature. While he rejected the rigid Christianity of his father, he retained a love for God and showed a deep respect for Creation.

His favorite place was Yellowstone. He would trudge through the wildness of that place with little more than his boots and the clothing on his back. He lived off the land and engaged Creation in the rawest way possible. He was a pioneer and visionary with a unique understanding and awe of all that God has made.

He saw beauty as the unique domain of the Lord Himself. "No synonym for God is so perfect as Beauty. Whether as seen carving the lines of the mountains with glaciers, or gathering matter into stars, or planning the movements of water, or gardening - still all is beauty!"

John Muir famously climbed a 100 foot Douglas fir in the Sierra Nevada mountains in the middle of a terrible wind storm in order to experience its fullness firsthand. He said of the adventure, "I kept my lofty perch for hours, frequently closing my eyes to enjoy the music by itself, or to feast quietly on the delicious fragrance that was streaming past."

We must actively pursue places and times where we can roam freely in places where God's created beauty can be found, the wilder the better. Find your Sabbath there and be refreshed in body and soul.

                 

Faith and Sight

I wouldn't have seen it if I hadn't believed it.

Marshall McLuhan

      There is a curious correlation between seeing and believing. There always has been.  The Bible says we are to walk by faith and not by sight. That is easier said than done. 

     I love the always provocative Marshall McLuhan's take on this theme. He says he would not have seen it if he had not believed it. This implies that faith precedes sight. 

     But to the one who must see before he believes the world is void of the glory and mystery of God. In His last days as Jesus was approaching Jerusalem to be crucified there were some who challenged Him. It says of that encounter:
       But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him... John 12:37


      All things are discoverable to the one whose eyes have been opened by faith. Life becomes an ongoing adventure as more and more of God's will and wonders are revealed.

Learning Curves

I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.

Winston Churchill

     I just bought myself an Olympus OM-D E-M5 (could they choose a clumsier name?) mirrorless camera. It was a large investment for me that I know will bring a good return, but there are a few things standing in the way. 

     I have been using an iPhone for the past few years and love how tiny it is, and that it serves other purposes. While on the hiking trail I can communicate if necessary, track my journeys as well as take pretty amazing pictures and I barely know I am carrying it. 

     After un-boxing the impressive new camera I suddenly realized how ill prepared I am for this. I have never used anything but a point and shoot style camera. I know nothing about lenses, aperture or shutter speeds and was concerned the bulk would cramp my freewheeling style on the trail. 

     I had researched this camera and am committed to the process, however, and am determined to make this work. The prize of far better photos is before me if I can bridge the learning curve. And that is what I am determined to do. 

     One of the problems has been that my initial attempts to capture something gripping with the Olympus have fallen short. In fact, I can take much better images with my little iPhone 6. At least for now!

     In reality, the potential for spectacular shots is far greater with the Olympus than with the iPhone, but it has to be mastered. It's a bit like moving up from a Ford Focus (which I currrently drive) to a BMW (which I would not mind having). It is intimidating at first, adjustments have to be made. Old habits die hard, and new tricks and old dogs don't mix very well. 

    So I am refusing to take the easy shot with my iPhone (but, ironically, the photo at the top was taken with my iPhone- cut me some slack). I am taking an online photography course (for old dogs). The prize of amazing captures is just out of reach, but will be in my hands soon if I will invest the effort. Stay tuned...