Category : Pilgrim’s Chronicles

My family complains a lot about how hard I am to buy for. If I need or want something, and I can afford it, I usually buy it. Come Christmas my family doesn’t know what to do. I have a simple answer for them, which never helps, just give me a hug. It always has seemed silly to me that we celebrate His Birthday by giving each other gifts. I have no problem with expressing love to our family and friends by giving a gift, I just want to be sure that Christmas is a lot more than that for me.

The question should be what do I give Jesus? After all, it’s His Birthday. Well, if you think I’m hard to shop for just imagine trying to find something unique for the Man that created the Universe! Thankfully there is a gift He wants desperately that He may not have, your heart. You see He can’t have your heart unless you offer it of your own free will. That’s the kind of God we worship. He wants us to accept Him, believe in Him, and accept His forgiveness, but only when we are ready to give it freely. Doesn’t sound like a hard thing to do, but for many it certainly is. So many think that some how they will loose control of their own life if they submit to Him. This is the ultimate trick of the enemy, He knows you don’t have complete control over your life already. No, when you give your life to God, you take the first step to the best life you could ever imagine.

If you haven’t done that, why not give Jesus what He really wants, and what will forever change your life for the better.

Now draw close to family and friends and enjoy the warmth of their presence in you life. Merry Christmas and may God richly bless your New Year, I pray that your walk with Him will bring you all the peace, and joy you can hold.

the pilgrim

*Photo note: Aerial shot from the original America From 500 Feet, Nikon F5 and 50-135 f3.5 zoom. Kodak Ektachrome 100VS film pushed to ISO 200. Tree shadows on the frozen Jackson Lake in the Grand Tetons National Park, in Wyoming. From a Cessna 172. Wind Chill with the window open? 68 degrees below
zero.

Many, many mornings, I’ve found myself out in the shivering cold, waiting on the light. This morning, above, I stood with Scott Kelby and a handful of friends in Glacier National Park waiting to see if the first light would give us an opportunity for a photograph. Some mornings nothing happens, that morning, something did.

On the first Christmas morning something wonderful happened, the light truly arrived. Jesus is the Light of the World and His arrival was the turning point in human history. Christmas is far more than a celebration of baby born in a manger. It is the moment when God’s own Son came to our world to make things right between us and our Father in heaven.

When I’m standing in the field waiting for that light, there is great anticipation of what might happen. You always know that something spectacular could occur. On the first Christmas the most spectacular event in history occurred. Today I prepare for the Twelve Days of Christmas, (you may or may not know that the 25th is Christmas Day, but the long held tradition for many centuries was to celebrate Christmas fro the next 11 days.) While I will observe the twelve days of Christmas, I have Christmas in my heart every day of the year.

Thank you Father for the greatest gift of all, your Son, and the salvation He brought to the world.
Please help me to share that love with everyone I come in contact with throughout the twelve days of Christmas, and all the year.

the pilgrim

*Photo note: Glacier National Park, Nikon D3 and 70-300 AFS VR lens.

Thanks Chuck for that 12 Days of Christmas lesson…………………..

Luke 2:15-20 (New Living Translation)
15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”
 16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. 17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. 18 All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, 19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. 20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.
With great awe and complete reverence the shepherds looked upon the baby Jesus. This Christmas as in all the Christmas’ past that is what we should do as well. This is the time that we reflect on just how much the world changed on that day over two thousand years ago. God had a law, and the law said the wages of sin are death. All had sinned, all since have sinned. There was no way out of a sentence of death. However God is an awesome God of love. He stepped in and did the only thing that could save us, He sent His only Son, who was without sin, to die once for all of us. Jesus who did not have to serve that sentence, did for us.
On this Christmas we celebrate the beginning of the story that led to our salvation. When you accept the incredible gift of salvation from Jesus you cannot contain the joy within yourself. Just like the shepherds you have to tell the good news.
20 The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.
Let the joy that is Christmas encompass you, and share your joy with all the world.

the pilgrim

*Photo note: Nikon D3, 70-300 AFS VR lens. Glacier National Park, late fall.

My brother, Homer, sent me an interesting document that I think will bless you this Christmas, let’s file it under the category; Did You Know?

From 1558 until 1829, Roman Catholics in England were not permitted to practice their faith openly. Someone during that era wrote this carol as a catechism song for young Catholics. It has two levels of meaning: the surface meaning plus a hidden meaning known only to members of their church. Each element in the carol has a code word for a religious reality which the children could remember.

-The partridge in a pear tree was Jesus Christ.
-Two turtle doves were the Old and New Testaments.
-Three French hens stood for faith, hope and love.-
-The four calling birds were the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke & John.
-The five golden rings recalled the Torah or Law, the first five books of the Old Testament.
-The six geese a-laying stood for the six days of creation.
-Seven swans a-swimming represented the sevenfold gifts of the Holy Spirit–Prophesy, Serving, Teaching, Exhortation, Contribution, Leadership, and Mercy.
-The eight maids a-milking were the eight beatitudes.
-Nine ladies dancing were the nine fruits of the Holy Spirit–Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self Control.
-The ten lords a-leaping were the ten commandments.
-The eleven pipers piping stood for the eleven faithful disciples.
-The twelve drummers drumming symbolized the twelve points of belief in the Apostles’ Creed.

How blessed we are to still be able to express our faith without fear for our lives, it is not so in other parts of the world.

Father, we praise You at t
his Holy Season………

the pilgrim

*Photo note: My good friend, Kim Enevoldsen, shooting sunrise at Canyonlands National Park.
D3s with the 28-300 F3.5-5.6 AFS VR II lens.