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11 years, 3 months ago Comments Off on A life rich with texture……..

 

As we close in on Christmas, many are wondering what is wrapped in that beautiful Christmas paper under the tree!  Gifts are great, and they bring extra excitement and  fun to the celebration of Christmas!  The greatest gift though was born in a manger in a humble stable.  There was not pretty paper and ribbons, no lit Christmas tree, and no warm fire in the fireplace!   It was a night like no other in the history of the world, it was the night the world was changed forever.

 

Life is meaningless with out texture.

 

texture |ˈteks ch ər|noun the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance : skin texture and tone | the cheese is firm in texture | the different colors and textures of bark.• the character or appearance of a textile fabric as determined by the arrangement and thickness of its threads : a dark shirt of rough texture.• Art the tactile quality of the surface of a work of art.• the quality created by the combination of the different elements in a work of music or literature : a closely knit symphonic texture.

 

“The feel, appearance, or consistency”……  Having Jesus in my life has brought (a.) feelings of real joy, (b.) an open appearance of a life of real peace, (c.) and most important of all a life that has one consistent daily reminder that when that baby was born, He also changed my life forever!

 

My dear friend, and boss, Scott Diussa, gave me a song a few years ago by Reliant K that continues to be one of  my favorites, here are the lyrics;

 

“I Celebrate The Day”

 

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You’ve touched my life
Because here is where You’re finding me, in the exact same place as New Year’s eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We’re less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

 

And so this Christmas I’ll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

 

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

 

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

 

On Christmas Eve, I will light a fire and sit in the dark and look at the fire and remember that within a few hours, “I will celebrate the day!”

 

Merry Christmas #1,

 

the pilgrim

 

The shot?  Another great subject with wonderful texture I couldn’t pass up!!   Nikon D800, 24-120 AF-S VR at F8, 1/15th of a second, ISO 200.  This is about 60% of the full frame,the joys of 36 mega pixels!

11 years, 3 months ago 6

May this be your best Christmas ever……..

 

the pilgrim

11 years, 3 months ago 4

This morning my pastor preached a wonderful sermon about some of the Christmas story in Luke 2: 8-20.   I’m going to share the sermon and I hope it will bless you just as it did me.  Since every entry features a photograph, or several, I thought I might stay with the theme of the shape of my heart, after the sermon and share some of my favorite images that are nothing more than shapes!!!!

Now back to the sermon;

 

Luke 2:8-20

New Living Translation (NLT)

The Shepherds and Angels

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, 10 but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. 11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! 12 And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

 

13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,

 

14 “Glory to God in highest heaven,
    and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

 

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.

 

 

1.  Find out what God is doing in your neighborhood!  The Shepherds were right in the fields when the star appeared and the angels came down from Heaven to announce this wonderful thing!  They discovered what was happening right where they were!

 

2.  Opportunity comes to those who are fulfilling their responsibility.  The Shepherds were tending their flocks, doing what they were supposed to do, and that opened the door for this revelation to be shared with them.

 

3.  Opportunities are many times fearful in the very beginning.  Their first reaction was to be afraid.  But the Angels told them not to be afraid for they had wonderful news for them, the Savior was born that night in Bethlehem!

 

4.  God will make clear His guidance.  God gave them specific directions.

 

A.  The greater the change, the greater the sign.

 

B.  The greater the calling, the more the affirmation.

 

C.  If God leads, He precedes.

 

D.  Those who obey, will find the right way.

 

 

5.  Once you know, you better go.  They went straight to the manger and saw and experienced the Christ Child, our Savior.

 

6.  Once you go, you will know.  They knew that this child was in fact the Messiah!

 

7.  Once you know you will want to tell others.  They went out to tell everyone the wonderful thing they had seen!

 

8.  Once you hear, you will want to think about it.  Just as Mary pondered in her heart these wondrous things o did the Shepherds and all those that saw this miracle.

 

9.  Once you meet Jesus, your life will be changed.  None of those that were there were ever the same again, we won’t be either!

 

As you read this wonderful story and contemplate how the world was changed that night, 2,000 years ago, we have reason for hope and it shapes our hearts and our lives forever.

 

Blessings,

 

the pilgrim

 

11 years, 3 months ago 3

I had to get out of the house and get my mind off of yesterday!  I took the D600 and tried to find a few images, it always help me to lose my self in the viewfinder.  One of the things I remembered about shooting with a 50mm lens, well I never forgot it, but it has been some time since I confined myself to one, was that your zoom is your feet!!!  Back up and it’s a wide angle, move in, and it’s a telephoto, pretty cool concept!  The examples below can give you a feel for just how different you can make the image appear, by your position.

 

 

Next stop down a country road was an old barn I’ve enjoyed shooting, it’s just so grey.  Below is the two images, one was with the D600 and 50mm f 1.4 lens, the other is with an iPhone, can you figure out which is which??

 

 

I’ll reveal the answer at the bottom, but first an interesting painting of the Corbin High School mascot the Redhound!

 

It has been refreshing to go back to just shooting what I see and not worry about;  “Which Lens!”  I think this little experiment is going to be a a lot of fun, and today I was needing some fun.

 

Oh yes, the warmer shot is the D600, pretty scary how close  they look, except for white balance.  The cool thing is that while the iPhone image could never be a sterling 40″x60″  it sure works well when it’s the only camera you have with you!

 

While these are not very impressive images, making them helped pull me back from the edge of real despair.  Photography has always been one of  the ways God has renewed my spirit.  Today’s shooting was therputic for me, I hope it wasn’t agony for  you!!

 

blessings,

 

the pilgrim