A Real Wake-Up Call……..

A couple of weeks ago I lost a very dear friend and brother, Gus Clouse.  I wrote a blog entry about how much I loved and appreciated him.  As loss always does, it has caused me to do a lot of soul searching.  It brought me to a troubling conclusion!  I’ve spent the better part of the last fifty + years traveling all over the world to make photographs of many subjects that for the most part that are, truthfully, fairly insignificant.  Yes they were beautiful and interesting, but, they did not matter to me near a much as my family and friends!  Above, top left Jim Haverstock and his late wife Sue, Jim Begley, bottom left to right, Carl Turner and his wife Monica and Jack Graham. I have well over 500 images of waterfalls but very few of these people!!!  I realized this when I tried to find images of Gus!  I have more images of Sherelene and my children and grandchildren, but I’m with them all the time, but then I’m with these people a lot too!!!

So what am I going to do?  I’m going to try to make more photographs of the people I love!  I’m sorry that I’ve dropped the ball of the ability God has given me, I need to use it to magnify Him and the ones I care so much about!  This group at the top are among my closest and most dear friends!  Jack Graham has been my teaching partner, friend  and brother and we’ve gone though lots of trials together, He’s a true friend!  Jim and Sue are two of the dearest friends I’ve ever had, and I really miss Sue, but she is with our Lord!  Jim is God’s guide to me in my spiritual life!  Jim Begley is not only a great photographer, but also a dear friends with whom I’ve shared many great adventures, he’s wonderful Christian man and friend!  Carl Turner is one of the most God loving men I now, he truly has God’s ear, when’s the chips are down he’s the one I pray is on his knees lifting me up to our God!  Monica is one of the most Holy Spirit driven Christians I’ve ever known!  These kinds of friends are priceless!  I don’t deserve them, but I’m thrilled to have them in my corner!  I love doing portraits of our students in the Missionary Baptist church in Cades Cove, one below, I promise to try to do better!

One of my favorite workshop guests!

I promise to work hard at it!

Blessings,

the pilgrim