Tag Archives: seeing

God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Fairness

This photo was taken not long after we started our bike ride on the carriage roads in Acadia NP. This spot was near Witch Hole Pond. It was a little chilly, I was riding with a jacket and gloves on, but it had the signs of being a beautiful day. There were lots of clouds, but it was not “supposed to” rain. At least, that is the way we think. As if some modest ability to predict the weather gives us ownership of the weather. And if it rains on day day like this, it violates our sense of fairness.

We seem to have a finely tuned sense of fairness regarding things directly affecting our own life, and less so for things affecting others. While that can be a result of self-centeredness, I think it reflects 2 other things. First, being emotionally close to something impairs our judgement. Secondly, it is very difficult to see things from someone else’s perspective.

Seeing God in all things changes that. Not just seeing God in nature, but also in each other. Life becomes less about me and more about we.

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Travel

Appreciation

When my wife and I travel, one of the things we enjoy most is learning about places we have never been before. That includes learning to identify and reading about fish, birds, plants and animals we see on our trips.

This is a Florida gar, which we saw in the Everglades. It can be found in fresh waters in Georgia and Florida, often in shallow waters. It has an air bladder which helps them survive in poorly oxygenated water.

God has given us such amazing gifts in the world we live in.

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Rising Tide

This is Ship Harbor in Acadia NP, near Bass Harbor Head Light Station. Even though I assume this was near low tide, it is hard for me to imagine large ships coming through here. And yet, that is supposedly how this body of water got its name. You can tell how high the water gets during high tide by the dark color of the rock.

We talk about the rising tide as a metaphor, as in “a rising tide lifts all boats”. This phrase has been used primarily in an economic sense, meaning everyone benefits when the economy improves. But it could just as well be thought of in a spiritual sense as well. As in, we all benefit from God’s love.

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Details

This is a view of Jordan Pond from the North Bubble in Acadia NP. The water stands out, but much of the beauty in the view lies in the surrounding details. You need to look a closely, but you can easily see the Jordan Pond House at the far end of the pond. Some of the other details that “stand out” to me include the carriage road (to the right), the leaves changing red, and the islands off in the distance. This is so much more than a picture of a water.

Beauty is often found in the small details. God provides a richness to our lives that must be noticed to be appreciated.

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Travel

Testify

This is a photo of a Paradise Tanager, taken at the Key West Butterfly & Nature Conservatory. My reaction to seeing this bird was that it didn’t look real. It’s not so much the colors as the pattern (that seem unnatural). But I saw it moving and can testify it is real.

We are in the Easter Season, and daily readings are about the Apostles testifying to what they saw and heard as unbelievable as it seemed. John writes “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked upon and touched with our hands concerns the Word of life— for the life was made visible; we have seen it and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible to us.” ‭‭(1 John‬ ‭1‬:‭1‬-‭2‬)

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Beauty

We weren’t sure what we were looking for when we found this lake. We had hoped to be able to hike from the middle of a longer trail that led to the lake, but there was no parking. The map showed a short trail leading to the lake from another spot, but found no parking there either. It was obvious other people had driven their cars off the road, so we did the same and came to a parking area beside this lake. It is not obvious from this camera angle, but it was less than a quarter mile across the lake. Despite all that, I think this was the prettiest view we had the whole trip. Beauty is sometimes found at the most unexpected times.

Pine Glades Lake, Everglades

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Flowing

This is a view from the Shark Valley lookout tower in the Everglades. Shark Valley is named for two of its estuaries, the Shark River and Little Shark River, home to several shark species.

This is not what I expected the Everglades to look like. I picture waist-deep water and thick trees. But the Everglades could be thought of as a massive river of grass (covering over 2 million acres), with a combination of sawgrass marshes, freshwater ponds, prairies and tree islands. Water flowing through the Everglades filters down into the Biscayne Aquifer, which supplies the drinking water for eight million South Floridians.

Water, all around you, slowly flowing. What a wonderful metaphor for the Holy Spirit – all around, moving in ways that we often don’t even perceive.

Standard
God in all things, Photography, Scenery, Travel

Bizarre

This photo of cormorants sitting in a tree was taken at the Florida Everglades. These birds eat small to medium sized fish which they catch by swimming under the surface of the water. They are amazing swimmers; under water they propel themselves with their feet with help from their wings; some have been found to dive as deep as 150 ft.

Both cormorants and anhingas (another underwater swimmer) can be seen drying their wings out in the sun because their feathers get waterlogged and make it difficult to fly. I remember the first time I saw a bird (probably an anhinga) sitting in a tree with its wings outstretched. It struck me as almost bizarre, because I did not know it why it was doing so.

The same thing happen with human behavior. We view the actions of others as bizarre or inappropriate. Often we don’t know a thing about them or their background.

Standard