the church geek

The storm had passed and the sun was setting as I captured this photo of the rays of the sun shining through the raindrops on our front window.

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For us no trip to Chicago is complete without a visit to Trader Joe’s. This will have to do us until who knows when our next opportunity will be.

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I don’t know, what do you think? I kind of liked the juxtaposition of the lines against the tree with the building in the background.

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I’m not sure this is what Jesus meant…but tonight with out bread we enjoyed some good beer and great fresh fish at a Chicago area restaurant called “Tin Fin.”

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One very busy day at work dealing with technology issues and making sure things were set for worship on Sunday followed by a four hour drive with my wife to Chicago found me exhausted and willing to accept the invitation of this hotel bed for a good night’s sleep.

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This made me laugh harder than I have in a long time…

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Today the daffodils popped open! I’m a little disappointed that the detail in the center didn’t come out a bit clearer, but overall I’m very satisfied with the shot.

I’m also starting to work on some moon shots now that it’s warmer out. So here is a bonus shot; my first successful moon photo.

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The green grass of spring contrasted with autumn leaves still hanging around after winter.

Sometimes it’s so hard to choose which photo to post; so a rejected photo of gray clouds can be seen here.

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Someone rightly mentioned that yesterday’s photo of my wife checking out the progress of spring didn’t really reveal much progress at all! So, today’s photo reveals the sort of thing that has been happening in our front garden bed here in Iowa.

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Great game, but just a bit short…

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…those who suffer in vain and without respect depend on those who suffer in accord with justice. If there were no one who said, “I die, but I shall live,” no one who said, “I and the Father are one,” then there would be no hope for those who suffer mute and devoid of hoping. All suffering would then be senseless, destructive pain that could not be worked on, all grief would be “worldly grief” and would lead to death.
Dorothee Soelle

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Lori was out checking the progress of spring in our front garden bed.

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Today, I arrived in my office to find a strangely shaped package from Cokesbury sitting on our secretary’s desk. Looking at it, I kept thinking that I hadn’t ordered anything from them in a while and wondered what it could be. Curiosity finally got the best of me (it didn’t take that long really…) and upon opening the package I discovered a beautiful red and white reversible brocade stole with gold trim.

The story is:

Between Christmas and New Year’s Day, I did a funeral as a favor for a colleague in the Presbytery. The service was for a man who had ties to her church, but who in recent years had moved out to California.

To put together the service I worked with the man’s sister and brother-in-law; Presbyterians who also lived out in California. As we finished our planning time together she looked at my robe and asked if I would wear it. I told her it hadn’t been my custom for funerals, but that I would be happy to do it for this service.

Then, looking at my stoles she asked, “Where is your white stole?” I explained to her that having been ordained for just a little over a year, I hadn’t gotten around to purchasing a white stole. (My priority purchase for last year was a purple one.)

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This is my favorite one so far in what has turned out to be an evolving photo series. I love the combination of the posts’ reflection on the water and their shadows on the deck floor. It creates quite an optical illusion.

Original
Variation 1
Variation 2

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Today’s photo is number 80! For some reason that seems like quite an accomplishment. This is the view out of a hole in a tree. (No I’m not in the hole, but my camera is!)

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