Weekly Photo Challenge: (reflections)

picture within a picture

at first glimpse, this seems like an inappropriate picture to stick under the label of ‘Reflections’ as it is just a sideways portrait of a very sexy man [slash pre-dreadlocked me, some years ago]

but what i like about this picture, is the double take that happens if you give it a moment and are drawn to the reflection that sits quietly, minding its own business, waiting for you in the glasses lens… what story is going on there?

the road less travelled? the trip about to be undertaken?

is there a story to be shared? or a journey yet to be launched?

suddenly what started out as simply a snapshot of a face has exploded into a myriad of possible tales, waiting to be experienced or shared around the campfire, or yet to be written even.

the power of a reflection. and the reflections that accompany it.

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Thankful’ click here]

You ‘gif’ love… a bad name!

aka “Frankly my dear, i don’t gif!”…

i was asked the question: are animated GIFs the stuff of junior high-school hijinks or, are they the political cartoons of the new millenium? What do you think?

i think this angel shooting an arrow into a pink butt might be significant in helping us come up with an answer to this one…

if you have to ask me my professional opinion [and by “professional opinion” i mean my opinion] i would have to go with the latter – in the same vein as “cute animal videos” and “animal quotes or message posters” i have not been overly impressed with the animated gif phase of the interwebnet [and then all the people left? why? i kinda implied something bad about animals or pictures of animals – that never goes down well. oh. don’t you want to save the orangutangs? look, i am NOT going there again… and i love World of Birds just for the record!]

at their most, they can be slightly amusing and raise a smile, but they’re not going to be making me snort liquids through my mouth any time soon [the benchmark sign of appreciative humour] and so i would have to categorise them way more heavily as junior high-school hijinks.

or weird… some of them are just plain weird – bring in the exhibits:

and if that does not convince you, then there is ‘chasing rose’ which to me is a little bit freaky and reminds me of some kind of horror movie where the protagonist is this thorny love rose who is coming in for the hug…

i’m not quite sure we’re at “the political cartoons of the new millenium” just yet… [give me a break!]

so perhaps, if we are all very, very quiet then they will get bored and fade quietly into the distance and we can pretend they never happened… think this is likely? as likely as a stoppage to “cute” cat and other animal pictures, as likely as Aragorn ‘one does not simply think animated gifs are the political hijinks of the future’ posts and as likely as Gangnam style pop star Psy not appearing on any awards show stage in the next twelve months…

let’s face it, they are here to stay, but just because that is true does not mean we should look a gif horse in the mouth…

Weekly Photo Challenge: (thankful)

i am thankful that i get to journey through the adventure of a life to the full life with this beautiful lady, my wife Valerie aka tbV [the beautiful Val] and as i always say, ‘Marriage to the right person is one of the most wonderful things in the world.’

hold my hand… walk with me…

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Inspiration’ click here]

Special Photo Challenge: Inspiration

my nickname ‘FISH’ stands for Faithful In Serving God… the main focus of my blog is to hopefully help point people towards an incredibly loving Creator God who desires to be in relationship with them and to let people know that there is a Life To The Full that we are invited to live…

these pictures – taken from a camping worship trip in Namibia called Namrock – give some glimpses of the kinds of things that inspire my blog posting – God and nature and friends and community and the church in action and Love and relationships and worship…

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Green’ click here]

“Weekly Photo Challenge: (Green)”

deep significance to me and my identity lies within the green, and without.

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Renewal’ click here]

Weekly Photo Challenge: (Renewal)

when i saw the theme for this week’s challenge my immediate thought was this picture of my youngest sister Dawn [one of my most favourite people in the world] hanging out with some kids in Umtata [South Africa] on this missions trip we did and the idea of bringing renewal through the simple act of love and friendship and touch and story-telling…

let the little children come unto me…

the second one that came to mind was the collision of serious and comedy as i got the opportunity many year ago to baptise one of my good friends Megan Giggles on this camp that we did as a bunch of young adults – Megan asked if she could be baptised and so i asked the campsite people where the deepest part of the lake was and turns out it must have been low tide or something as we walked and walked and walked and walked and it just didn’t seem to be getting deeper. and so in what must be one of the world’s most shallowest baptisms [focusing strongly on the theme of renewal – symbolically joining with Jesus in His death as you go beneath the water and then rising up out of it symbolising new life, new beginnings, new commitment] we managed to get Megan mostly under the water and the context with laughter interspersed with deep meaning really added so much to the whole experience.

dying to the old, rising up into the new…

[For the previous Photo Challenge on the theme of ‘Geometry’ click here]

Ten Ways to Love part VIII: Forgive without punishing

Colossians 3 verse 13 reads, ‘Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.’

i am not convinced that ‘forgive and forget’ is a biblical concept altho many people quote it as if it is… for me the idea that God has forgiven my sin and then developed some kind of universal amnesia is a lot less exciting than the picture of a God who although He remembers and knows the various ways i have let Him down and hurt other people [both by what i have done and also by that which i have failed to do] chooses to not hold that against me and loves and treats me as if those things never happened.

the next time i mess up, he doesn’t bring out the list and remind me that this is simply one more time that i have failed Him.

the enemy does. through guilt and the wagging finger of ‘you’re no good! this is who you are! the sin defines you!’ he will point and prod and constantly bring up failures from the past to try and let this be the one that keeps you down.

and i do. one of the biggest ways in which we punish when we ‘forgive’ is to bring up all the crud from the past and wave it in the person’s face who has just wronged us as if to say with the enemy, ‘this is who you are. i knew you’d mess up again. you just can’t help it can you?’ which, when you take time to think about it is truly horrible. to be honest, a lot of it feels like self-protection – a wrong has been committed and if i can’t prove how and why this is your fault then i am going to have to take responsibility that it might just be mine.

a while back i looked at how my yes can sound very much like a no [which is about as helpful as receiving a no and possibly even worse] and i think this statement of ‘Forgive without punishing’ aligns itself closely alongside that idea. if i forgive you, but you feel like crap as a result of it, then i may need to relook at whether i have forgiven you at all.

i am reminded of Jesus and the woman caught in sin in John 8.1-11 which ends:

‘Jesus straightened up and asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”

“No one, sir,” she said.

“Then neither do I condemn you,” Jesus declared. “Go now and leave your life of sin.”’

This story has both the lack of condemnation as well as the call to live a better life. She doesn’t leave feeling like her sin was ok, but she also doesn’t leave feeling condemned at all and in the context of the whole story it is the act of Jesus’ compassion that you feel will stick with her more than any focus on the sin.

So, forgive and forget? Not so sure. But forgive and do not continue to hold it against. Forgive and in the moment of forgiveness let them walk away with the understanding of Love and Grace and Mercy and not condemnation or guilt. Forgive and choose to seek positive relationship with. Forgive and remember to examine your heart and actions for the areas where you might need to be forgiven.

That original verse comes in the middle of two others which i feel fit so well together so let us end with that, and as i look to forgive without punishing, may i seek to always remember what it looks like when God forgives me, and may my forgiveness always be bound together in Love:

‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.’ [Colossians 3.12-14]

to continue to the promise without forgetting way, go here.