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The Summer Solstice

Behold in the bloom of apples and the violets in the sword a hint of the old, lost beauty of the Garden of the Lord!          ~John Greenleaf Whittier

Baptisms in Horse Creek

I recently visited a congregation that had a new baptistery; a gleaming tank of temperature-controlled chlorinated water which could be changed as needed.  Well, I thought, they no longer have to wait until summer to be baptized, which is bound to be a good thing. Before long, I was  nostalgically  thinking about some baptisms that I witnessed in my long-gone childhood... We were not a church-going family on a regular basis, but we did go occasionally for strictly social purposes. I had no concept of salvation; church to me was a totally fun event that was temporarily interrupted by a sermon. Most of this church-going took place in the summer, when annual revival meetings where held. This summer-time holiness tradition began before the days of cars and pickup trucks, when people walked or rode wagons to church. It had to be after the crops were laid by. In the little church we randomly attended, you didn't mess with tradition, so the revival meeting occurred on t...

Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge

 For all my birding friends . . . The grays are Sandhill cranes. Some folks at the refuge estimate 22,000 live there.  The white ones are whooping cranes.  There are from six to twenty there, depending on who you ask.  We saw four while we were there yesterday.  The Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge is just off Interstate 65 outside of Decatur, Alabama.

Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

Is there anyone who hasn't stood in the night, looking up to the expanse above, and wondered? How I wonder what you are.... The Christmas season reminds us of the star of Bethlehem. The bright, incomparable star that was a map for Magi. The star that led the way for traveling wise men in search of a king. Wise men who had studied the heavens, astronomers, who had seen changes and knew something extraordinary was happening. Intelligent men who plotted the paths of stars when my Anglo ancestors were still nomadic because they had not learned how to store food. Men looking for answers. There has been rampant speculation for hundreds of years about the source of the star. Some believe an alignment of planets. Others think it was a comet or supernova. Why is it so hard for some to believe that the star was created specifically for the glorious birth of the Savior? Could the King of glory become human and live among us without 'stirring up' all creation? And God said...

Snow in the Mountains

We were in Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg for a few days last week to enjoy all the Christmas festivities there.  On Thursday night, the Weather Channel said there was zero percent chance of precipitation.  The local news said maybe a dusting of snow.  When we got up on Friday morning, it had started to snow, and it snowed all day.  The temperature stayed around 32-34 degrees, so there was none on the roads.  It was a rare treat for us to be in and out of the snow, which was sometimes blowing like a blizzard. All these photos were taken early Saturday morning. The photos above were taken from our balcony at Mountain Loft resort in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.  The ones below were taken on the road going from Gatlinburg to Pigeon Forge.  You can see in some of the ones below that the sun was breaking through the clouds. We have been blessed to enjoy Christmas in the Smokies many times, bu...