Carl Sagan on Books

 

A good, dear friend of mine, who just happens to be a teacher, posted this wonderful quote from Carl Sagan regarding the gift of books.  My friend mused that he though it might be a good idea to blow this picture up and post it as a large poster inside his classroom (A mighty fine idea, if you ask me)

I too, thought it was a wonderful quote, however, I was struck with something perhaps unintended by the author, a well-known agnostic.

Let's break it down, shall we?

 “A book is made from a tree. It is an assemblage of flat, flexible parts (still called "leaves") imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles. 

Indeed! Especially the ones in Arabic. (A little linguistics humor)

One glance at it and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for thousands of years. 

Whoa! This got my attention. I immediately thought of the Bible and God's word and how it has been handed down and endured over hundreds of years. This thought then brilliantly teed up the next sentence of his which drove the message home to me.

Across the millennia, the author is speaking, clearly and silently, inside your head, directly to you. 

AMEN! The author (Jesus Christ) is indeed speaking, clearly and silently inside my head (but not so quietly in my heart) and it is indeed DIRECTLY to me (and hopefully to you too!) When we read the Word of God, we draw closer to his love and grace. We are enriched by his Holy Spirit and moved to live in a way that pleases Him.

Writing is perhaps the greatest of human inventions, binding together people, citizens of distant epochs, who never knew one another. Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.” 

Keeping things framed in terms of the Bible and the word of God, it is through His written word that He has reached "citizens of distant epochs", "binding them together" and although we "who never knew one another" perhaps personally, we do know one another as brothers and sisters in Christ. We are the Church, brought together divinely by an "assemblage of flat, flexible parts, imprinted with dark pigmented squiggles, brought to us by people who are dead, thousands of years ago" with a whole bunch of the Holy Spirit thrown in for good measure. ;0)

Sagan ends with the thought "Books break the shackles of time ― proof that humans can work magic.” 

 

I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Sagan and say that it is Jesus Christ who is working the magic. The humans are just instruments in which He does His will.  

The real magic is that He can use a self-proclaimed agnostic such as Carl Sagan to illustrate just how wondrous and precious his Holy Word is to all of us.

 =BM=

COLUMBINE 12 YEARS LATER

One of my favorite blogs as of late, is that of Bill Fortney, who is an ex-professional photographer and a fellow brother in Christ, who fancies himself now, as a "hardcore amateur" because he "no longer makes a living at photography". (I should be so lucky ;0) Yet, he is employed by Nikon as a Professional Services Tech Rep covering the Southern United States. (What a hack! :0)

IN all seriousness, it was his blog that inspired me to go the direction that I have chosen to go here, mixing both faith based issues with those that are photography based. I would invite everyone to go check it out at billfortney.com. (He's pretty darned good ;0)

Today's post on his blog, was something that was something shared with him from a friend, that I just had to share with all you.

 COLUMBINE STUDENT’S FATHER 12 YEARS LATER!!

Guess our national leaders didn’t expect this. On Thursday, Darrell Scott, the father of Rachel Scott, a victim of the Columbine High School shootings in Littleton , Colorado , was invited to address the House Judiciary Committee’s subcommittee. What he said to our national leaders during this special session of Congress was painfully truthful.

They… were not prepared for what he was to say, nor was it received well. It needs to be heard by every parent, every teacher, every politician, every sociologist, every psychologist, and every so-called expert! These courageous words spoken by Darrell Scott are powerful, penetrating, and deeply personal. There is no doubt that God sent this man as a voice crying in the wilderness.. The following is a portion of the transcript:

“Since the dawn of creation there has been both good & evil in the hearts of men and women. We all contain the seeds of kindness or the seeds of violence. The death of my wonderful daughter, Rachel Joy Scott, and the deaths of that heroic teacher, and the other eleven children who died must not be in vain. Their blood cries out for answers.

“The first recorded act of violence was when Cain slew his brother Abel out in the field. The villain was not the club he used.. Neither was it the NCA, the National Club Association. The true killer was Cain, and the reason for the murder could only be found in Cain’s heart.

“In the days that followed the Columbine tragedy, I was amazed at how quickly fingers began to be pointed at groups such as the NRA. I am not a member of the NRA. I am not a hunter. I do not even own a gun. I am not here to represent or defend the NRA – because I don’t believe that they are responsible for my daughter’s death. Therefore I do not believe that they need to be defended. If I believed they had anything to do with Rachel’s murder I would be their strongest opponent.

I am here today to declare that Columbine was not just a tragedy — it was a spiritual event that should be forcing us to look at where the real blame lies! Much of the blame lies here in this room. Much of the blame lies behind the pointing fingers of the accusers themselves. I wrote a poem just four nights ago that expresses my feelings best.

       Your laws ignore our deepest needs,
       Your words are empty air.
       You’ve stripped away our heritage,
       You’ve outlawed simple prayer.
       Now gunshots fill our classrooms,
       And precious children die.
       You seek for answers everywhere,
       And ask the question “Why?”
       You regulate restrictive laws,
       Through legislative creed.
       And yet you fail to understand,
       That God is what we need!

“Men and women are three-part beings. We all consist of body, mind, and spirit. When we refuse to acknowledge a third part of our make-up, we create a void that allows evil, prejudice, and hatred to rush in and wreak havoc. Spiritual presences were present within our educational systems for most of our nation’s history. Many of our major colleges began as theological seminaries. This is a historical fact. What has happened to us as a nation? We have refused to honor God, and in so doing, we open the doors to hatred and violence. And when something as terrible as Columbine’s tragedy occurs — politicians immediately look for a scapegoat such as the NRA. They immediately seek to pass more restrictive laws that contribute to erode away our personal and private liberties. We do not need more restrictive laws. Eric and Dylan would not have been stopped by metal detectors. No amount of gun laws can stop someone who spends months planning this type of massacre. The real villain lies within our own hearts.

“As my son Craig lay under that table in the school library and saw his two friends murdered before his very eyes, he did not hesitate to pray in school. I defy any law or politician to deny him that right! I challenge every young person in America , and around the world, to realize that on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School prayer was brought back to our schools. Do not let the many prayers offered by those students be in vain. Dare to move into the new millennium with a sacred disregard for legislation that violates your God-given right to communicate with Him. To those of you who would point your finger at the NRA — I give to you a sincere challenge.. Dare to examine your own heart before casting the first stone!
My daughter’s death will not be in vain! The young people of this country will not allow that to happen!”
– Darrell Scott

As a nation, we are becoming splintered and torn apart at the seams. We need to embrace the Holy Spirit and come back to Jesus. We do that through prayer and daily time in his word, building a relationship with him and making him the center of our lives. He has healed my life and he can heal yours too! All you need to do, is ask with a sincere heart, confess yourself as sinful man or woman and ask Jesus to take control of your life. He will bless you and honor you in ways you never thought possible.  - Amen

=BM=

Chakra Chip Cookies

One of the many blessings of attending Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara, is our pastor David Guzik, who just so happens to have an EXTENSIVE Bible commentary online at Enduringword.com.

If you ever read a passage of the Bible and aren't quite sure what it might mean, or perhaps you simply want a much more in-depth insight to a particular passage, this sight is for you!  I can't recommend David's commentary highly enough, for anyone wanting to delve deeper into God's word. I can't believe that we have such an amazing resource right here in Santa Barbara!  We are truly blessed.

The only drawback to the site, is that the (free) website is online, therefore, if I am out and about with my iPad and not near an internet WiFi hot spot, I am out of luck. 

What's the solution? Download an electronic copy for your Kindle (I use the  Kindle iPad app) and then you are free to read at the beach, or wherever your favorite place is to seek quiet time with the Lord.

Having recently attended a church retreat based on Romans 5-9 "Grounded in Grace" I decided to further study the book of Romans and go much deeper and in-depth.

The Kindle version of the Romans commentary is only $2.99, so I bought it.

Fast forward to a week later, and I see this priceless little ditty in my Amazon "suggestions"

One cannot find two more diametrically opposed viewpoints of spirituality than these two schools of thought.

One balancing "power-centers" inwardly, sellf-reliant and worshiping the god that is you.

Yet another, casting away the self as sinful and unworthy, yet saved by the loving, eternal grace of Jesus Christ, by simply believing in Him.

What is Amazon thinking? Is this some kind of cruel joke? Seriously?

I can only hope that Amazon recommends David Guzik's commentary on Romans to the people who look up "Chakra Balancing"


Paul writes at the end of Romans 8...

³⁷ "But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, ³⁹ nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

AMEN!

Oh, and one more thing Amazon... No thank you. I'll pass on the Chakra and stick with Jesus. ;0)

=BM=

Cold Streak In SoCal

⁶ Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; ⁷ and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Philipians 4: 6&7

I stumbled upon this hilarious clip form Jimmy Kimmel Live regarding the cold spell we have had here in Southern California.  I'm ashamed to admit it, but this is me to a "T"!

I get upset becasue I have to put on a sweater at night, or actually sleep UNDER the covers of my bed, instead of on top as I am accustomed to doing.

What really got to me, after the good natured fun of the clip, is how I am guilty of being a bit too petty in my prayer life with Jesus. Lately I have been praying for little things, selfish things.... things that when I step back and look at myself honestly and objectively, I come accross like the well meaning people in the clip above. Shallow and a bit selfish.

The verse above reminds me to be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, let your requests be known to God.

God wants us to be prayerful and he wants us to go BIG. Come to him with EVERYTHING not matter how big or how small. 

God does indeed like the small stuff, however, if we all we do is concentrate on self-centered requests without faith that the Lord can work mighty and wondrous things, then we too can end up looking like the newscasters above.  Privileged, blessed people who are, living in one of the most pleasant climates on the planet, complaining because we had to put a sweater on our dog. In other words, petty and self-centered.

Lord, keep me humble and more focused on others and help me think outside of the box when coming to you in prayer.

=BM=

A Simple Altar

Almost exactly one month ago today, I had the great honor of taking some group photos of a local choral group here in town "The Quire of Voyces" whom I am a big fan of. If you ever catch wind of them holding a concert, I encourage you to attend. You will LOVE them!

They asked me to take a group photo as they wanted to use something for promotional purposes, so I gave them the photo above, which was taken inside the chapel at St. Anthony's Seminary here in Santa Barbara. The idea was to give them a shot with LOTS of head room, so they can populate the top portion with dates, maps, concert graphics etc to advertise for future events.

The intricate stone carving (actually I believe it's plaster) is at the back of the chapel and is quite ornate and absolutely beautiful.

I edited these photos just after this morning's sermon which was based on Exodus 20:18-26 when Moses had just received the Ten Commandments. Lord tells Moses, (paraphrasing) "Don't make and gods of gold or silver (idols) and then procedes to tell Moses to build an altar, but with very specific instruction on how NOT to build it.

Verses 24 and 25 read: ²⁴ An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you. ²⁵ And if you make Me an altar of stone, you shall not build it of hewn stone; for if you use your tool on it, you have profaned it. 

In verse 25, God says "you may make make a stone altar, however, it must not be hewn, or carved stone." God did not want the altar to be made with any man-made carvings or anything ornate as to distract the worshiper from the spirit of and beauty of God.


As the sermon was fresh in my mind, while editing the photos, I was struck by the ornateness of the background in the images I was editing. Although it is absolutely BEAUTIFUL sculpted artwork, I couldn't help but think of this mornings sermon. As I looked at the image, the ornateness and beauty of the background competes with the choir at the bottom of the image.

Now, when the photo will be used in promotional purposes, there will be graphics and titles, dates, maps and all sort of other items covering the background so it wont be that big of a deal. However, on its own, I could see how such ornateness could be a distraction. Would that not be the case if one were listening to sermon in the chapel, particularly a very BAD sermon? How easy would it be to drift of and study and admire the beauty of the art, instead of focusing on the word of God being taught at that moment?


In looking at the sculpture, at the very top of the image, we clearly see God the Father, followed by Th Holy Spirit descending down from heaven in the form of a dove, followed by the crucified Christ, with a glowing sun and what appears to be a rainbow beneath him.

I am told the giant circle above the choir, is a communion wafer, obviously representing Christ's body.  

To the mediate left, you can see what looks like a priest with two loaves of bread and a chalice of wine, and next to that, it appears to be a group of people partaking in communion.

A closer examination of the full-sized picture can be found HERE.

The rest, I'm not entirely sure about. If you know, then please leave your comments below. I would love to know.


Regardless, at the end of the sermon, we then went on to learn that greatest sacrificial altar ever made, was simply two intersecting wooden beams, in which Christ's blood was shed for the ultimate sacrifice for mankind. 

Truly, the simplest and must humble of altars.

=BM=

Having Once Fallen Away

             

                      16 Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman,

                          from the seductive words of the promiscuous woman.

                      17 She has abandoned her husband

                          and ignores the covenant she made before God.

                      18 Entering her house leads to death;

                          it is the road to the grave.[a]

                      19 The man who visits her is doomed.

                          He will never reach the paths of life.

                      20 Follow the steps of good men instead,

                          and stay on the paths of the righteous.

                      21 For only the godly will live in the land,

                          and those with integrity will remain in it.

                      22 But the wicked will be removed from the land,

                          and the treacherous will be uprooted.

                      Proverbs 2:20-22

                      New Living Translation (NLT)

Ack... What can I say? I have had a rough couple of days. I have been hit with the flu bug that has been going around and stayed home from work Monday and Tuesday, so I have been dealing with being physically down, but I have also been burdened by an extremely heavy heart.  I wont go into details, but pray for the Lord to intervene in a supernatural way for a peaceful and humble resolution.

This afternoon, as I like to do, I went out to the Deveroux Slough for lunch time and went through today's passage in my One Year Bible. Today's lesson ended with the proverb above. 

I thought it had pretty well encapsulated my life over the last 20 or so years, before rededicating my life to Christ almost two years ago.

Here, the writer uses a promiscuous woman as an example, as someone who "ignores the covenant she made before God." as she seduces men taking them away from the Lord.

My friends, that was me just two years ago.  I was seduced by the immoral woman (the sins and lusts of the world) and turned away from Jesus Christ.

Now don't get me wrong. If you had asked me if I considered myself to be a Christian, I would have said "Yes I am".  However, the term "lukewarm" would barely do me justice. I neither lived nor acted in a way that glorified the Lord for a period of 20+ years.

I believe it was pastor Jack Hibbs of Calvary Chapel Chino Hills who once said of believers who identify themselves as having "Fallen Away" is that (paraphrasing) "The great tragedy of the believer who identifies himself as having fallen away from the Lord, is that he once knew what it was like to be in the close proximity of the Lord" - Ouch!!!

The first half of my life, I grew up in the church and loved the Lord, but then around my early to mid 20's "I entered her house" (the ways of the world) and turned away from the covenant I made with God.

Verse 16 says that "Wisdom will save you from the immoral woman" and thank God that I had enough wisdom to see and recognize the path to destruction this world is on, and that the path I was currently on was leading to death. It took 20 years for me to see that, but by the grace of God, the Lord delivered me and he can deliver you too!

Continuing my reading, I then found great joy in verses 20 & 21 "20 Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous. 21 For only the godly will live in the land, and those with integrity will remain in it.

I have been so blessed to reconnect with some past friends who are believers, as well as make some incredible new friendships with other men and women who truly love the Lord. Find good, strong believers and hang out with them! Seek their wisdom, pray with them! Sing songs and enjoy each others company. There is so much garbage and foolishness in the world (Have you tried watching MSNBC? :0) get away from it and turn back to Jesus Christ.

It will be the best move you ever make and will help tremendously when dealing with days of sickness or a heavy heart.

=BM=

The Shot That Almost Didn't Happen

Living very near the beach, just a mere 200 yards away from the waters edge has its privileges. Santa Barbara is known for its sunshine and warm weather but we do get an occasional storm rolling in. This past Sunday I woke up just as the sun was about to rise, looked outside my window and noticed some amazing looking clouds. With sleep still in my eyes trying to clear my mind from having just awoke, I did what most photographers would do in a situation like this...

I checked my Facebook account. 

After a bout 5 minutes, wasted on Facebook, I kicked myself and got off of my lazy butt, got dressed (unshowered!) and made the 200 yard trek to the waters edge and snapped off a bunch of frames. 

The contraption you see above, is called a dredge.It is essentially a large underwater vaccum cleaner that is used to suck sand off of the bottom of the harbor and then depost it further down the beach. This keeps the mouth of the harbor deep enough for the larger ships to pass in an out safely.

This was a standard bracketed 3 exposure shot with a base exposure and the an addition +2 stop and -2 Stop exposure. The three images were processed in Photomatix and then furhter refined in Lightroom 4.

I am still putting the D600 through it's paces and so far, I am loving what I am seeing. The detail of the image above at full resolution is just AMAZING! I was having an awesome time this eving blowing up teh shot on my 30 inch monitor to a 1 to 1 pixel ratio..All of the machinery, hoses, pipes and tools are visable ont he deck of the ship. Truly amazing stuff....

As I was looking at the picture this evening, I was reminded that it almost didn't happen.  Had I been lazy and stayed planeted in front of my computer, the light, the clouds, all of the elements that make up this shot would have been lost forever and I would have nothing to share.or enjoy.

National Geographic Photographer Joe McNally says "The most important piece of equipment in your bag, is your attitude".

Amen to that, Joe.

=BM=

Game On!

OK, I'm a day late on this, but HOORAY for NHL and NHLPA for finally reaching a labor agreement and (partially) saving the 2012/2013 season.

Now, my beloved LA Kings can get on with raising the Stanley Cup Championship banner at Staples and get on with defending their title.

This pleases me to no end!

Yahoo!

-=BM=

A Lovely Day for a Wedding

HDR Image of the Cottage Lobby

ACK! My cousin Dianne just got married! 

Before I start, I have to say that I grew up with one younger brother, Mike and then two cousins who live just a mile away, so they are essentially like another brother and sister to us McGee boys.

Keith is the youngest, then his sister Dianne, followed VERY closely by my brother Mike, then myself.  Keith the youngest got married first, then my brother, and now Dianne. I'm the oldest and the only to have never married. What gives? ;0)

Gratuitous shot of Mom and Dad

Patience... I know the Lord has something special lined up for me, all in good time... In the menatime, I'm just a "work in progress" for my future unknown wife. ;0)

Cousin Keith and Nephews Austin and Tyler

I digress...

The ceremony was a very small, intimate wedding of 18 attendee's at San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito yesterday afternoon at 4:00PM. Although there was a professional photographer on hand to do the majority of the shooting, I took the liberty of being "That guy" aka "Uncle Bob with a fancy camera" (the guy professional wedding photographers generally disdain ;0) and took some pictures where the pro could not or did not fill in. 

Gratuitous shot of delicious Double Chocolate Mousse cake

Dinner was a delicious 1st course of risotto, followed by a 2nd course of mushroom soup (delicious) and then your choice of Halibut or beef.  I chose the halibut and it was to DIE FOR!

This was my first time at the San Ysidro Ranch, and I can see why it is considered to be one of the top resorts in the US.  It is an AMAZING place to stay (So I'm told, as I just had to "settle" for for dinner ;0)

I'll leave you with the happy couple slicing the wedding cake.

=BM=

A preview of heaven?

⁴⁶ Then a dispute arose among them as to which of them would be greatest. ⁴⁷ And Jesus, perceiving the thought of their heart, took a little child and set him by Him, ⁴⁸ and said to them, “Whoever receives this little child in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me. For he who is least among you all will be great.” - Luke 9:46-48

Aw man... I just got back from a teary-eyed viewing of Le Mis, and now THIS.

Although not perfect, this serves as a touching earthly model of Jesus's love towards us when we meet him in heaven. When he reaches out to embrace us, we will be the blubbering, unworthy but greatly jubilant children of God? (Yes, only about 1000 times over. ;0)

Amen!

=BM=

The Creation

WOW!  I was just reading TheBlaze.com and found this AMAZING picture of a baby grabbing a doctors hand while still in the womb during a C-section. It kind of reminds me of Leonardo da Vinci's classic painting "The Creation of Adam" does it not?


There is a twist of irony to this story that makes it semi-relevant to this blog. As it turns out, the mother in the photo is a professional photographer and yet it was her non-professional husband who is the one who took the picture. Dad, I think it will be some time before mom is able to top this picture! (Then again, I'm betting mom doesn't care one bit. ;0)

More on this story, as well as a video interview with the couple, can be found here

Hatsuhinode

The sunrise on the first day of the New Year is known as hatsuhinode.

The picture above was taken at Santa Barbara City College, overlooking the Santa Barbara Harbor as the sun rose just after 7:00 AM.

With the advent of the new year, I decided to give the blog a bit of a facelift with a clearer definition of where I would like to take this for the coming year. I hope you enjoy the new look and format.

Spent a wonderful evening at Calvary Chapel Santa Barbara last night as one of the ministries at church "Real Life" put on an evening of singing, worship, fun and fellowship. Highlights included some AMAZING homemade Buffalo Wings as well as some highly competitive games of dominoes with Carol Smullens and her son. Actually, it was only ONE game of dominoes, and we quickly realized that nobody knew exactly how to play. Nevertheless, a good time was had by all.

This morning I headed up to Lompoc and spent the day with my dear friends the Grahams and had a mini-movie marathon of watching Thor followed by the Avengers. A good time was had by all as we watched movies and ate delicious home-made macaroni and cheese (Maggie's is the BEST!!!) as well as tri-tip. No vegetables were to be found this night, which officially made it a meal of "man-food" for the evening <Insert Tim Allen grunt here>.

I am so blessed to have Chris and Maggie back in my life again. I had lost touch with them for 20 years as I stepped away from the faith (What was I thinking?) and their family have been such a  loving blessing to me over the last two years. Thank you Lord, for bringing be back and having such good friends to fellowship with in your name.

2013 will be a year where I hope to make many, many more deep connections with people of fiath. I hope YOU are one of them!

=BM=