glasses

photo by wayne mclaughlin



It's transparency that God calls us to.

Not too early

photo by wayne mclaughlin



I was tempted to buy this shirt since it proclaims my philosophy of life, but I didn't purchase it.

I hitched 'em

I caught this minister going back into the chapel after finishing a wedding and greeting guest. He's saying to himself, "Whew! I'm glad that's over."

Or forever hold your peace

I caught this couple on their way to their wedding
at the Botanical Park in Birmingham.

Describing Men

I grew up on the old King James Version of the Bible. Well, I wasn’t actually ‘on it,’ but you know what I mean. Of course the KJV’s language is the Shakespearean English. (It was published in 1611.) We don’t speak that way anymore. At least I don’t, do ye?

But I do wish the modern versions would have kept some of the quaint language of the KJV. For example, in the original Hebrew of the Old Testament, a literal translation is sometimes more interesting than the Anglicized version. Here is an Anglicized version (The New Revised Standard Version) of 1 Samuel 25.22 reads:

                                God do so to David and more also, if by morning I leave

                                so much as one male of all who belong to him.

 But not as interesting as the KJV of 1 Sam. 25.22:

                                So and more also do God unto the enemies of David

                                if I leave of all that pertain to him by the morning light

                                any that pisseth against the wall.

Now isn’t that more descriptive?

Tracking God

The Christian Century reports that the problem of nativity vandalism can be solved. You know about nativity vandalism, don’t you? Well, who hasn’t lived in a community where the little baby Jesus or Mary comes up mission from the big Nativity Scene in front of the church during December. It’s usually Mary or Jesus; I don’t know why they don’t ever steal Joseph; or a shepherd. What to do?

Well, now there’s a solution. Security firms now can plant a GPS device in each character in the scene so that anything stolen can be traced. Churches that publicize their use of tracking devices report that vandalism stops.

So, imagine: if Jesus gets away from you, you can now find him again. Jesus said he came to find and save the lost. But what if he gets lost? It’s not a modern problem. People have always been searching for God. Where is God? How do I find happiness? How do I find meaning in my life? Maybe you know someone who is looking for God.  

It’s my opinion that all people are searching for God. And I also think that God has planted within each of us something like a spiritual GPS that guides us to God. Humans were made for communion with God. 

God is the One. And it is Oneness that we desire. Without the sense of the One, we are split apart—alienated from our self and others. 

The church teaches us that our search for God is fulfilled when we wake up and realize that God has been searching for us. Jesus is the human symbol of God’s search for us. Through the life and death of Jesus, God has tracked us down. We are no longer lost. The vandalism of the human soul is reversed. We are brought back to our nativity.   

steeple chase

These guys are very religious. They pray even while on the job.
















Another view:

 Here's the church,
here's the steeple;
on the outside are some people.


photos by wayne mclaughlin