Browsed by
Tag: Scotland

Photo Gallery Relaunch

Photo Gallery Relaunch

Comments 1 comment

Photo Gallery masthead

I invite you to check out my newly redesigned Photo Gallery. I have spent considerable hours over the last several weeks during this time of self-isolation doing a complete overhaul of my photo gallery website. You will find a new layout, new indexes, and over fifty new galleries.

So … would you like to tour Maine? Or Scotland? Or the Big Island, Hawaii? Would you like to see puffins or whales or loons or harbor seals up close and personal? Would you like to visit stunning mountain summits or isolated islands or beautiful wilderness lakes?  Would you like to take a hike or go for a sail or visit an historic European city?

Come visit. Stay a while. And enjoy the view!

You may always access the site at https://photos.believersjournal.org. My Photo Gallery is also linked from this blog and from my sermon library site. When you arrive at the site, you may access galleries by scrolling through the pages or by consulting one of the indexes (Subjects and Tags). Click on the chain link symbol on any image to access a full gallery of images. Click on any gallery thumbnail to open a lightbox slideshow.

Unexpected stillness

Unexpected stillness

Comments 1 comment

“May God bless this unexpected stillness in our lives.”

I have been corresponding with Kirsten, our dear friend from Edinburgh, Scotland. My wife, Lynne, and I have plans to travel to Scotland for two weeks in July. We intend to revisit many of our favorite destinations — Stonehaven, Edinburgh, Glencoe, Oban, Loch Lomond, Skye, Iona — as well as introduce two Iowa friends to this magical land.

The trip has been in the works for over a year and I have already made all the reservations for flights, rental car, housing, a Skye boat trip, and even a birthday meal for Lynne at a favorite Stonehaven restaurant. But now, because of this global pandemic, our trip seems very much in doubt.

Kirsten ended her most recent email, responding to my inquiries about the state of life in Scotland under the current lockdown orders, with those words: “May God bless this unexpected stillness in our lives.”

Oh, my …

Unexpected stillness. May God bless this unexpected stillness. Her words pierced me to my core and brought tears to my eyes. Such a simple description of our present state of being, but so lyrical, poignant, moving, and hopeful.

Unexpected stillness. This is a stillness, but stillness can be a gift. Unexpected stillness can be an unexpected gift. We are obliged to set aside most of our usual comings and goings, much of our usual busyness. We are constrained to be quiet, often alone or with just a few nearby, to be still. But in the stillness … we may hear other voices, we may hear other things, we may remember, we may discover, there may be space enough in us … for God to fill. In the stillness, we may be blessed.

May God bless this unexpected stillness in our lives …