Category: Fields

No Agenda

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Photography, SkyLeave a comment

IMG_9710 clouds grass green prairie sky

Some people love to be able to look at their calendars and tell you precisely what they will be doing at 3:30 p.m. on Thursday eight and a half months from now.

Not me. That which feels like order and security to others feels like restrictive ropes to me. I love the blank page, the open road, the uncommitted agenda. I guess I’m addicted to the potential found in freedom. I like to be busy, and I like to plan ahead, and some routine does rescue me from the challenge  of devoting too much thought energy to the mundane, but  I  do love having space to be flexible. There is more; I know there is more.

A single phrase from a simple song keeps playing in my head:

“We step into freedom.

We step into all you have for us.”

What do you want to do today, Lord? What do you have for us?

A Father’s Wrath

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Fields, Sky4 Comments

 

foothills storm sharp

Now he’s wrapped himself
in a trench coat of black-cloud darkness.
But his cloud-brightness bursts through,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.
Then God thundered out of heaven;
the High God gave a great shout,
spraying hailstones and fireballs.

But me he caught—reached all the way
from sky to sea; he pulled me out
Of that ocean of hate, that enemy chaos,
the void in which I was drowning.
They hit me when I was down,
but God stuck by me.
He stood me up on a wide-open field;
I stood there saved—surprised to be loved!

(Psalm 18: 11-13, 16-19 The Message)

Some people say God has no wrath, that He is all gentle universal soft love. But when evil threatens a father’s beloved child a good father will defend them and come to their aid -with a vengeance. Our heavenly Father’s wrath toward the evil one, the enemy of our souls, the one who comes to steal kill and destroy, is an indication of his love. He will act. He cares and He has emotion. He sent Jesus Christ to destroy the works of the devil. He is our defense.

Steal Away

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Mountains, Photography, Sky, Winter8 Comments

Cowboy Highway snow bw ch

Sometimes you need to get away from people, not because you don’t care, but because you do.

Jesus repeatedly left the crowds, though, stealing away into the wilderness to pray. (Luke 5:16)

Gaining Hope

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Fields, Mountains, Photography5 Comments

IMG_6012

Gaining hope,

I remember and wait for this thought:

How enduring is God’s loyal love;

the Eternal has inexhaustible compassion.

Here they are, every morning, new!

Your faithfulness, God, is as broad as the day.

Have courage, for the Eternal is all that I will need.

My soul boasts, “Hope in God; just wait.”

(Lamentations 3:22-24 The Voice)

And then it dawned on me…

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Photography, Sky, UncategorizedLeave a comment

winter sunset Pighin Road IMG_6401

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart,

I will enter His courts with praise.

I will say, “This is the day that the Lord has made!”

I will rejoice, for He has made me glad.

And Suddenly…

On By Charis PsalloIn Fields, Mountains, Photography, Sky, Winter7 Comments

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains

And the mountains in reply Echo back their joyous strains: Glory to God in the Highest
And the mountains in reply
Echo back their joyous strains:
Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Sometimes the longer we anticipate an event, the more surprised we are when it arrives. Perseverance is about the future. Endurance is about who we are becoming. Faithfulness is about hope. Joy is knowing the darkness of winter is not eternal. Light is eternal.

Wait for it… watch for it… because one day, all of a sudden….

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.  And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.”  And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

 “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

(Luke 2:8-13)

Wondrous Gift

On By Charis PsalloIn Art, Fields, Mountains, Photography, Winter4 Comments

How silently the wondrous gift is given.

Winter foothills crop 2

He who did not spare his own Son,

but gave him up for us all

—how will he not also,

along with him,

graciously give us all things?

(Romans 8:32)

See the Big Picture

On By Charis PsalloIn Black and white, Fields, Mountains, Photography, Sky, Uncategorized4 Comments

 

IMG_5692 Black Diamond hay mtnThere is something about this area on the Cowboy Trail in Southern Alberta that seems to catch my attention every time I drive through it. This photo was taken in the area between Longview and Black Diamond. So many times the sun burst through the clouds in a dramatic eye-catching display just as I approached Longview that one day I jokingly said to the Lord, “Are you saying something here?”  Immediately I got that “pay attention” feeling. Then it came to me -Longview -long view. Take the l-o-n-g view. See the big picture.

Sometimes we are so swamped in the dailiness of life it is difficult to see the big picture. Many of us, like so many high school and university students, still complain that we don’t see the point of learning a lesson that seems annoying and time consuming. “I want to be a film-maker. What good is algebra going to do me?”

When I was a child learning to play scales on the piano to the slave ship drumming of a metronome, I yelled at my mother that I saw no purpose to such a pointless exercise. I wanted to be a singer! I could see no possible application for this time-waster in my adult life. I knew even then I did not have the fine motor control it took to be a good pianist. Piano playing was not my gift. Too many accidental accidentals. It was utterly frustrating.

Eventually I became a singing teacher. I may have played a million scales and vocal exercises in my career. I never did develop good piano playing technique. I hired good accompanists for my students for exams and competitions, but in my studio I actually played the piano a lot more than piano teachers do.

Sometimes we go through lessons and testing that seems like a frustrating waste of time. I get the feeling the lesson I have been complaining about lately is a unit on perseverance and endurance. It’s not my favourite, but I hear the great teacher say, “Trust me. This will come in handy. I have a purpose in all this. Longview…long view…get it? See the big picture.”

 This is what the Lord says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies:

“I am the First and the Last;

there is no other God.

Who is like me?

Let him step forward and prove to you his power.

Let him do as I have done since ancient times

when I established a people and explained its future.

 Do not tremble; do not be afraid.

Did I not proclaim my purposes for you long ago?

You are my witnesses—is there any other God?

No! There is no other Rock—not one!”

(Isaiah 44:6-8 NLT)