Tag: Canada

Never the Same

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Sky6 Comments

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“You can never be the same after the unveiling of a truth.”
– Oswald Chambers

I once met a couple who moved to this valley just after a mid-winter temperature inversion settled in and swathed the mountains in clouds for three long weeks.  It looked no different from any other cold grey town in Canada. Then one crisp morning the sun cleared the peaks and clouds blew away like wisps of melancholy lacking any foothold in truth.

The couple were astonished that they had been surrounded by enormous snow-covered  blue mountains the whole time. The mountains were no less real while they were still veiled, but up until the young man and his bride got a glimpse they wondered what people were talking about when they went on about how beautiful they were.

We can listen to people talk about the beauty and goodness of God, and nod politely. Perhaps we even believe that the love of Jesus Christ exists somewhere, even though we’ve never experienced it ourselves.

But when we see with our own eyes, we can never be the same.

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Not Until

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography1 Comment

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Not until we have become humble and teachable, standing in awe of God’s holiness and sovereignty, acknowledging our own littleness, distrusting our own thoughts, and willing to have our minds turned upside down, can divine wisdom become ours.

– J.I. Packer

An awesome light fell on the mountains in the Crowsnest Pass yesterday. It was accompanied by an awesome wind that caught the new skiff of snow and made it look like it was falling up.

Can I Silent Be?

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Sky, Trees and forests2 Comments

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“Doth not all nature around me praise God?
If I were silent, I should be an exception to the universe.
Doth not the thunder praise Him as it rolls like drums in the march of the God of armies?
Do not the mountains praise Him when the woods upon their summits wave in adoration?
Doth not the lightning write His name in letters of fire?
Hath not the whole earth a voice?

And shall I, can I, silent be?”

– Charles Spurgeon

One Generation After Another

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Trees and forests6 Comments

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I will lift my praise above everything to You, my God and King!
I will continually bless Your name forever and always.

My praise will never cease—
I will praise You every day;
I will lift up Your name forever.

The Eternal is great and deserves endless praise;
His greatness knows no limit, recognizes no boundary.
No one can measure or comprehend His magnificence.
One generation after another will celebrate Your great works;
they will pass on the story of Your powerful acts to their children.

Your majesty and glorious splendor have captivated me;
I will meditate on Your wonders, sing songs of Your worth.

We confess—there is nothing greater than You, God,
nothing mightier than Your awesome works.
I will tell of Your greatness as long as I have breath.

The news of Your rich goodness is no secret—
Your people love to recall it
and sing songs of joy to celebrate Your righteousness.

Psalm 145

Times and Seasons

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography, Trees and forests, Water2 Comments

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Blessed be the name of God forever and ever,
He changes times and seasons;
he removes kings and sets up kings;
he gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to those who have understanding;
he reveals deep and hidden things;
he knows what is in the darkness,
and the light dwells with him.
(Daniel 2:20 -22)

Do Not Put Your Trust in Princes

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography, Trees and forests4 Comments

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Yesterday was the perfect day to drive up a logging road to see the larch trees in their golden glory. They turn later than the other trees in the valley. My friend and I were so overwhelmed by the beauty that surrounded us we stood on the road and shouted thanks to the Creator of this beauty. We drove through the woods, up a mountain side and across streams and rivers, down into deeply shaded valleys, up into the sun and were surprised at every turn by more beauty. It was a great day.

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I feel a sort of desperate need lately to get outside and soak up as much colour and warmth as time will allow. It’s not just living in the moment; it’s trying to capture the memory of that moment to carry into dark days as a reminder that springtime and harvest will return. The season is so fleeting. Most of the poplars down by the lake that were so brilliantly coloured a couple of weeks ago  stand bare now, their brown curled leaves returned to the ground in preparation for the next season. The snow and cold grey days of winter will soon be here.

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I am struck by a passage I read in Psalm 146 this week about princes, in all their temporary glory, returning to the ground. “Do not put your trust in princes, in human beings, who cannot save. When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;on that very day their plans come to nothing.”

We need “princes” – prime ministers, presidents, loyal opposition and houses of representatives. They are important administrators. But I wonder if so much of the panicky fear-based rhetoric of the past few weeks is based on the idea that princes can actually save us from all the potentially scary situations in our lives. I wonder if we have placed unrealistic expectations upon mere mortals, hoping they, with all their glowing publicity, will be something they cannot sustain.

If all we have to trust in is politicians and the wisdom of voters easily influenced by media of dubious integrity, no wonder so many people are upset and worried.

Maybe there is more. Maybe our trust can be in  more than princes, who like the trees spring up and fall down. Maybe we can rely on the permanent Rock who is our refuge.

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Praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord, my soul.

I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Do not put your trust in princes,
in human beings, who cannot save.

When their spirit departs, they return to the ground;
on that very day their plans come to nothing.

Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God.

He is the Maker of heaven and earth,
the sea, and everything in them—
he remains faithful forever.

He upholds the cause of the oppressed
and gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets prisoners free,

the Lord gives sight to the blind,
the Lord lifts up those who are bowed down,
the Lord loves the righteous.

The Lord watches over the foreigner
and sustains the fatherless and the widow,
but he frustrates the ways of the wicked.

The Lord reigns forever,
your God, O Zion, for all generations.

Praise the Lord.

Remembering

On By Charis PsalloIn UncategorizedLeave a comment

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“… the Lord showed me the reason I didn’t think He answered my prayers. It was simply because I was not thankful when He did. Without an attitude of thanksgiving, those memories were lost to me.”
– Lara Merz in While He Lay Dying

Sitting on the shore of a little lake at the base of a mountain in the Rockies I count my blessings and thank God for answered prayers for this land. Such a wealth of beauty in its landscape and in its people!

My Home and Native Land

On By Charis PsalloIn Photography3 Comments

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Election day in Canada is almost here. You know, this one feels different from all the other elections I have voted in. It’s been downright nasty. I have seen more  personal attacks on people running for office, and those who support them, than I can remember in previous elections. There seems to be more polarization, more angry people disagreeing on social media and in public places. I wonder how long it will take to heal after the signs come down.

As a response I would like to say this: THANK YOU!

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Thank you to all you hard-working people who are brave enough to stand on a platform and smile while people interrupt or shout at you or ask questions that are not really questions.

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Thank you to the workers who help with campaigns and who set up secure voting sites.

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Thank you to all the people who have served faithfully in public office in this land, at all levels, no matter what their party affiliations.

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Thank you for the hours spent in boring meetings, for making phone calls to help people caught in crisis, for negotiating both peace and prosperity with other nations, for protecting our rights to live by our conscience and beliefs, for being willing to live far from  friends and families to represent your constituency, for being vulnerable in front of cameras, for working for the welfare and safety of all your constituents.

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Thank you for honouring our heritage by encouraging us to maintain the best parts of our cultures.

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Thank you for loving my country as much as I do.

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And to all the people who will be elected to parliament next week I say God bless you. My prayers are for you, not against you, that you will have vision for a peaceful, caring, unified, prosperous nation that works together to build an even  better country for generations to follow.

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I thank you and honour you for your willingness to serve.

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God keep our land glorious and free.

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Peaceably

On By Charis PsalloIn Mountains, Photography2 Comments

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Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger;  for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. (James 1:18, 19 )

Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.
(Romans 12: 17, 18)