Okay, I've been a photographer for a long time. And I have been using a single lens reflex camera with an interchangeable lens for a long time (decades!). And I have lost track of how many lenses I have purchased over the years for a variety of brands of cameras (Canon, Mamiya Sekor, Pentax, Minolta, and now Sony). I currently have 13 that I use on a regular basis. But I need a new one. In fact, it arrives today: 150-600 mm zoom lens. I took this photo last year of one of the hawks that inhabit our woods with my old 400mm lens. It's relatively sharp, but I'm looking for improvement. Okay, it's a "want" and not a "need". And here it is a week before Christmas and I'm buying a new lens (my family says this is one of my flaws with timing for Christmas gifts). If my subject shows up again soon, I'll post some comparison photos.

That was the words the news reports used, "a self styled cleric", when they referred to the man who took over the Lindt Chocolate shop in downtown Sydney, Australia this past week. He held more than a dozen customers hostage until police stormed the store early in the morning and he was killed, along with two of the hostages. He was also referred to as the "Fake Sheik" by the local authorities. But that phrase caught me as I pondered it for several days. Apparently, only in his mind was he clergy. I've known a few Christian clergy who could have been referred to as "a self styled cleric". No real credentials. No group that had agreed that he/she was spiritually mature and had gifts for ministry. No accountability to any agency or supervisor. Fake. Why would anyone listen to "a self styled cleric"? One's spiritual journey is important enough that a guide should be carefully chosen. There are fake ones and real ones.

No, I didn't take this photo, Judy did. This has been birthday week. Last Thursday was Michael's and today is Elke's. So I thought I 'd share a photo from us on the beach at Destin. Just guessing, I would say this is Christmas, 1980 or 1981. Where has the time gone?

Winter has not even begun. I am weary of gray skies.

I recall a winter day 20 years ago when I announced to Judy that I was going to drive south until I found sunshine. Fortunately, I didn't have to go too far that day. The sun was shining in Paducah. I had a sandwich and sat in the restaurant window and soaked in the sun.

And this photo, although it is of a sunny day, was one of the few sunny moments on a trip to the Oregon coast. Sometimes, a moment of sunshine is all that is needed.

Yesterday, we were reminded of the power of the light in the darkness. And that even a very small light can provide hope in the darkest dark.

Today's Old Testament passage for the third Sunday of Advent, Isaiah 61:1-4, 8-11, proclaims an over-turning of the world order. A great change occurs in the situation from verse 1 (the oppressed, the broken-hearted, the captives, the prisoners) to verse 9 ("they are a people whom God has blessed"). What brings about this reversal? Apparently, it is God's desire for justice: "I hate robbery and wrongdoing." Many of us will quickly move past this passage because we want to hurry to get to the good feelings of Christmas.

But this prophetic word is radically unsettling for the comfortable and the well-connected. Given our political, economic, and social issues these past several weeks, we may want to pause and ponder what injustice looks like in these days, and to whom God promises good news, and liberty, and release, and healing, and blessing.

These carving tools were photographed in the lepers colony in Ganta, Liberia.

The end of one log notched to set upon another. Add another. And do it over and over. It's a simple structure, used a century ago and before, to construct buildings all across this country. Some still stand. Nothing meant to be artistic in the way it was made. But surprisingly, it is.

If you wander around in the woods in the late fall in the eastern part of the US, you most likely have seen these marble-sized fruits. You may have even tasted one. Where fully ripe, they have a very sweet taste, similar to apricots. But unripe persimmons are basically inedible, and may make you ill. There is a persimmon festival each fall in Mitchell, Indiana where persimmon pudding is the featured treat.