Lightkeeper's Journal

Summer Tanagers, Indigo Buntings and Answered Prayer

An immature male Summer Tanager

Article and Photography by Norma W. Beaird

 

As we have enthusiastically photographed and researched birds over the last year, I have read about and looked at pictures of certain birds that are just incredibly beautiful.  One of the bright red birds that I had admired was the Summer Tanager; however, I had never photographed one.  Another bird that I photographed briefly last year, for one day only, was the Indigo Bunting, a male bird who was a vibrant shade of royal blue. 

Sometimes, I would tell Curtis, "I really wish the Lord would send us a Summer Tanager," or "I hope the Lord sends us another Indigo Bunting!"  Many times I would stand at the kitchen window and pray this prayer. 

The Bible says in Philippians 4:6......

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

A male Indigo Bunting

 And there they were......both in one day.......on a gorgeous Sunday!  The Summer Tanager and the Indigo Bunting appeared and seemed to pose on the tree limb, almost as if they knew that I really wanted their picture.  In December 2012, I had written a similar article about the desire to photograph a Pileated Woodpecker.  The article, "Woodpeckers, Cool Hair and Answered Prayer, discussed how the Lord will give you the desires of your heart.  

The world of birding has literally opened up my senses and strengthened my appreciation for nature in a whole new way.  I don't look at life in quite the same way anymore.  I can't.  Why?  Because God has shown us that the real things that we miss in life are not huge bank accounts, big homes, new cars, fancy clothes, successful careers or expensive trips. 

The things we miss that are the most beautiful and the most fascinating are absolutely free.  God's creation cannot be compared to brass and glass.  It cannot be compared to things that rust or decay because His creation is new every morning.  It lives.  It breathes.  It participates in the cycle of life.  It gives instead of takes. 

Many times, I enjoy watching the Home and Garden Network on television.  I constantly hear home buyers and real estate agents discussing a room that "brings the outside in".   The home is gorgeous, it's modern and it's lovely; on the other hand, it's very expensive and high maintenance.  Why pay a huge sum of money to "bring the outside in" when you can just go outside?   Sometimes, it seems that folks spend an eternity and a lot of money to recreate what is outside for free!

The vibrant red immature male Summer Tanager

Therefore, today I encourage you to partake of God's free offerings of nature.  There's no need to spend a lot of money to enjoy and appreciate the things outside your front door or at a local park.  So many times, people walk around sad and depressed because they don't have the finances to travel or buy an expensive home.  They believe that to be successful and content, that one must spend a lot of money.  That's not true.  There's no need to fret or worry about what you cannot afford; and trust me, you'd rather not be in debt! 

Learning to live simply,

being content with what you have,

finding joy in the quiet moments,

discovering peace away from schedules,

cultivating gratitude for God's creation,

is freeing to the mind and spirit.

Therefore, take a deep breath, walk outside, feel the warmth of the sun, smell the fresh-cut grass, listen to the birds sing.......and grab a camera.  Life doesn't have to be as difficult as we sometimes make it for ourselves.  Learn to enjoy life and all of the abundance that nature has to offer.  Watch the moon phases, learn the bird songs, identify a butterfly, decide which bird you want to see.......and let your requests be made known unto God.  

 

Copyright 2013, Norma W. Beaird.  All rights reserved.

 

 

 

Faith and Photography

Article and Photography by Curtis Beaird

 

The exotic photograph, the remote location, the rare moment that produces the award winning photograph. 

 Who doesn't think of such?  But, who actually gets there?

Is there a plan "B"?  Is there a way to quell, at least for a moment, the lust for the out-of-reach? Is there an approach that yields beauty or peace, tells a story, offers possibility, reports magnificence, generates energy, excites the imagination and provides satisfaction without breaking the bank or exhausting the body?  Since faith is about the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen, I decided to experiment. 

The nudge that became my act of faith, I chose to silence the longing for the exotic location and the million-dollar shot long enough to see what was before my eyes.

Georgia Pecan Tree

I gave myself the assignment of a single location, my backyard. The discipline included no wandering around.  I would take a seat in a lawn chair and attend to the the sky of clouds that unfolded before me.  I would suspend, at least for a moment, the tormenting belief that the best was somewhere else, that beauty could only be reproduced with equipment costing thousands of dollars, and that whatever I saw was never enough and not right.  

In Biblical terms, I would accept that "manna is fresh every morning."  I took those words to mean that what I needed to nourish my spirit as a person and a photographer was available and near at hand.  All I need to do was pay attention.

 

But, fidgeting and fiddling with the camera, and wishing it was a high-end multi-circuited professional to die for, "with only twelve like it in the world kind-of-lust" hangs on.  It took awhile.  A long while. 

Lust is what it is, and it is not a weak force,

especially when it wears the face of frustration.

Frustration is an aggravating habit.  Faith is a choice every day and in every situation.  Frustration whispers dark thoughts that generates unrequited desire and shrouds the moment in the prelude of disappointment.

  "That cloud is too gray.  Why didn't they put a thumb rest on this camera?  I wish a bird would fly into the light blue area.  This thing focuses too slow.  I really should be standing over there rather than sitting over here.   

If I were in the Bahamas…..." 

 

 

Frustration blinds by way of distraction, usually negative distraction.  Faith enables sight by way of anticipation and appreciation.  Faith is a choice and a practice. Frustration is a dismal habit.  Faith is an encouraging choice.  Frustration blocks.  Faith offers the option to see and enjoy. 

As I clicked away, I found myself lost in the fascination of the ever-changing scene before me.  The what if's, and the should be's, and the ought's and the why not's slid out of the way.  I discovered, at least for a few minutes, that it was possible to bloom where you are planted.  At least for the moment, I discovered the Creator God offering a new look, a fresh view and a one-of-a-kind moment by way of little more than me paying attention to the world He offered at the end of my nose. 

 

 Simple does it.

 

The moment and the scene before us offers the unique,

the special and the one of a kind.

 

A second, often 1/2000 of a second, never to be repeated, and from your specific location, seen only by you, becomes the gift of the day.

I really think though, next time, I'm putting the lawn chair over there.

 

I Corinthians 2:5 

That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men,

but in the power of God.

 

Copyright 2013, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved. 

 

 

 

 

Birds, Rain and Radar

 Northern Mockingbird shows up at the feeder on a rainy day!

 

Article by Curtis Beaird

Photography by Norma W. Beaird

 

Bird migration was in full swing until the weekend of the Masters Golf Tournament. A cold front stalled over the Northern half of Florida to include the panhandle, a good portion of South Georgia and Savannah, to the lower east coast of South Carolina.

Sunday morning started as a gray and misty day with light rain. By mid-afternoon the day had become an umbrella-necessary experience.   While the golfers played on in the rain and worked to keep the golf grips dry, the birds remained grounded.

If you missed the weather map it look like this:

This regional map (above) gives you an idea of the cloud coverage and rain density later in the afternoon.  As night fell, the storm increased intensity both in terms of rain and wind. It was easy to conclude that birds downed along the FL/GA border would go nowhere until Monday after sunset. I guessed wrong.

 Migrating birds are moved by a rhythm greater and more demonstrative than the clock on our wall or our logical understanding of best travel times.  About 11:00 pm, I checked NEXRAD. Doppler radar can distinguish quiet handily between a storm and birds. It is sensitive to the point of reflecting pollen, smoke and insects.  When I looked, what I found was a surprise, at least to me. The birds knew what they were going to do all along.

The above NEXRAD graphic demonstrates the storm dissipating. Note the purple band separating the blue swatch into Florida and the Gulf at Figure A.  Also, note the other "broken" section at "C" sliding into the Atlantic. 

What we see at section "B", especially the light blue dots below the B, and the smattering of red dots north of B, are for the most part, birds. It appears that as soon as the weather broke, they continued on their migrating way.  My confirmation for this action could come Monday morning on April 15th.  We are located north of their current migration route and could see some new arrivals in the morning.  I will keep you posted. Oh - by the way, Adam Scott from Australia won The Masters in the rain.

Happy birding.

 

Copyright 2013, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

Prayer.......The Heart's Deepest Longing

 

Article by Curtis Beaird

Photography by Norma W. Beaird

 

Pray, prayer, praying.   Deep in our soul, we hear it.   A faint voice on the other side of silence calls.  It is a voice that nudges us toward answering; but, we think we must first try to figure out how to pray.  That is a predictable response.   

One of Jesus disciples seeing Him pray said,   

"Lord, teach us to pray...…" Luke 11:1

Our need to talk to God is great.  It is native to us.   An approachable God who cares is assumed within our desire to pray.   Like the genetics that gives us our eye color, our spirit recognizes The Voice.  It is both a familiar and persistent voice.  We recognize the sound as a compelling invitation. 

But, how?   How do I respond?   How do I pray? 

The attractive possibility that the God who spoke the sun, the moon and the stars into existence might hear and respond to us, sends us, unlike the disciple quoted earlier, scrabbling for The Three Keys, The Seven Steps, The Best Method or The Four Secrets of Prayer.

Huh?  Where did all of that come from?  What are all these steps, keys and methods about?  There is a great gulf fixed between something called The Seven Secrets of Prayer and Jesus’ clear response to his disciples simple request, “Lord teach us to pray."

Instead of life-giving prayer......   Instead of the ebb and flow of the living relationship expressed in conversation with God, we’ve hooked our hopes to a method or a system of praying that soon wears thin. 

Unwittingly, we turn prayer, a conversation with God about the core needs of living our lives, into a problem to solve or a system to understand and explain.   A series of convoluted steps replaces Jesus simple beginning, "Our Father which art in heaven."

The Father with the Holy name.  The One with the will and capacity to create the delicate lily, a child’s smile and a kingdom worthy of Heaven, and necessary to earth, can be spoken to. He can be addressed directly.   So, speak to Him.  “Our Father…...”    Instead, we fumble with getting the steps right.    Result?   Our prayer becomes routine.

Our effort to manage the latest prayer method replaces the simple and most basic request, “Give us this day our daily bread.”   While our table may be full, our spirits are famished.   Our need for the bread of life is as great as our need for an improved diet.   Tinkering with a system of prayer focuses our attention away from the God that cares enough about us to know our needs before we ask.”   Result?   Prayer becomes boring. 

Our effort to decode some book on the secrets of prayer leads us to miss the obvious.   There are no secrets.  Jesus’ model, “Forgive us our sins…..”   is about as straight forward as it gets.   Guilt is debilitating and confining.  

The pain pushes us to seek the freedom of forgiveness.  

According to Jesus, four words forms the basic request,

   “Forgive us our sins…..”  

However, if we lose ourselves wandering around in the fog of prayer secrets, we miss the gift we seek  - forgiveness.   Result?   Prayer becomes a doubtful practice. 

The effort involved in fiddling with the Keys to Prayer leads us away from a pair of clear requests that Jesus instructs us to make of God the Father. 

1.  "Lead us not into temptation..…” 

2.  “Deliver us from evil..…” 

Jesus knew temptation and evil were both a demanding presence.   They will rip life apart.  He clearly teaches that we can ask to be lead away from temptation and freely request to be delivered from evil.  If we spend prayer time sorting through a set of prayer keys, we can miss the leading and the deliverance.   The result is simple.   We quit praying.

The best teacher on prayer is Jesus.

Follow His lead and the the response to the request.   “Lord teach us to pray”  is but a few words in length and accessible to all. It sounds like this:

Our Father which art in heaven ........hallowed be Thy Name.

 

Matthew 6: 7 - 13

King James Version

⁷ But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking.

⁸ Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him.

⁹ After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

¹⁰ Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

¹¹ Give us this day our daily bread.

¹² And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.

 

Copyright 2013, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.