Lightkeeper's Journal

Finding Wonder in the New Year

Nineteen Cedar Waxings descended upon Le Avian Cafe.  What a blessing sent from God!  

 

Photography and Article by Norma Beaird

 

In the coming year, let us find wonder in the blessings that surround us.

 Let us find fascination in God's glorious creation, in His birds, His clouds and His universe.

 Let us not forget to enjoy the fragrance of rain and the beauty of spring flowers.

 Whether it's sunshine or cloudy skies, let us treasure the day that the Lord has given to us.

 Even if the sun isn't shining, remember that colors look even more vivid against a gray landscape.  

Let us be grateful for the green grass and for the fallen leaves.

 Let us relish each season, the season of planting and the season of harvest.

 May we learn to appreciate the chill of the winter as much as we celebrate the warmth of the summer.  

 

As we wake up each morning, may the breath that we breathe be overwhelmed by a spirit of thanksgiving.

As we go to bed each night, may we lie down in peace and in an atmosphere of prayer.  

May our life be a candle of hope in a world that is covered in darkness.  

May we experience faith, love and joy as we find grace in a Savior called Jesus.   

 

 

 

Copyright 2016, Curtis and Norma Beaird.  All rights reserved.  

 

What To Do.....When You Don't Like Anything

Article and Photography By:  Curtis Beaird

 

You don't have to listen close to hear that the glass is half-empty and about to be drained.  Doom is pronounced on every hand.  The dreary end is cited as an accomplished fact, even by those who once thought there was a pot of gold at the end of every rainbow. 

And we wonder.  What shall we do?  Who shall we listen to?

The forward look is now controlled by the assumption that the bottom is about to drop out.  Anticipation has turned to dread.  Tomorrow is no longer welcomed.  Its arrival creates anxiety, worry and doubt.  How many of us are tired, even before we start the day?

The possibility of a bright future is automatically exchanged for a view of the abyss. Exhaustion is our reward.

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

Frowns are the face of choice today.  Our sense of humor has been exchanged for sarcastic barbs. Criticism powers most, if not all, observation.  Exposing the presumed and assumed ugly has been raised to an art form.  Exploring the seedy and demeaning is the path of choice.  Tabloid is relished. Honorable has been forgotten.  Anticipation is nowhere to be found, unless it is the anticipation of the next wrong thing.  We are sad.

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen too?

Everyone waits for the other shoe to drop. It, whatever it is, is never right.  Whatever "they" are doing is considered wrong.

Choose any subject, even the subject of the need for rain, and you will find an instant difference of opinion.  "Push back", as it is called today.  Argument is the communication of choice.  We prefer anger to vision.  We choose fear over courage.  We indulge in preplanned disappointment rather than seek opportunity for creative risk-taking.  We quit before we start or add the burden of denial to any new effort or project.  “I really don't think this will work.  But, I'll do it anyway."

And we wonder.  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

To accomplish, should we bring ourselves to the point of actually trying, requires the double expenditure of energy.  First, the energy spent to overcome our negative outlook, then the energy necessary to accomplish the goal.  Our creativity is consumed in wasted effort to resist our own initiative.

And we wonder.  Is there a source of motivation deeper than the froth of hype, and more lasting than the adrenaline rush of a moment of thrill?

Is it possible?   Can we escape the way of insanity?   Can we escape the downward pull of gloom? Can we escape the gravity of the perpetually grim?  Can we find our way into a creative future?

All of this has been faced before.  All of these questions have been answered by one man in a single sentence.   

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”   Philippians 4:13 

That one decision enabled the Apostle Paul to change his world and mark the future for almost 2000 years.

We no longer need to wonder........  What shall we do?   Who shall we listen to?

 But, will we?

 

Copyright 2012, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.

What Color is Your Day?

 

 

 

Article and Photography

By:  Curtis Beaird

 

Grim.  It's always grim, or seems to be.  To begin the day is to discover what went wrong while you slept.

Sometimes you just have to take a step back and check, ask and wonder, “Is the shade of gray always the color of every day?”

If anyone could weigh in with a defining "Yes", it should be Victor Frankle.  Three years in various Nazi death camps to include Auschwitz.  There, a person was a number, never a name.  Frankle was not Dr. Frankle, he was Number 119,104.  While he existed daily with the possibility of extermination, he spent the waiting time digging and laying track for a railway line.  Grim.

Surely every day, that experience would strip life to naked existence, turn the context into a joyless void and squeeze even the memory of a fluid life from all thought and conversation .  It would be expected that a person, even a Dr. Frankle would define today and tomorrow in the gray tones of grim.

But, not for Frankle.  In the context of the absurd, he not only survived but discovered.  While his body weakend and became frail, he never surrendered his identity nor falsified himself to himself.  He defined what he called the last of human freedoms --- the ability to “choose one's attitude in a given set of circumstances”.   

Who knows, there might be a better way between the romantic and the grim, between the idealist and the failed idealist i.e. the cynic.   There might be.

Depends, I guess, on the color of your day.

P.S.   I looked.  I looked right out my window.  Sure nuff, nature managed a blue sky today.  What is she up to anyway?  How dare her present me with a bright day, a cool breeze, butterflies and the drilling sounds of a red-headed woodpecker.  She's not going to get away with it.  I'm turning away so I can watch the news.  Grim.

 

Copyright 2011, Curtis Beaird.  All rights reserved.