will set you free...

will set you free

 

 

A lot of folks spend their life
going around and around
while others find freedom
in living their lives
soaring above.

“That nature (creation) itself
will be set free from its bondage
to decay and corruption
[and gain an entrance] into
the glorious freedom of God’s children.”
- Romans 8:21 AMP

 

“And you will know the Truth,
and the Truth will set you free.”
- John 8:32 AMP

diligently living...

diligently living

If you want to make a difference
you have to get up out of that chair
jump in, and ride the waves.

"Are you still diligently living for God and serving Him,
even in these last days?
Now is not the time to ease up,
but to charge forward and continue living for the Lord.”
- Paul Chappell

not alone...

not alone

"I am not alone at all, I thought.
I was never alone at all.
And that, of course, is the message of Christmas.
We are never alone.
Not when the night is darkest,
the wind coldest,
the world seemingly most indifferent.
For this is still the time God chooses."
- Taylor Caldwell

change your world...

change your world

“The world is a dangerous place.
Not because of the people who are evil;
but because of the people
who don't do anything about it.”
- Albert Einstein

“A different world cannot be built
by indifferent people”
- Author Unknown

“I wanted to change the world.
But I have found that the only thing
one can be sure of changing is oneself.”
- Aldous Huxley

“Change your thoughts,
and you change your world.”
- Norman Vincent Peale

the greatest gift...

the greatest gift

"Your children are the greatest gift
God will give to you,
and their souls the heaviest responsibility
He will place in your hands.
Take time with them,
teach them to have faith in God.
Be a person in whom they can have faith.
When you are old, nothing else you've done
will have mattered as much."
- Lisa Wingate

obeying the law...

obeying the law

Whether or not we agree with them,
laws are meant to protect and to save lives.

"Don't misunderstand why I have come.
I did not come to abolish the law of Moses
or the writings of the prophets.
No, I came to accomplish their purpose.”
- Jesus Christ
(Matthew 5:17 NLT)

family...

family

 

To progress through life as a happy family
takes every member doing their part...
helping and loving each other.

 

"Rejoice with your family in the beautiful land of life!"

- Albert Einstein

complete formation...

complete formation

On Sunday, the 16^th, while at the beach,
we were treated to an airshow out across the water.

These four flying in formation were spectacular to watch.

"The moral virtues, then, are produced in us,
neither by nature nor against nature.
Nature, indeed, prepares in us
the ground for their reception,
but their complete formation
is the product of habit."
- Aristotle

silent sermon...

silent sermon

“I always thought that my airplane
conveyed a silent sermon.
To the earthbound observer,
its silhouette was the shape of the cross
on which Jesus was crucified.”
- E. R. Trimble

on every wave...

on every wave

"You must live in the present,
launch yourself on every wave,
find your eternity in each moment."
- Henry David Thoreau

Today's sunshine...

today's sunshine

"Some people are making
such thorough preparation for rainy days
that they aren't enjoying today's sunshine."
- William Feather

Looking to steal?

looking to steal?

This gull is looking for an opportunity
to steal food from the unwary.

We had some fries at the beach.
My wife was holding one on a toothpick
in front of her and was distracted
a moment by something occurring
in front of her.

In that short time a gull
brushed by my daughter's hair,
grabbed the morsel...
toothpick and all from my wife's fingers
and was gone. We neither saw it coming
or leaving... so fast it occurred.

The bird did not know better...
it was simply looking for food...
something it learned from others
who unwisely fed the birds before.

We, on the other hand, do know better
and have the knowledge of good and evil.

“Remove far from me falsehood and lies;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
Lest I be full and deny You and say,
Who is the Lord?
Or lest I be poor and steal,
and so profane the name of my God.”
- Proverbs 30:8,9 AMP

fun at the beach...

fun at the beach

We took a very brief holiday
this last weekend... a trip to the beach.
I managed a few decent photos
which I will share with you
over the next few DD's...
here at SonRays.

This gentleman was being covered with sand
by two young ladies.

Not sure if he was oblivious to this entire procedure
but the girls sure were having fun.

"I wish I understood then what I do now,
that I had concentrated more on the vital
and less on the urgent."
- Terence Rolston

Spiritual Growth

Spiritual Growth
(pine seedling)

Every so often I like to plant a tree.
Many of the seedlings I plant
are obtained during Earth Day
and are free.

This pine seeding was nothing more than
a sprig with a small, thin, tender root
when I planted it a couple of years ago.

When we are first saved
through the death and resurrection
of Jesus Christ (the Son of God)
we are tender babes in faith
needing to grow and mature.

We need the Water of Life,
the breath of God's Spirit,
and exposure to His light.

We must also continually remove
the weeds that could stunt
our growth (or worse)...
applying layers of mulch
that will help guard us
against temptation.

"For this reason,
since the day we heard about you,
we have not stopped praying for you
and asking God to fill you
with the knowledge of his will
through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.
And we pray this in order
that you may live a life
worthy of the Lord
and may please him in every way:
bearing fruit in every good work,
growing in the knowledge of God,
being strengthened with all power
according to his glorious might
so that you may have
great endurance and patience,
and joyfully giving thanks to the Father,
who has qualified you to share
in the inheritance of the saints
in the kingdom of light.”
- Colossians 1:9-12 NIV

living well...

walking aids

“God gave us the gift of life;
it is up to us to give ourselves
the gift of living well.”
- Voltaire

indifference...

indifference

 

“The opposite of love is not hate, it's indifference.
The opposite of art is not ugliness, it's indifference.
The opposite of faith is not heresy, it's indifference.
And the opposite of life is not death, it's indifference.”
- Elie Wiesel

bear it...

bear it

"Hope is important because
it can make the present moment
less difficult to bear.
If we believe that tomorrow will be better,
we can bear a hardship today.”
- Thich Nhat Hanh

joy in looking...

joy in looking

 

"Joy in looking and comprehending
is nature's most beautiful gift.”
- Albert Einstein

the masks we wear...

the masks we wear

 

"Look, we all wear masks...
every one, every day...
and sometimes
we wear them so much,
we forget who we really are.
And sometimes,
if we're lucky,
someone comes along
and shows us who we
really wanna be...
who we should be.”
- Nikita

morning dew...

morning dew

My wife and I took an early morning walk today.

Along the way, I took this photo of a grass
covered with morning dew.

“A human being is a part of the whole
called by us universe,
a part limited in time and space.
He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling
as something separated from the rest,
a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.
This delusion is a kind of prison for us,
restricting us to our personal desires
and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.
Our task must be to free ourselves
from this prison by widening our circle of compassion
to embrace all living creatures
and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
- Albert Einstein

birds of a feather

birds of a feather

"Life is partly what we make it,
and partly what it is made
by the friends we choose.”
- Tennessee Williams

"Blessed (happy, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable)
is the man who walks and lives not
in the counsel of the ungodly
[following their advice, their plans and purposes],
nor stands [submissive and inactive]
in the path where sinners walk,
nor sits down [to relax and rest]
where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.”
- Psalm 1:1 AMP

simplicity...

simplicity

common daisy

"In character, in manner, in style,
in all things,
the supreme excellence is simplicity."
- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

celebrate your life...

celebrate life

(fireworks goldenrod)

This is a perennial, native to where I live.
Fireworks are using used
during a time of celebration...
this plant, to me, is a celebration of nature,
a celebration of life.

“Everything is created from
moment to moment, always new.
Like fireworks, this universe is
a celebration and you are the spectator
contemplating the eternal Fourth of July
of your absolute splendor.”
- Francis Lucille

in a corner...

in a corner

If you feel like a lost sheep
backed into a corner...
just remember that the good Shepherd
is willing and able to rescue you.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified;
do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God
will be with you wherever you go."
- Joshua 1:9 NIV

take a walk...

take a walk

 

“'Solvitur ambulando', St. Jerome was fond of saying.
To solve a problem, walk around.”
- Gregory McNamee

reflections...

reflections

 

"For light I go directly to the Source of light,
not to any of the reflections."
- Peace Pilgrim

self-portrait...

self-portrait

Take at a long hard look
at yourself in the mirror.

Concentrate on your inner self...
your heart, your soul, your spirit.

Make sure the image you see
is not askew, and not just B&W...
but showing your true colors.

Are you the person you want to be?
More importantly, are you are the person
God intended you to be?

It is never too late to change.
It requires a commitment...
it requires a lot of prayer.

And don't kid yourself...
do you really want to change?

Commitment to God through prayer removes us
from the mirror trap of self-absorption.

“Let your hearts therefore be blameless
and wholly true to the Lord our God,
to walk in His statutes
and to keep His commandments...”
- 1 Kings 8:61 AMP

cup of blessing...

cup of blessing

"Never lose an opportunity
of seeing anything that is beautiful;
for beauty is God's handwriting -
a wayside sacrament.
Welcome it in every fair face,
in every fair sky, in every fair flower,
and thank God for it as a cup of blessing."
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Don't forget to live...

Don't forget to live

“The other day a man asked me
what I thought was the best time of life.
'Why,' I answered without a thought, 'now.'”
- David Grayson

“Eternity is not something that begins
after you are dead.
It is going on all the time.”
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman

“Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is a mystery.
And today? Today is a gift.
That's why we call it the present.”
- Babatunde Olatunji

Wisdom and Success

Wisdom and Success

As you may have guessed...
I like coffee, food, and the arts.

This place in Annville, PA
(Allen Theatre and MJ's Coffee House)
has it all.

Wisdom and success go hand in hand but...

"Don't expect wisdom
to come into your life
like great chunks of
rock on a conveyor belt.
It isn't like that.
It's not splashy and bold...
nor is it dispensed like a
prescription across a counter.
Wisdom comes privately from God
as a by-product of right decisions,
godly reactions, and the application of
spiritual principles to daily circumstances.
Wisdom comes...
not from trying to do great things for God...
but more from being faithful to the small,
obscure tasks few people ever see."
- Charles Swindoll