Just Follow the Light

This tunnel we’re in right now is long and dark. Thankfully there is light even in the darkness we can follow.

-ehw

(This is an access ladder on a grain silo at my son’s workplace.)

Faith, Hope, Charitas- A Photo Essay

In the darkest of times...where people keep faith in God they will find hope he placed in our hearts by the same God to do the works of charitas needed to build a foothold of his kingdom on earth, and earn entrance to his kingdom in eternal life.

If we loose the faith...the darkest of times becomes a very dark eternity without hope, and a complete isolation of self from others and our creator.

-ehw

Vocations Prayers Please!

    This weekend the 9AM needed a volunteer family to take home an older chalice, called the Elijah Cup, and put it in a prominent place in the home.  Every time we see it, we should be praying for an increase in responses to vocation calls from Christ. 

   Well the kids asked and jumped into the isle...as another family further up and on the side also went up.  To make it even more interesting a family up front, good friends of ours, also started to leap up and then stopped.  We did not see the Deacon motion to the family to our right so we kept charging down the isle...so the six of us kept walking to the delight and laughter of the parish on collision course with the other family!

   As we saw the other family come into view ahead of us, we sheepishly turned about.  We were headed back to our pew for the dismissal rite when we heard a booming voice...."Wait we have another one!"  from Father John Bosco Tri.  So we went on up and accepted the cup he held!

   I don't think Father Tri was going to let us go.  See Father Tri and my John Paul already had a little talk.  Father Tri offered John Paul use of his vestments two weeks ago....he seems pretty sure my JP will join him soon.  (JP is only 22 months old right now so they are a little big on him.)

   The serious side of all this is however, we need everyone to respond deeply to their vocation call.  God does not stop issuing vocation calls.  The problem is we just don't respond as we should primarily due to fear. Fear of giving ourselves away totally to God's design, fear of the reaction to our family, fear of the ridicule the world will put on us for being "old fashioned", or even fear of not knowing a safe place to begin the journey.

   The result is a horrible vacuum.  One priest for thousands of families, and the loss of nuns to build social networks of schools and services all mean the Body of Christ does not get the care it needs.  A loss of religious vocations means families suffer as well, because trained religious are not there to nourish with sacraments, knowledge of sacramentals, and caring hands.  The carnage does not end there though with the failure to heed our vocations. 

    How many fathers are afraid to lead their domestic church towards God? How many mothers are not bringing the heart of Christ into the daily routines of family life with courage?  Without true fatherhood and maternal care, the fires of vocation will merely smolder in our souls.  Never will the vocation fire burn bright for either task God could give us.  All this leads to greater pain for the body of Christ as marriages suffer, sacraments go under offered and utilized, and churches close. 

    Recently I read how Mother Teresa understood her spiritual darkness to be her participation in the pain Christ has when we reject his cry of thirst to add our soul to his.  Imagine how we could soothe Jesus suffering if we all began to encourage children to become religious if they receive the call?  On their journey to discernment, we parents would need to grow in our faith as well since we are their first teachers.  A testament to this growth of faith, would be the rejection of the contraceptive movement, and the growth of larger families once again in Catholic households.   From larger families historically come greater the number of vocations.  This occurs since boys and girls do not feel the subconscious need to ensure there is an heir for the family name, or someone to care for parents in old age.

   So pray for a great response to the vocations God sends us at any time in our lives! 

Here is a short prayer for vocations I found:

O Holy Spirit, Spirit of wisdom and divine love, impart Your knowledge, understanding, and counsel to youth that they may know the vocation wherein they can best serve God. Give them courage and strength to follow God's holy will. Guide their uncertain steps, strengthen their resolutions, shield their chastity, fashion their minds, conquer their hearts, and lead them to the vineyards where they will labor in God's holy service.
Amen.

From EWTN: Click here to see the original

My understanding of Religious Art

      Over the last few years I found myself learning more and more of my faith...yet with each lesson I realized my understanding of faith is barely out of its infancy.  I can grasp a concept, but to know the precise details will escape me for many years to come.  I am not worried though, it just means each day I can explore a little more.  I also take heed of St Thomas Aquinas vision...what we understand and can percieve here can do no justice to what the reality of what the Divine Law really is.

    So if we can only see a glimpse of heaven in anything we think or create, I think religious art should reflect that.  Eastern Rite Catholic churches have incredible icons which follow this very basic premise.  What we see is not to be hyper realistic, but rather a starting point to enter the mystery presented.  From this entry point in meditation, you can explore the rest of the story and its application in your life and its journey towards heaven.

    Take this photo for example.  A hyper realistic photo here would draw no interest.  It was washed out, a simple statue in front of a church.  There was however much more to its story if you cared to look for it.  In the editing I found the amazing light and shadow contrast.  I vignetted the photo to draw the eyes into my message, I knew the subject matter was an angel or a messenger of God and it just fit.  I removed some color to make it timeless, since angels are timeless creatures.  The contrast of the man made wall and green plants made me think of the leading Rosary mystery of that Friday...Mary why do you look here in a tomb for the living?

    The scene before me became the pathway to a deeper meditation on something far bigger than I will ever be able to comprehend on earth through the creation of and review of Catholic religious art.  One added bonus in all of this was I needed to quiet my mind to the world's distractions to see this.  In the silence, is where God can speak to our souls, and where we need to spend some of our time each day.  So I got my silence, my thought and my created art.

    This is what making and viewing Catholic religious art should do for you...at least from my little spot on this earth.

-ehw

Helen's Best

    Still working on some of my images from Helen, Georgia.  We had a fantastic time there, and I would recommend it as a great place for a family trip.   After living in Germany, and traveling through Bavaria, the facade was fun to experience.  I often wondered what America would look like with some German architecture, well now I know the effect of mixing the two building codes. The most important three things about the town though were: the people were very nice, the recreation readily available, and the ladies loved our John Paul (and he loved them).

    With this final point made...I can say it was fun and could be visited yet again!

-ehw

Beauty in the Rough

 Do you edit your photos?  Well of course I do!  The reality is, every photo coming out of a camera is already edited to the exposure and composition tastes (or mistakes) of the photographer, the film or sensor have an effect on what you can actually capture, and the software or physical development of the photo before it even hits the viewfinder.  Very little coming out of a camera will be absolutely perfect to my eye, so I will tweak the photo until it fulfills my vision of the art coming out…and it is art because it is my interpretation of the photo. 

    I know some people will shrill at this, but it is really a reflection on the reality of the fallen world we live in.  God made a perfect Garden of Paradise at the beginning, and then the whole Adam and Eve thing occurred where humanity fell to fear and pride and separating our actions and will from God’s.

    The good news for us is God’s laws permeate into our world naturally.  We can discover right and wrong just as we can discover beauty inside our man influenced environment.  The better news for us is if we look for and listen to God’s Wisdom from the Church’s Catechism, with its rich source material, the beauty becomes self evident.  The best news for us is good materials to learn from are closer than ever to our fingertips, if we but look for them.

    So the story of the lead photograph is no different than what our spiritual journeys should be.  I walked out of my hotel, the pretty new lobby shinny and sparkly, into a smelly alleyway facing the back of an abandoned business.  The brick and paint needs attention, the inside of the business really needs some TLC.  To my my naked eye the natural light blows out the color , the situation gritty, and the remaining beauty hidden in a low contrast area with no eye grabbing potential.  It is easy to see the despair of the building and have no hope for a photograph “straight out of the camera.”

    I had other tools though in my head. Tools and lessons in photography which gave me faith I could find the beauty in the smelly alleyway.  I looked and saw a classic shape inside a shape…good…I thought.  Then saw the flowers and knew they could be drawn out and made a centerpiece brought to prominence by the eye focusing shapes.  I knew my camera and lens.  My trusty 23mm would not distort or give in to great lens refraction at F/16. My camera sensor with a high ISO would be sharp and still have good color detail with a larger aperture giving me depth of field to be sharp from front to back.  I knew the distracting wires would not pull eyes away, but highlight the fallen nature of the setting.  Still in camera I knew the result would be flat, and without great interest.

    So I knew I’d dive into my favorite adjustment set on my Capture One 9 software, and get a quick taste of improvement.  See in the rough photo I knew there was beauty to be brought out, and I was just warming up.  Then I looked at my film simulations on hand, and saw one I like and applied it.  I added some texture and dodged some light in…in a matter of minutes I realized the image in my head which reflected a whole lot of learning and applied photography lessons.  I paused, reflected, worked on other images and returned to adjust a few more items before it was where I wanted it to be for a final product.

   I ask you though, is this any different than how we should approach the world in all our endeavors?  In each person we meet, or situation we encounter, will we ever experience perfection as God intended?  No!  Can we make things perfect ourselves?  No!  We need to know God’s plan to become better.   We need to know how to work with each other as we together try to rise ourselves up to deserving entry to heaven.  We need to not reject every sad situation, and look for the opportunity to glorify God in it.

   So yes I edit every photo I share.  I also work at editing myself and the world around me by bringing a bit of God’s plan into it one snap at a time.  I think if you look at your day in the same way, you’ll realize you do it as well.  I hope and pray we can do all we can to grow into the Glory of God’s light by doing this as a community.  I am really thinking it would be a great work of art…I could even title it “Capturing His Glory.”

And just to demonstrate...here is what the camera generated as a RAW image and the camera generated "correct" JPEG....and my edited image at the end.

Six Months and Going Strong

    Amidst the winter illnesses and stresses of life comes one great story...John Paul celebrated six months Friday!  He continues to excel in the growth department, weighing in around 19 pounds and long enough to DEMAND twelve month duds.  As the bib says, he is heaven sent and on a mission to be 100% cuteness (so others besides the Dad says).

    I cannot believe we are so lucky to have John Paul.  I cannot believe the love the other children show him, and the care they give him every day.  I am so blessed to watch the creation of new hearts open to life and the work required to bring it to fruition.  It is a series of observations which through pretenses of materialism into the shredder, because their work for John Paul demonstrates the power of agape love.  John Paul detracts nothing from the older kids, and in the big kids work for John Paul they glorify God.

    We still need prayers for Mom to get fully healthy, but for just a minute I want to bask in a moment of God's Glory captured in a digital form.  I hope it gives you as much hope and joy as I get when I see it.  For if our lives are to be full of toil (or so says Proverbs) seeing a moment of God's makes the work worth it to survive to see another day.

-ehw

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Iron Mike in War and Peace

    Growing up men like Iron Mike were my not just folk heroes, but were real people to admire in my life.  From my adopted Grandfather "Easy" Smith (a five combat jump 82nd Airborne trooper), Uncle Walter Betley (WWII Europe, Korean War, Vietnam), Uncle Bernie (WWII), my DjaDja (WWII USN), my wife's Granddad (WWII), My Father in Law (Vietnam), my Dad (Desert Storm), my good gunner (SSG Thornburg Bosnia/Iraq/Afghanistant), and countless others I dare not forget in my prayers...taught me about what strength and courage really were.  I also learned in the peace one needs just as much strength.

    Easy Smith, my Airborne Pathfinder friend, told me of his missions and the leadership needed to accomplish them.  He instructed me on the personal trials of fire I would face in combat, and what qualities to try and cultivate in myself to prepare for the supreme tests of leadership in combat.  I was never a great army officer, decent/honorable but not GREAT.  I never faced the test so many of my relatives and friends did. I often wonder if I would pass that test of combat...but in reality my life is still young.  The ultimate test could come at any time in this wild wild west world we live in today.

    Easy told me of his Army career, and then work on the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra.  He rehearsed all day, stayed up all night and got very little sleep.  The work was exhausting.  Like many musicians he turned to alcohol and became dependent on it.  He got to the point where one day he had to have a talk with God.  He knew he lived or he died based on his reaction to the temptation from the devil he would deliver in bottle.  He lived if he left the bottle behind.  He died if he picked it up again to drink.

   Easy left the bottle forever that day.  He became an active man of God.  As a God fearing gentleman he mentored hundreds of youth in his third career as a Sheriff's Deputy in Northern Virginia through baseball, music and church ministries.  If you ever visit the E.G. Smith Complex in Manassas, Virginia you will walk on the grass of my adopted Grandfather and personal embodiment of Iron Mike.

    The men I mentioned above all fought through war, but thrived without conflict by living out God's commands in peace.  In the list above I know of church councilmen, Knights of Columbus, a man baptized in his Episcopalian faith as an adult, and a non-denominational Christian who raised families with love and taught honor to them.  I am proud to know them, learn from their example, and try to carry it on one more generation.

   While it would be nice to have world peace, I am not foolish enough to think it will come without a miracle of the second coming of Christ first.  Until then I will pray men will continue to be Iron Mike's in both war and peace.  Just as strong to face a bullet as the challenges of peace.

-ehw

Wonderful Time of Loving Labors

    When you see the photo of an adorable, 100% cute child you think of the wonders the child brings to the world.  When he is your child, and you meet him at 1AM for a quick diaper change and handoff to Mom a few other thoughts run through your tired mind about the same child.

    Nothing good in life comes free.  Nothing great comes without great cost and sacrifice. This is not only true of life, but of the path we need to take to heaven.

   Jesus lived a hard life, and so did his disciples.  He even had friends he loved suffer and die!  He was our king, and died a painful death on a cross he carried on his shoulders after a brutal set of beatings.  Yet despite these facts, I think most people imagine Christ in his gloriously transformed body by default.  A transfigured body he only obtained by passing through the painful death on a tree.

    So the next time you see 100% cuteness, don't forget the work it takes to get there.  Also know the moment of glory is worth every sacrifice it took to make a glimpse of heaven on earth.

-ehw

Christ the Judge in a World of Noise

       The world is full of manmade noise. Noise, sounds and vibrations with no Godly organization, only serve to distract us from our ingrained mission of finding and loving the Lord.  This means if we want to draw ourselves to the Lord, we must through force of will, ignore the world's noise so our souls can make music in harmony with God's intended design for the world.

     For example, take a look at tomorrow's March for Life in Washington, D.C.  There thousands will walk as a result of a court decision literally made up from the air the justices breathed, and created with little factual evidence or legal precedent.  The whim of men created "rights" which did not exist ever before, denied the humanity of a child in the wound established with natural law at the dawn of time, and to this day results in the extermination of so many people it is actually fulfilling Margret Sangster's dream of the ethnic cleansing of "lesser" peoples.  Oh the thoughts of this are nauseating to God fearing people everywhere!

    In the thousands of words the people attending will hear tomorrow, very few will change the hearts and minds of committed abortion supporters.  Why?  Abortion rights supporters will constantly deny the humanity of the child in the womb by shouting their own words over anyone opposing them.  They will continue trying to convince themselves their own destiny must not include the life they helped create.  They know they cannot avoid the consequences of their own actions, but they will shout themselves horse trying to convince themselves otherwise.  In a way it is a perfect demonstration of evil madness to try and deny physical realities in such a way.  The thousands of words hurled by the protesters will only be added noise to these abortion supporters.

    What caused these abortion supporters the most fear?  It is the mandatory waiting period, and ultrasound machine testing.  Why?  Because in the quiet of a doctor's office, with the noise of the world isolated from the room, the reality of natural law confronting hardened hearts wins over far more souls than continue to deny there is a new life in their womb.  Abortionists loathe the requirement any person listen to the heart beating while they see the face of their child before they kill it.  

    The sound of natural law runs naturally in the heart of the unborn child, and speaks with a clarity to unsettled souls like no other sound on earth.  Oh how I wish we could mandate put the father in the room as well!  Maybe the natural music could save three souls at a time, and help make a proper family.

   So the next time you find yourself lost in a sea of manmade noise, find a place where you can slow down and hear the pulse of life.  Let the pulse remind you of your place in the cosmos as a child called to God.  Then follow the call of this music to build his kingdom in word and deed.  Then maybe it will be easier to get a smile out of Christ the Judge when the time comes to meet him.

-ehw    

Pray for Us!

    The First Lego League's first elimination round starts on Saturday at 7:30AM.  Our Regina Caeli Darebots will be there, and ready to compete.  Under the direction of Coach Les Levergood, Assistant Coach Fred Bunn and myself they grew a great deal...or maybe in spite of our coaching they grew!  If you want to catch up on their adventures you can visit them at the website Regina Caeli Darebots.  

    The team practiced two to three times a week since late August. Now after the long series of rehearsals they are ready to compete....for the first and possible last time!  Coach Levergood ran a tight ship this year, and Coach Bunn brought excellent programming instruction to the kids.  Solving the mysteries of the gyroscope was an incredible experience for the kids.  I helped them build out their presentations.   

    The team will do three presentations to judges Saturday morning.  The first will be their sales pitch for ways to improve collection methods of depleted uranium on test ranges and battlefields.  They will then explain how they grew as a group using the lessons from Core Values.  Finally, they will discuss robot design and programming methods.  In the afternoon they will run their robot Penguin through the course several times using different teams of Darebots.  At the end of the day, they will find out if they are in the upper third of 40 or so teams. If they are they may move on to regionals in January!

   Tomorrow Coach Levergood will guide the seven of them through six and half hours of final rehearsals!  So pray for Coach L and then the team!

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Here is Penguin the robot!

The Blacksmith of My Manhood

Give a lad a training suitable to his character and, even when old, he will not go back on it.

Proverbs 22:6 Catholic Online 

   Good fathers remain indispensable to every child on the planet.  A father is the person God entrusts to look at each child he gives them, and call them into adulthood.  Fathers should take the faith filled heart a mother forms, and steel it like a blacksmith works metal.  The steel must withstand every tempest the world will throw at it until our bodies fade to dust.  I am blessed my father did this for me, and I accepted his molding to form the man I am.

    From an early age I remember my Dad as a pillar of strength and determination.  He still gets up before dawn, works long hours, deployed at our nation's call for forty-five years, learned things from diverse resources way before the birth of the internet, demands honesty and gives it unfailingly, requires common sense be applied to all critical thinking, expects you to know a fact based history on what you speak, and displays a dogged determination to achieve which puts a bulldog to shame.  My father steeled my heart to respect my mother and her core values.  He then slowly built a frame around my heart to carry me into adulthood.  

    My father's greatest wisdom, in forming his children, was to ensure we knew how to think.  My father knew our world would be as different from his as his world was from his father's.  As a result, he knew his children needed well rounded educations grounded in those family core values.  This frame protected us, gave us limbs to build new futures, and a head to seek the wisdom of the Lord in new faraway lands when he was not there to guide us.  My father trained our character traits to last a lifetime.  

    After meeting many people with dads who failed to accept their duties as fathers, I know I am a blessed child.  I also believe this is why I am committed to do the mission my father does, but often shields from view of his own children.  My father throughout the years tended to lost sheep, and got them better prepared to meet the world.  He gave these lost sheep the blacksmithing their fathers should have given, or the sheep rejected out of the pride of youth.  Some responded well, others did not.  In any case he tried, and willingly gave of himself without desire for acclaim or fortune.

   I am blessed with a Dad who embodies God's call for father's to follow.

-ehw  

A Lesson in Forgiveness for Thanksgiving

    A few weeks ago a most incredible person told me a story, a story of forgiveness which humbled me.  The story goes something like this...

    Years ago this person suffered a great injustice at the hands of another.  Bonds of trust broke, and a relationship broke into pieces.  The breakup effected more than the two inside the relationship.  The shattered relationship hurt many others, and still does to this day.  Defenses went up to prevent additional pain, but the grace of forgiveness remained open to the offender.  Not only does forgiveness flow, the offender gets prayers and encouragement to return to the church and obtain salvation from the victim!  

    I suffered a few injustices in my life, and I will admit my pride gets the best of me from time to time when the wound resurfaces.  When I asked the person, their response was "To hold on to the anger and hate is to condemn your own soul to Hell.  We can only move forward to Christ when we release the hate and let it fade away.  We can only achieve heaven when we wish for those who harmed to repent and join us again on the path to heaven."

    I prayed about this on a few nights since I heard this sermon of word and deed.  I realized how much more I need to grow as a person to reach this type of holiness...and I hope I can imitate their example with a few more years of practice.  Until then, I'll also pray this incredible person continues to show people like me the true path of Christ in this fallen world.

-ehw

P.S. The photo is of Kellie at the Antiedam Battlefield Museum.  It was a wonderful moment to watch her enjoy flowers, amidst the stories of war.  It reminded me of the decades it took to heal the wounds from the Civil War, and the lesson above being the path towards reconciliation.

Once Upon a Dream

    When you give my girl music, a dress and a light saber you get a whole new version of the Saber Dance!  She takes after her big sister who as I type is spinning in the kitchen as she loads up her breakfast cereal.   All children at some point need to enter the real world, but for now I love keeping them safe to dream and play in a wholesome way.

-ehw

The Doctor is In!

    The Doctor was in last Saturday night.  She did house calls for everybody!  Luckily she confirmed we are all in pretty good shape headed into our Fall Break from school.  We are almost homebound since we still have three days of dance, two Robotics classes, doctor's appointments, a dead refrigerator, and music!  Regardless of our staycation status, we should have time for plenty of moments like this one where we enjoy a few moments of family time...can get the house set for fall both inside and out!

-ehw

Enjoying Moments...a Large Family Blessing

    The vast majority of people outside our little homeschooling community think we were nuts for rejoicing on the possibility of a fifth child in our family.  I could not disagree more with the majority.

    The Bible described children as a blessing, and large families were a reward from God.  Nowhere in the Bible does a large family equal a curse.  I would agree having a large family however can present a challenge from time to time!  So far nothing I've faced is insurmountable, just a great set of challenges.

    With the arrival of child number five, good young John Paul, I look forward to enjoying one more round of moments like this one above.  I have the seasoning of parenthood four times before to know snuggling with my baby on the couch, in between diaper changes, is one brief moment in time.  The only moment in which I get to love my son with these cuddles.  In a few years, he will be all boy and want to wrestle the old man into submission!  

     I received five wonderful sets of moments like this.  I am looking forward more good times ahead, with the full knowledge valleys of darkness will exist as well.  It is all part of the large family blessing I behold day in and out.

-ehw

P.S. Photo credit to my favorite assistant Carrie Wojtkun who caught me sleeping on the job!  I did all the post processing for her!

Dad was I this small?

   Kevin: "Dad was I this small?"

    Dad: "Yes son you were once that small"

    The joy of teaching a culture of life to your children is that even when the baby gives a yelp, the older kids know this is part of respecting life from conception to death. You know you succeed in reaching their souls with with this understanding when they have such great awe for the new members of the domestic church...and all people created in the image of God around them.

    My older children saw the trials Mom went through for nine months to get John Paul to birth.  They understand more than ever the depths of love she had for each of them before they were born.  Each of our children, at the age of reason, now understands this baby was their baby brother from the moment of conception in the womb (even if they haven't had "the talk.").  

    The big kids will soon will associate what Mom suffered as part of her agape love for each of them, when only our God knew their name and destiny.  The older kids now also understand in a larger sense why abortion is decidedly agains the commandments of God. John Paul was never a bunch of harvestable organs and stem cells. John Paul was John Paul when two halves became one whole.

    As crazy as the calendar is now these are the good times.  As crazy as life will get it the coming days, months and years if we get the concept of agape in their heads and hearts I think we have a good chance of succeeding as parents.  I hope we raise children who fulfill the Lord's two great commandments: To love the Lord with all your heart mind and soul.  To love your neighbor as yourself.

   I pray to God we, and parents everywhere, achieve this noble goal as well.  For there is no other option than this if we are to form a civil society where peace can reign.  

-ehw

Boys by Fireworks

    Boys like their summers filled with wonder and awe...and this year both found fulfillment in home based fireworks over the Fourth of July!  If you remember your childhood, I bet it was moments like this you remember for a lifetime.  I know memories like this are seared in my mind!

-ehw

P.S. Always a challenging shoot when darkness is involved, and you will not use the flash.  The rewards for catching the special moment of light are immense.