jeff’s blog

What would our lives look like, if they were full and fruitful with the fruit of the Spirit.

What would it look like if we truly loved every person we encountered - not just those from whom we can get something in return? How much would a selfless attitude and concern for those less fortunate than us change the way people perceive us?

What would it look like if we were joyous instead of pessimistic? What would the world think if Christians stopped talking about how bad things were, and started spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ?

What would it look like if we were peacemakers instead of war starters? What if we looked to build bridges between people instead of condemning them, and sought to embrace our enemies instead of destroy them? How would that change the world?

What would it look like if we were patient, not asking every person where they would go if they died tonight, but allowed the process of the Spirit to work in the hearts of men? Would people be less put off by the message of Jesus if they felt like they didn’t have to give an answer right away?

What would it look like if we were kind? What would change in our world if we became people of benevolence instead of greed, sympathy instead of indifference?

What would it look like if we embraced goodness, seeking to always do the right thing no matter how much it cost? How would our actions be affected if we searched every decision beyond its immediate effects and evaluated how it affected our righteousness before God?

What would it look like if we were faithful? Would it change our desire to reason out an explanation for the existence and workings of God? How would our lives be enriched if we truly believed God is who he says without demanding proof?

What would it look like if we were gentle? How differently would we be perceived if we were gracious and understanding instead of inflammatory? How would our lives and testimony change if we less inciting and violent in how we approach those we disagree with?

What would it look like for each of us to be self-controlled in all our actions? What would we be if we were able to tame the demons within and bring our thoughts and actions under control all the time?

I wish badly that my life were governed by these simple principles. I wish I could say my life looked in reality like it does in my mind.

But until then, I continue to strive to be fruitful, hoping to grow someday into something I can only now imagine.

What do you cling to, pretending it can grant you salvation?

What is it you desire, hoping it will complete you and give you life?

Stop.
Let go.

Hear the words of Jesus:
Real life is not measured by how much we own.

Desire,
cling to the Lord your God,
your maker,
your creator,
sustainer
and completer;
the only way to fulfill your hopes and dreams
one with his will.

Today was windy, but for a bit of a study break I took some more shots.

Brian asked me to take pictures of some of his Zebrafish. For comparison, these are about the same size as a Triple-A battery. They’re fast, don’t sit still, and stay too close to the sides of the tank. All in all, rather challenging to photo.

Last night’s BSG had an incredibly well written courtroom scene that I thought was worth repeating here. In it, Lee Adama is on the stand as a defense witness for Dr. Gaius Baltar, who is on trial for treason, and is widely understood to have conspired with the enemy, causing the deaths of hundreds or thousands of humans.

I think his monologue raises several excellent point about justice and revenge, and perhaps some of the motivations we sometimes have for extracting each of them. In the end, I think Adama’s most powerful revelation is in the middle of his thoughts - “I’m a coward. I’m the traitor. I’m forgiven.”

“Mr. Adama.”

“Yes?”

“Why do you think the defendant, Gaius Baltar, deserves to be acquitted?”

“Well, because the evidence does not support the charges.”

“Come on…”

“Did the defendant make mistakes? Sure, he did. Serious mistakes. But did he actually commit any crimes? Did he commit treason? No. I mean… it was an impossible situation. When the Cylons arrived, what could he possibly do? What could anyone have done? I mean ask yourself, what would you have done? What would you have done? If he had refused to surrender, the Cylons would probably have nuked the planet, right then and there. So did he appear to cooperate with the Cylons? Sure. So did hundreds of others. What’s the difference between him and them?

“The President issued a blanket pardon. They were all forgiven, no questions asked. Colonel Tigh. Colonel Tigh used suicide bombers, killed dozens of people. Forgiven. Lieutenant Agathon and Chief Tyrol, they murdered an officer on the Pegasus, forgiven. The Admiral - the Admiral instituted a military coup d’etat against the President. Forgiven. And me? Well… where do I begin?

“I shot down a civilian passenger ship, the Olympic Carrier, over 1,000 people on board. Forgiven. I raised my weapon to a superior officer, committed an act of mutiny. Forgiven. And then, on the very day when Baltar surrendered to those Cylons, I, as Commander of Pegasus, jumped away. I left everybody on that planet, alone, undefended for months. I even tried to persuade the Admiral never to return, to abandon you all there for good. If I’d had my way, nobody would have made it off that planet. I’m a coward. I’m the traitor. I’m forgiven.

“I’d say we’re very forgiving of mistakes. We make our own laws now, our own justice. And we’ve been pretty creative at finding ways to let people off the hook for everything from theft to murder. And we’ve had to be. Because we’re not a civilization anymore. We are a gang, and we’re on the run, and we have to fight to survive. We have to break rules, we have to bend laws, we have to improvise.

“But not this time, no. Not this time. Not for Gaius Baltar. No, you - you have to die. You have to die because, well, because we don’t like you very much. Because you’re arrogant, because you’re weak, because you’re a coward, and we the mob, we want to throw you out the airlock because you didn’t stand up to the Cylons and didn’t get yourself killed in the process. That’s justice now - you should have been killed back on New Caprica, but since you had the timerity to live we’re going to execute you now - that’s justice.

“This case - this case is built on emotion, on anger, bitterness, vengeance, but most of all it is built on shame. It’s about the shame of what we did to ourselves back on that planet, and it’s about the guilt of those of us who ran away, who ran away. And we’re trying to dump all that guilt, and all that shame onto one man, and then flush him out the airlock and then hope that just gets rid of it all, so that we can live with ourselves. But that won’t work.

“That won’t work; that’s not justice. Not to me.

“Not to me.”

Was out scouting places for engagement pictures today and ran across a patch of bluebonnets. I decided to stop and see what was happening, and found a couple of bees moving around. Sadly it was super dark, but the SB-800’s came in handy.

May you humble yourself before the living God,
trusting in his divine power to lift you up.

Don’t think of yourself more highly than you ought,
but neither think of yourself more lowly than you ought,
knowing that both of these are lies from the deceiver.

Don’t compare yourself to others,
knowing that each person is gifted by God.
Instead encourage others whose gifts aren’t your own,
knowing they provide a vital role in the Kingdom of God.

And in all you do,
may you keep perspective of your place before God,
knowing his righteousness and holiness,
crying with your heart for mercy.

Based on some of starfish235’s analysis on flickr, I decided to play around with a few of my own photos to see how various lenses responded to the chromatic aberration analysis. To quote from Bruce:

This enhance view of the CA should be used to identify regions of the original (full resolution) photo where you should look for the effects of CA. CA doesn’t always result in a strong visible color tint in the original photo, but it often results in a general loss of sharpness and reduced resolution when a visible color shift isn’t readily apparent.

The following are a few examples:

The above picture was recently posted, and taken with my Sigma 150. The CA has been enhanced ~9dB. As you can see in the higher resolution image, the CA is fairly well controlled.

This image was taken with the LX-2 and also enhanced ~9db. As you can see, the CA is most defined at the edges (where you would expect), but also exists in parts of the photo you wouldn’t generally look for it.

I may post additional pictures later - if anyone has any requests I’ll be happy to post them.

a canceled meeting means picture time at bush.

wanted to play around with umbrellas and the sb-800’s today. the only convenient thing I could find for a macro was the bible.