“Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility—for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.” ~ Thomas a Kempis
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” ~ Roald Dahl
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.”~ Colossians 3:12, The Holy Bible
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These are a few of my submissions to the Weekly Photo Challenge with the theme “From Above”. The photos were to be captured with a perspective from above. I hope you enjoy the photos and the quotes. For more interpretations see the links below.
Peace, Alexandria
“Love does not consist in gazing at each other
but at looking together in the same direction.”
~ Unknown
This is my second interpretation for the Weekly Photo Challenge: Geometry theme.
Can love be bound by lines, shapes, or circles? Mmm … maybe. Isn’t it two souls bound together toward a common purpose, a shared existence, despite the shapes, lines, and hairpin turns of life?
And let’s not forget—though love defies science, isn’t it a formula with a slight touch of chemistry?
“You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing. I wove my webs for you because I liked you. After all, what’s a life, anyway? We’re born, we live a little while, we die. A spider’s life can’t help being something of a mess, with all this trapping and eating flies. By helping you, perhaps I was trying to lift up my life a trifle. Heaven knows anyone’s life can stand a little of that.”
~ Charlotte, Charlotte’s Web by E.B. White
This is my second entry in the Weekly Photo Challenge for January 25, 2013. The theme is love. This is one of my absolute favorite quotes on friendship.
We’re all just a bit of a mess, aren’t we? Vulnerable and fragile? Transparent and forgiving? Filled with love, filled with faults. Yet the bonds of friendship intertwine beautifully with enduring love. We love amid the mess.
I wonder if flowers could talk or had human emotion or had the ability to reason, would they dwell in prejudice against the color of another flower? Would they judge and resent, even hate one another because of the color of their petals? And not just the color that separates them, but the different varieties?
The hydrangea differs due to differing acidity. The daisies in the photo below have colors that are man-induced. These colors do not naturally occur in nature. They were “created”. Not the flowers but the colors. Why did someone do this? Doesn’t it add to their brilliance, bring a smile to our face, and increase our joy?
Aren’t we awestruck and delighted by the very nature of their differences? Their color and composition is completely at the mercy of their maker. They cannot help what color they are. But do we complain? Do we harbor resentment because of the multitude of color?
Then why do we do this with the greatest stain on humanity?
All of us know deep within our hearts that racism is wrong. Yet, we are all racist. All of us. Just admit it. It was taught and modeled before us. Children are not born racist. They are taught racism.
It’s okay to admit it but we must go further. We must fight it. We must fight it within ourselves and we must fight it outwardly. But how is this done?
Think of the recent Olympics. For a wondrous moment every nation was at peace. We watched the very best athletes parade into the stadium and what a sight it was! Did it not take your breath away to see the vast array of different cultures, different colors both in costume and skin?
Did any of us have a racist or prejudiced bone in our body during those wondrous seventeen days? I theorize the Creator’s original intent may have been what we witnessed at the Olympics. Why would He be so risky as to create his image-bearers in different colors? Perhaps it was meant to bring joy, to rejoice, to bring color to the world. Just pure joy.
He created everything and said, “It was good.”
So if nature teaches us to appreciate, even delight in the of the myriad of color, can we not do more to appreciate rather than spurn the different skin colors? After all, it’s all just a matter of a mere .012% melanin.
All photos and text are the original work of this blog's author, except where indicated. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Alexandria Sage and SimplySage with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
(In other words, kindly ask permission. Then give credit where credit is due.)
The mission statement and eight of the categories, with only slight alteration of the wording, are the original work of Stephen Deal, taken from his Senior Convocation speech "Things We Want You to Remember".
The "My Thoughts" category under the name of "Steve", are his original work as well.
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from the author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Stephen Deal with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.
Alexandria thanks Stephen Deal for his contribution as a guest author on this blog.
“Love feels no burden, thinks nothing of trouble, attempts what is above its strength, pleads no excuse of impossibility—for it thinks all things lawful for itself, and all things possible.” ~ Thomas a Kempis 
“And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places.” ~ Roald Dahl
“Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds us all together in perfect harmony.” ~ Colossians 3:12, The Holy Bible
