Worldly Holiness

Mt. Shuksan in the North Cascades

Mt. Shucksan in the North Cascades, originally uploaded by papalars.

Yesterday I learned a new technique with digital photography that helped me produce this photo for your viewing pleasure. That may sound a little presumptuous, like I am assuming it is something you'd like to "view!" My guess is that you probably think it is a pretty cool shot. What do you think? Let me know if you like it by leaving a comment or dropping me an email.

Anyway, the technique is called "High Dynamic Range." I used to think it was called "high definition" like the high definition televisions. I was wrong. I'm not geeky enough to be able to explain all the differences between these various kinds of technologies but I do know that the image produced above is a composite of 3 photos of the same scene taking in quick sequence and then sandwiched together in a single composite photo. This technique yields a great range of color options and overall more pixels to work with. The range is provided by taking 3 photos with different f-stops of the same shot, thus "range" in the high dynamic range description.

My son pointed me in the direction of this new technique. He actually pushes my photographic skill and comes up with some amazing shots . The shot above was taken when we both took a trip up into the North Cascades last week. Here is his version of the same place with a little different twist. We had a wonderful father/son time and just enjoyed sharing this passion together. Nobody else in the family seems to appreciate our hobby as much. 

Have a great week.

September 27th, 2007 Posted by andres | Friday Fotos | 3 comments

In My Neighbor’s Garden–Friday Fotos

Sunflower, originally uploaded by papalars.

Technically this is still Friday on my clock, although much of the world has already passed over to Saturday. I still have a few minutes in which to post my "Friday Fotos" pick. Let me tell you a bit about this shot.

I took this picture yesterday in my neighbor's garden. Since we moved in almost two months ago, I have been appreciating the huge sunflowers our neighbor has cultivated. I have no problem with coveting in this case. I don't like to garden enough so I can appreciate the beauty of another's hard work without becoming jealous. Anyway, I saw our neighbor working the soil and beginning to harvest his many sunflowers yesterday afternoon. It is that time of year and these gorgeous flowers are near the end of the season. My neighbor must have over a hundred of these fascinating flowers. I was a little curious why he had so many. I have wanted to both introduce myself to him and also ask if I could photograph his specimens since we moved in. Yesterday was the day.

My neighbor is from Zambia. That is a little country in sub-Sahara Africa. Maybin, my neighbor, has been in the US for about 10 years and has five children. He uses his yard, both back and front, as a "lab" for his agricultural experiments. He began to tell me the story of how he has established a non-profit organization to help experiment, discover ways to develop high yields of agricultural products for small plots of land and then teach others how to employ his discoveries.

He asked me what I did and I immediately told him I was a pastor and have lived and worked overseas for a good part of my adult life. Actually, I am a quasi-pastor but in light of having been a pastor in the states this often is an easy way to start a conversation with a stranger. Mission work takes a long time to explain and the uninitiated sometimes stop the conversation after I tell them that little piece of information. Anyway, as I told him who I was he began to beam, flashing me a huge smile. He then proceeded to tell me that his goal with his projects was to help the church and others who need what he has to offer. Interesting. Very interesting I thought. 

God has placed us in a unique neighborhood and guided our steps even down to this kind of detail. One of my other neighbors is from Iran and we have struck up some interesting conversations already. So, as I sit here tonight in my couch, I continue to be amazed at how God leads and the way he weaves the tapestry of our lives together with his Kingdom work. I hope to have my new neighbor over for coffee sometime. He used to grow Arabica beans back in Zambia. He didn't know they were so treasured until he came to the US and found Starbucks!

What a joy and adventure to serve and follow God, most days anyway. So, have a great weekend. My clock tells me it is now Saturday.

September 22nd, 2007 Posted by andres | Daily Journey, Friday Fotos | no comments

Pulling Stumps at Quest Church

Pulling Stumps, originally uploaded by papalars.

One of our new joys since returning to Seattle has been worshiping at Quest Church in Seattle. This is a newer church that started in an urban center about 5 years ago and seeks to minister to the community through a community center and local cafe. 

Their story has been written up in the Seattle P-I and Seattle Times because of its noteworthy and non-traditional approach to doing church and for being a part of the community. They are not seeking to be a model to others so much as have a presence in the community that truly serves that same area. Their outreach team last week held a memorial service for a homeless man that they serve who had no family or community of his own. The warehouse which up until now had served as their worship space on Sundays doubles the rest of the week as "a community center with a computer lab; a tutoring/mentoring center, and conference rooms. Profits from the coffeehouse will be used to the outreach ministries" [from Quest church blog].

Quest church is currently in the midst of a merger with Interbay Covenant Church, which owns the original warehouse and property of the church campus. The last two Saturdays I have helped volunteer with basic work projects as they are preparing for their new launch in the older Interbay church sanctuary this Sunday. This picture is one I took last week when we were busy pulling Rhododendron stumps and laying new dirt around the church building. Our backs started to give up doing the back breaking work near the end of the day so we decided to extract the stumps with a truck and chain. Why didn't we think of this before!?

I'm meeting new people in the trenches, so to speak, and thoroughly enjoying our times working together. Most, but not all, of the workers are much younger than me. It has been a joy to meet them and begin to hear their stories and to join the emerging "good news" story at Quest church.

September 20th, 2007 Posted by andres | Daily Journey, Ministry Updates | no comments

Walkway of Contemplation

Walkway of Contemplation, originally uploaded by papalars.

One of the fascinating things in Muslim architecture is the symmetry and repetition of lines and curves. This is Friday and I promised that Friday would be a posting of a Foto [Spanish for photo]. I intend to focus on pictures that I find interesting, pleasing to the eye and just something fun from my foto archives!

On my trip to Morocco several months ago, we were able to visit Casablanca for some ministry networking and research. We got to visit this significant mosque on the shores of the Atlantic. Admittance to mosques for non-Muslims is usually prohibited. This mosque is one of the few exceptions. There was a certain serenity that I felt in this place, and for me it stood as a stark contrast to the often busy and distracting architecture of the large cathedrals in Europe. The question I have for followers of Christ is this: "are churches generally built to be places conducive to prayer, reflection and focus on God?"

This picture is from one of the walkways at the Hassan II mosque in Casablanca. The Hassan II Mosque (Arabic مسجد لحسن الثاني) is a mosque located in Casablanca, Morocco. Designed by the French architect Michel Pinseau, it is the second largest in the world (after the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca). It stands on a promontory looking out to the Atlantic, which can be seen through a gigantic glass floor with room for 25,000 worshippers. A further 80,000 can be accommodated in the mosque's courtyard. Its minaret is the world's tallest at 210 meters (689 ft). That is a third again the height of the Seattle Space Needle if that helps for a reference point.

Built on reclaimed land, almost half of the surface of the mosque lies over the Atlantic Ocean. This was inspired by the verse of the Qur'an that states "the throne of God was built on the water". Part of floor of this facility is glass so worshipers can kneel directly over the sea; above, lasers shine at night from the top of the minaret toward Mecca. These features were specifically requested by King Hassan II, who declared, "I want to build this mosque on the water, because God's throne is on the water. Therefore, the faithful who go there to pray, to praise the creator on firm soil, can contemplate God's sky and ocean."

It also includes a number of modern touches: it was built to withstand earthquakes and has a heated floor, electric doors, and a sliding roof.

The mosque displays strong Moorish influence and the architecture of the building is similar to that of the Alhambra and the Mezquita in Spain. This and the old Tin Mal Mosque are the only mosques in Morocco open to non-Muslims.

September 14th, 2007 Posted by andres | Daily Journey, Friday Fotos | no comments

Friday is for Fotos

Lightness of Being, originally uploaded by papalars.

I'm starting a new feature in my blog that I am calling "Friday is for Fotos." I was inspired by a few other bloggers in my individual blog links on my sidebar to do a regular, weekly feature of something. Some like to put up significant quotes, commentary on current events or some other such thing. In light of my propensity to lean in those directions, which feature words and more words, I thought I should lean in another direction–to photography. No mystery here. I also love photography.

I'm coming to a new peace about embracing my artistic passion as a form of spirituality, therapy and balance in my life. Pastors, missionaries, scholars and otherwise word smithing types sometimes too easily get lost in the world of words and lose perspective and sense of connectedness to life and the things that make it fun and interesting. Life is way too fascinating to just talk about it. We also need to experience it. This is just as healthy and important as having a regular time for prayer and meditation.

So, to that end, I plan to post a foto [Spanish for "photo"] each Friday just for fun or therapy, in an effort to create balance and maintain perspective. I have been in a difficult space over the last 2 months and have not been able to talk or write much. Witness the few words on my blog! But taking pictures has not stopped and it has helped maintain some sanity for me. I thank God. This foto was taken outside my back door on a day a few weeks ago when I wanted to just sit and cry. But God lifted my spirits by suggesting I look to the sky. I did. I got perspective. I thought to myself, "if God can keep painting beautiful tapestries each hour of the day, I can keep putting one foot in front of the other. I can do a lot more actually, with God's grace and help.

So, each Friday I will post a foto. Sometimes I might have something to say about it. Other times it may just be a foto with a short description of the place, mood or whatever else comes to mind. Please leave me a comment if you feel inclined. Have a great weekend and keep posted. By the way, I updated my previous post about my Arabic teacher below. I added an important piece about a new term to describe the nature of our work, called "proximity spaces." This is borrowed from Alan Hirsch in an important book I'm currently reading. Look below for more. Hasta pronto en mi blog!

September 7th, 2007 Posted by andres | Friday Fotos | 2 comments