Doomsday.

“We are living in a day when one problem follows another. And when it comes to trying to recognize the truth of prophesy, we’re finding that it is very, very difficult. Why didn’t Christ return on October 21? It seems embarrassing for Family Radio. But God was in charge of everything. We came to that conclusion after quite careful study of the Bible. He allowed everything to happen the way it did without correction. He could have stopped everything if He had wanted to. I am very encouraged by letters that I have received, and am receiving at this time concerning this matter. Amongst other things, I have been checking my own notes more carefully than ever, and I do find that there is other language in the Bible, that we still have to look at very carefully, and will impinge upon this question very definitely, and we should be very patient about this matter; at least in a minimum way, we are learning to walk more and more humbly before God. We’re ready to cry out and weep before God, ‘Oh Lord! you have the truth, we don’t have it! You have the truth!’ And… this is another place, where we have to cry out for this.

There’s one thing that we must remember: God is in charge of this whole business and we are not. What God wants to tell us is His business. When he wants to tell us is His business. In the meanwhile, God is allowing us to continue to cry to him for mercy – Oh, my! how we need his mercy! – and to continue to wait on Him. God has not left us. God is still God. But we have to be very careful that we don’t dictate to God what he should do. In our search in the Bible we must continue to look to the Bible, look to the Bible, because that is where Truth comes from, and God, in his own time table, and in his own purposes, will reveal truth to us when it’s His time to do it.

In any case, we do not have to have a feeling of calamity, or a feeling that God has abandoned us; we are simply learning – and sometimes it’s painful to learn. We are learning how God brings his messages to mankind, and my, my, we have claimed to be children of God, and therefore we, as we search the Bible, are bound to feel the darts of the Lord, as sometimes he gives us the truth, and sometimes he gives us something that causes us to wait further upon him.

Whatever we do, we must not feel for a moment that we have been abandoned by God, that He is no longer helping us or interested in us. Oh, my! what an encouragement it is to be able to go to the Lord again and again: ‘Oh Lord, I don’t know anything! Lord, You teach me!’ And that’s the attitude that has to be part of each one of us. And God will not abandon us. He will provide. But, we have to be just very careful that we don’t dictate to him when that has to happen.

Incidentally, I have been told that I had said back in May that people who did not believe that May 21 should be the Rapture date probably had not become saved. I should not have said that, and I apologize for that. One thing we know for certain, that God is merciful – merciful beyond anything that we would ever expect – and so we can pray constantly, and should be praying constantly, ‘Oh Lord, we look to thee for thy mercy, and we’re so thankful that we know that thou art so merciful!’ How wonderful to know that God is still on the throne, that He is king of kings and lord of lords, and that He hears every one of our prayers. And let’s not hesitate. Let’s be, if anything, let’s be praying more than ever for God’s mercy and keep praying and God will provide. But, God is in charge and we must always keep that in mind."

– Harold Camping

October 28, 2011

What then shall we say?

That the law is sin? By no means! Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness. For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. So the law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

Did that which is good, then, bring death to me? By no means! It was sin, producing death in me through what is good, in order that sin might be shown to be sin, and through the commandment might become sinful beyond measure. For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am of the flesh, sold under sin. For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.

So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members. Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself serve the law of God with my mind, but with my flesh I serve the law of sin.

Third String

Left: Mamiya ZE-2 Quartz, c1980; Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL, c1968

The following photos were taken using the Mamiya/Sekor 500DTL, using an original Mamiya/Sekor 50mm 1:2 lens, and a Tamron Adaptall 80-210mm 1:3.8 tele/macro lens, and the Mamiya ZE-2, using an original Mamiya/Sekor E 50mm 1:2 lens, and an Osawa MC 80-205mm 1:4.5 tele/macro lens.
Both lenses for the ZE-2 have some dirt inside them, which I knew when I bought it, but I wanted to see how they would turn out, thinking it might add an interesting effect to the exposure. This was true with a few of them, but for the most part, the shots were either cloudy, under-exposed, or even un-exposed. These will, therefore, be easily singled out. I have temporarily stopped using the ZE-2, until I can get the lens cleaned (if at all possible).
I have fallen in love with the 500DTL. The lenses are clear, sharp, and the shutter and aperture are perfect. My only complaint is that the lenses are attached using a screw-mount. This makes changing lenses with speed almost impossible. But otherwise, it is nearly perfect.
Please follow the link(s) at the bottom, to see more, and – as always – please leave feedback, either here, or in the albums themselves.

First-Fruits

Second Crop

Third String

-zh

Finally Moving

It's been a long, rough couple of days. But the future looks so bright. I'm happier than I've been in years, perhaps ever. I feel fulfilled, motivated; angry over many moments in my past, thankful for many others, joyful and eager for my future. Things may not go where I am expecting, hoping, but I'm happy.

No, not just happy, joyful (joy-full; joy-filled). I'm ready for the future. I'm ready for progress. Personal, spiritual, mental progress. Physical, practical, professional progress.

I'm finally moving.

Insomniac

Weeks without insomnia. Weeks of deep, restful sleep. Weeks of the most beautiful, fantastic, vivid dreams I've had in months, perhaps even years – dreams of far-off lands, spirited women, strong children, marvelous enchantment, darkest pain and sorrow, brightest joy, and deepest love, both forbidden and allowed.
And tonight it strikes me like a club.

I have written so many words in recent days. Too many. I have too many words, and not enough paper. There is not enough ink. I even find a shortage of words for my thoughts. There are not enough letters in any language to form the words that I want to say. There is no language eloquent enough to express the beauty I have seen, heard, touched, embraced (though only for a moment - not even the length of a breath).
I write furiously, wishing to express what I have felt. My journal groans angrily now when I open it, rather than greeting me with a welcoming sigh. My pen hisses at me as it runs along page after page, and scrap after scrap of paper. The keys on which I type are worn, their once sharp corners now rounded, and the once crisp letters, of which the keys were so proud, now faded. My knuckles hurt, my finger-tips are callused, and my eyes are dry, and ache from strain.

But this is not pain. The cause is not sorrow. Nor is it anger. It is joy I feel. Joy has caused this anguish. And beauty.
Joy, beauty, anguish. Are these adequate?  Have I found the perfect language? No, they are the definition. They are but a definition of a single word that describes it all. Everything I wish to say is contained in one word.

-zh