A Flock in the Desert Without its Master Present

This weekend most Catholic Churches across the country closed to its laymen for the first time in our lives. This created a first for many of us laymen in a developed and religiously open country. The laypeople in the mystical Body of Christ did not connect with the physical Body of Christ through the Mass offered by our Priests. Instead we all found ourselves offering up spiritual communion intentions, and placing great faith in our spiritual connection through the Holy Spirit. In my mind I visualized us as a flock in the desert, without the presence of our master.

In this case, I in no way mean our parish priest as our master. Priests, being fallen people like myself, can be powerful shepherds or incredibly destructive from time to time. We have one master who all these shepherds answer to, Jesus Christ. Jesus is the perfection of Man, and our direct physical connection to God. Priests are part of the mystical body of Christ, a very vital part connecting us through sacraments to God. They are not however our Master.

In the Mass we Catholics have a fullness of worship. We get the inspired word of our Lord through the readings, and participate in the same sacrifice of Holy Thursday and Good Friday in our time. It is a lot to think about! The more you dive into it with your intellect, the more your heart gets set ablaze with fire for Eucharist.

To many of other faiths this may seem unnatural. Well it is, it is supernatural. In the natural human experience we see many examples of this. When we love someone, we make time for them. We long to hear their stories. When we revere someone, we look up to them for guidance. When a good master sees his flock needs substance he provides it. Sometimes the good master also knows what we ask for is a result of our wants and not needs, so he corrects us. When the good master asks for assistance, we willingly provide it and suffer for their requests so we achieve his goals.

The experience of the Mass is the merging of our human experience with the supernatural. The biblical words of God never praise man, they call man from sin to virtue. The words are one of master to servant, caring and ever consistent in the context of the world they entered. In the same way, the food provided by God at Catholic Mass follows prototypes handed down from Abraham to Melchizedek to Moses to David to Isaiah and the real food of Christ himself at the Last Supper. In fact Catholics believe the Eucharist at each mass is the same as the Eucharist of the Last Supper…and yes the Body of God the Paschal Lamb.

In this Lent, we must walk through a spiritual desert. We of course have God’s Biblical words, but we do not have Eucharist. It is like reading a letter between husband and spouse separated due to challenges of this world. Messages get passed alright. However the longing is real for physical presence of the other spouse. The strength of the emotion will be overwhelming at times. We also long to be with our priests, the shepherds working for the Master who we love as brothers in faith. They are the ones trained and consecrated to help us to the master. So we the mystical body of Christ and the physical body of the Church is separated.

The thing about a desert though, a fact I never recognized before living in one for a few years, is life exists there with a tenacity few recognize. You have to dig for it, you have to protect your food and water, your have to learn how to navigate across long distances of scarcity to reach safety. When you reach an oasis, you appreciate it more than you ever would if you lived in a well watered forest your whole life. This is the lesson of this Lent for me, and maybe a whole lot of us. I miss my Lord, and I know a whole lot of people who do as well.

-ehw

What We Can Miss

    I was able to enjoy a slightly different dinner Wedensday night....excellent sushi.  The little Ichiban Sushi restaurant was done up just like many a sushi joint I remembered as a child in Japan. In this age of cell phones I found most of us miss out on the little things in our environment.  I this case a traditional Japanese fishing boat right over my head on the window called me to photograph it.  Rather than just photograph it, I took the time to compose and make some art of the image.  It is just something I would miss i i hac not forced myself to enjoy the environment for a minute or two.

Lessons From the Road to Josiah Anthony

    Yesterday we welcomed our newest family member, Josiah Anthony to the family.  He is a wonderful little boy, and the family gallery moments are full of rich loving emotion.  People viewing these photos would think we live in a wonderful version of wonderful TVLand where all is right in the world.  In reality though, the photos reflect a grace filled moment resulting from a gutwrenching year of enrichment leading to it.

    Over the last year as a family we faced many challenges.  Our adventures extended not far from the house.  Daddy led only minimalist excursions, Momma struggled with health issue after issue, kids got sick, we faced challenges at school, in discipline, and we all lost our marbles from a problem or issue more than once.  NONE of those moments were the type of Rockwell images I relish to build in either my personal or photographic life.  I certainly never captured those moments outside of own cranium. 

    Friends can't come over, Daddy is at work, and Momma is too sick to drive?  Hope for tomorrow and play with your siblings.  Tired of groundhog Saturdays with no adventure...shut up and finish a job you had not finished in the house.  Tired of having to do more and more chores, lacking Mom's presence in your life because she is perineally sick, or the thought you now have bigger bills to pay?  Pray on why your giving into vices, and hit confession to seek forgiveness. 

   In the valleys of life we always have a choice to help ourselves go lower, hold the course or begin to climb to the ridgeline again.  I know the only way we reached this glorious moment yesterday though, was because of our collective responses to those low points.  We only occasionally failed to stay at or gain altitude, and never went into a terminal decent.  The key to our family response was our collective final decision always kept hope alive through acts of faith and charity.  We also paid up lots of pennace to each other for our internal transgressions.

   We had a moment in some glorious graces, and now we are back to reality.  A huge tree fell in the yard, feedings every three hours around the clock, littles now need to re-establish the household order, health needs restoration, there will be more chores to do, and needs to meet.  The reward though will be more lessons leading us to greater heights of love, and good photographic moments.

  So off to work we go! 

-ehw

In the Presence

     We Catholics witness today a sad turning point in out church history.  We are looking at a demographic cliff of dying churches, and a youth which overwhelmingly not staying home in the church.  The ability I had to swing into a local church for a Rosary, in a town not my own, in the presence of the Lord in Adoration may not be available to my children.  I saw today a glimpse of hope I  the church I visited today...one sixty plus parishioner, one 50 something, a 19-20 year old young man, and me Mr. Middle Aged man all sat together in the chapel.  This was an encouraging mix to be part of for a Rosary.

    On this trip I did find hope, as I met men living lives full of charitable work (done in God's name not theirs) all searching for better understanding of God's law.  It reminded me, even though in the course of human events matters may appear bleak...if we pray for and believe in the supernatural power of God we may yet be surprised in how the world can turn to hear his word again.  I know this does not avail me of my duties to evangelize, but it gives me faith to redouble my devotion and duty to live the word I deed.

-ehw

Generation to Generation Toys

    If you ever get a chance to look at a list of the top ten toys history ever created...you will not find last year's Christmas craze on them.   You will instead find toy cars, soldiers, trains and digging supplies for boys.  For girls I am sure you will find dolls, stuffies and all their accessories.  I know there are exceptions out there, but the reality is you will not find many!  This is what kids play with!

    So here we have Uncle Micheal's trucks out back one more time.  At home we have the matchbox and airplane toys from both myself and my brother...and even my uncle (or my kids Great Uncle).  These toy trucks and planes are universal hits.   When built American tough, like a child, they will last generations.

    It got me to wondering...if toys go from generation to generation why don't we look closer at lessons from the past.  I'm sure what God said 5,000 years ago or 2000 years ago really still has some staying power.  It might help us in our present circumstances!

-ehw

A Morning Swim

    Funny things happen in the desert.  Even though it will get to 95F before 9AM and a swim feels good, getting out will still send chills down your spine.  Kevin is adjusting to this reality like a champ.  He loves his morning swim, and now knows how to dry off in a flash.

-ehw

The First Cookie

    I bet you don't remember your first cookie...it must be a magical moment though.  Normally Momma does not let the kiddos get a cookie or serious sweet until they have their first birthday...but there is something to be said about being child number five!  Momma gives in to the magic of the moment a little more than with the first four!

   Oh he loved it!  What a joy to see!  Uncle Micheal thought he'd have these all to himself....not anymore!

Fleet Feet Bubbles

    The magic of bubble or two in the life of a child is indescribable.  A bubble is a one of a kind creation with a fleeting lease on life which can captivate a child's imagination.  One set of magic bubbles like this will propel a child to make many more bubbles to see it if the magic will come again.  I guess it would not hurt us adults to have our own fleet feet bubbles to call our own!

-ehw

Photo Essay: Will You Pray for Me?

        Contrary to most descriptions, a Roman scourging was a vicious affair.  It usually killed a person at forty lashes or greater because of blood loss from exposed internal organs.  The entire purpose of a public lashing is to scare away people from either supporting the victim's cause or preventing certain crimes.   It should come as no surprise there were very few of Jesus public supporters and apostles at the foot of his cross when he died.    That was the entire idea behind a cruxifixction.

    So approaching the Shrine, on the southern portico we have this cross at the end.  With a single kneeler just begging you to come and pray with and for our Lord in his suffering.  A suffering which continues today in this world.  Jesus' persecution continues today with attacks on the people of his church around the world.  Jesus' church on this earth needs our prayers as much now as ever!

    So the lonely kneeler begs the question from Jesus: Will you pray for me?

-ehw

Everything New is Really Old

    This weekend my wife and I had our first excursion weekend in four year...with only one child in tow.  One topic which we discussed in our adult discussion time was how nothing new is really new.  The reality is every "new" idea is really a permutation on an old idea.  Most "new" ideas are actually as old as the pyramid.  The difference is the new idea is written in English and using a computer instead of papyrus paper.  This photo is just an example of the what I mean. 

    Photographer Scott Bourne loved to preach that no one did anything new in photography (See our discussion was not even new, it was just new to us).  It was just someone found they liked a style they stumbled across and started claiming it was new for marketing.  Meanwhile the photographer was ignorant of the technique of style's history in the photographic art world.  For instance I could say of the photo above: "I really like the deep contrasty colors I put in this photo, it will be my new style for an album!"  Someone like Scott or my friend Skip Cohen would then tell me..."Dude we called that style Velvia film and left it at that."  

    So history is good for something no matter what you do for a living.  It will help you not be a fool in front of your elders, and prevent you from being pompous before your peers and youth.

-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.

Some 54 Day Spiritual Boot Camp Thoughts

    For the previous 54 days I participated in two 27 day novenas of petition and thanksgiving centered around the concept of a spiritual boot camp for a recruit to the Church Militant.  A good friend of mine joined me on this journey, so I had a combat buddy the whole way.  The format came from the website called the Roman Catholic Man (www.romancatholicman.com).  Each day we received a meditation thought, lesson, wisdom from saints and the church fathers.  You also dedicated yourself to a rosary each night with petitions of your choosing.  

    One of my petitions was for discernment on how I was to serve the Lord and my family better in the years to come.  Saturday was my final day in this journey, and as we attended the baptism of a wonderful baby boy this photo came together before me.  It symbolized many of the lessons the Lord brought to my attention int he last 54 days.

    Here you see parents humbly presenting their child to the Lord, and pledging obedience to the church's teaching as they raise their child to trust the Lord.  The Child's grandfather is the Deacon conducting the baptism.  He calls all of his children to a life embracing the supernatural grace of God though example and deed.  He does this as a patriarch of his family, and as an ordained clergy for the Body of Christ.

    In this photo you see many members of our Regina Caeli Academy family, and other families joyfully embracing a culture of life and sacrifice.  As my altar serving son said later, it was the nosiest mass he ever served at.  As a result of the noise, the presiding priest only got a bigger smile because it was a sign of parents continuing to present their children to the Lord as they grew. He knows this pleases God greatly.

    The joyful presence of children lining the isles reminded me I am to be like a child in my faith.  I must be inquisitive and seeking truth with all my heart.  The presence of my child reminded me I also have a calling as a younger patriarch to follow the lead of wiser Catholic men around me.  If you want be the best you can be, you must associate and learn from the best on the field of battle yourself.  It is the only way to care for your wife and children properly.

    Finally, I realized even if I cannot do anything physically to help people I must continue to pray.  In this photo are many who's names line my prayerbook.  I do not know them well, and some did not know I was praying for resolutions to problems they mentioned when we met.  I pray because right now, for most of them, it is all the charity I can provide.

    The day and setting for the sacrament were beautiful beyond my ability to describe it in words.  I knew by the high stratocumulus clouds change was just over the horizon.   By the next morning the temperature would drop forty degrees to a low of 36 degrees.  This symbolized how the Church Militant needs more recruits to prepare for the long campaigns of spiritual warfare to come.  So the final part of my discernment was the knowledge I am to help sound the call for new warriors to join our cause.  For men are meant to be courageous, not cowering from fear and despair.

  The journey to these discernments was long and productive...but only the beginning of a new a more challenging chapter as I seek again to capture a glimpse of his glory and share it with you..

-ehw

In the magic of a moment...

    In the magic of a moment we can see glimpses of heaven on earth.  On this day when John Paul sat with his DjaDja (his Grandfather), I enjoyed watching this scene play out over 45 minutes.  John Paul was content to sit right on his DjaDja's lap and listen to the rhythm of tapping hands, the touch of a hand on his head, or to reach for his grandfather's face and feel the texture of his elder.  

    When their eyes met, it was magic to see the connection grow between them.  It appeared John Paul could tell innately DjaDja was family without the need of an adult logical thought process.  Maybe evolutionary smell, facial similarities, or voice recognition causes this.  I think there is also somewhere in here a gift of the spirit letting us enjoy the gift of multi-generational family.

    I hope one day to hold my grandchildren, and watch my children bring them to know the Glory of God.  These would be gifts worth more than the finest gold and food.  It is a shame so many people today across the world think so little of a gift like this.  Or worse, succumb to despair and think bringing children into this world is hopeless in making it a City of God.

    In the magic of this captured moment, I hope and pray grace will flow to help others receive a gift of the spirit calling them to join in the act of creation built into our nature by God himself.  Then we can all help build a City of God one loving glance at a time.

-ehw

Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse

    We went on a nice food adventure this evening to Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse this evening.   This is the Inwood Road location in Dallas, Texas.  The manager even helped me to get a few behind the scenes shots in real quick.  Food was good, and the company nice.  Nice Americana feel to the restaurant, and the warm dry evening made it a wonderful night to sit and eat in the open air.  Again the people of Texas keep being pretty nice to me!  That is a huge blessing in today's day and age where meeting people can be a business full of bruises.

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The Knife selection....

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The Tea Selection

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Old School Seating section...

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Open and fun....nice combo for an evening with friends.

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-ehw

Horse Sense

    In bright sunny midday light some subjects just don't work well with normal color.  The color actually becomes a distraction.  Some subjects also really don't lend themselves to color photos either.  This was one of those days where a good black and white image was able to much more effective at conveying a message from an image.  In this case I just wanted to show off the power of the horse, and I think it worked.

    I'm liking the people I've meet here in Dallas so far...nice town and people.

-ehw

Dallas, Texas and Thankful Prayers

    On a short visit to Dallas, Texas and it is already a good adventure!

    On the trip to the hotel I learned it was near no traveller destinations, unless you consider the red light theater and Bombshells Restaurant (with a less than stellar Google rating).  Then to make things more exciting the taxi blew a tire on the highway!  Luckily we were able to cruise to a stop at the exit where the hotel was located.  Just under a half a mile walk with roller bags through tall grass on an access road and I was there!  I must say my driver was very courteous and concerned, although I was more concerned about him!  I even walked back to check on him after I dropped off my bags.

    Walking around town was interesting.  I saw seven different patrol units from various local law enforcement agencies.  I think the razor wire around a hotel, fenced in compounds near the hotel,  and cars coming together for short visits with people popping in and out of windows was what detectives call a "clue" the red light theater was not the only thing exciting around here for them.

    It was a mile walk to IHOP, and I was a little sad when I got there since of course my world favorite pancakes were not on my available eating list.  It was very crowded, and the crew was working their tails off.  Service came with a smile.  On the way home, belly full I got a little creative with my photos.  When I arrived home I realized most of them were going to end up black and white since I had a high and bright sun.  I'll share some tonight.  

    The purpose of this is to say I had some real thankfulness when I said my Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary last night.  I was thinking this type of day was why our forefathers would build devotional sites halfway between towns in old Europe.   Evil and nastiness is a part or our world.  Recognizing the good people we meet on our travels inside these crazy evil clouds, lets us remember our job is to Capture His Glory in our hearts through them each and every moment of the day.  For this I was thankful, and we all should be when we see people living virtue powered by God's grace.

-ehw

And so it begins...the Triduum

    The commisioning of priests and institution of the Eucharist...two great gifts

    The beauty of Holy Thursday never escapes me  Last night as even more beautiful because of the lessons taught to me by so many God seeking people over the last year. Lessons from people who past over 1800 years ago, and lessons from those living amongst us now filled my mind, heart and warmed my soul as we heard the liturgy of the word and celebrated the liturgy of the Eucharist

   Father Tri, of St Brigid Catholic Church, reminded us the story of each life is what makes the church breathe the world. The story each life brings to the church helps pass on its's lessons and beauty from generation to generation  These stories allow the priesthood of the family to connect with the priesthood of the Church.  To make this occur we all must listen, observe and react to the wisdom of God as it works its way into our lives throug everyone around us. 

   The Holy Eurcharist is the foretaste of heaven, the perfect mana, needed to nourish our souls with the grace to navigate e challenges of a fallen world.  When taken in concert with reconciliation it enables us to stay on the path to heaven.  It keeps Christ within our very blood...commingling a bit of heaven with our life here on earth..as we go about our day.  So when we say take Christ with you wherever you go, if we partake of this holy nurishment we can do exactly that.  No other God before or since offered such a gift to mortals.  In fact no other God offered to make lowly man part of himself, and join in perfect communion in heaven, for all eternity if we choose to do so.

   Pray for our priests that they may lead all souls to heaven.  Pray for our priesthood in the family, that each man will be willing to lead their family to the best of their ability to the altar of God.  Pray each mother makes their home a place where the stories of old, new and the future will enable The word of God to reach fertile ears and move those souls to Christ.  Pray for the religious, that by their concerted life they make offerings the rest of us cannot for the salvation of the world.

   So let us begin our Triduum journey, and honor the sacrifices made to bring us all the way to heaven.

-ehw

Kalen helping bring the gifts forward with our Decon in formation Randy Ortiz

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

Christmas Magic

    This morning was the first day our tree was up...we follow the old tradition of decorating at the last minute...and out of her room like busy bee on a mission sprang child number four.  Kellie ran to the kitchen, grabbed the stool, and without a skip of the beat sat before the well lit tree (thanks to Kevin lighting it before she got up). "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..." and the partially remembered songs flowed through the house punctuated by "Kalen sing...Kev Kev sing....Baby Jesus!"

    This is the Christmas Magic we long for in our memory of ages past.  It was the time giants roamed the earth. Mom made magic cookies.  Hugs felt heaven sent.   In these memories, even Dad smiled as we enjoyed another magic tree tree lighting and train run.  This is the memory we wish every child could have, and we could share.  Experiencing it in our children makes our hearts warm and pulse quicken in joyous anticipation of seeing what St Nicholas left once again...

    As parents we too often miss these moments.  Just minutes after I snapped this golden memory, I found myself assaulted by four excited children and one just wanting a diaper change.  The noise became defining...well for our house anyway...and I lost all sense of the magic moment.  I lost it until I developed my "negative."  When the image appeared, I felt the magic arise in my heart once again.

    Our childhood faith filled Christmas Magic images are glimpses of the promises in heaven.  Like the Star of Bethlehem, these moments can lead you to the home Christ prepared for us all.  This Christmas I pray you will find your moments, keep them close to your heart, and let them lead you home.

-ehw