You cannot conceive, my child, nor can I or anyone the . . . appalling . . . strangeness of the mercy of God.
[Graham Greene, Brighton Rock]
As usual, it has been too long since I last posted, and I'm basically only doing so now to avoid finishing unpacking and/or any number of other tasks that are more pressing. I think of it as 'productive procrastination'.
It turns out I haven't taken a ton of pictures yet this year, but that isn't because life has been moving slowly. To quote one of my favourite 80s films:
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it" [Ferris Bueller's Day Off].
One of the definite highlights of this new year has been just that -- the chance to stop and look around -- in one of my favourite settings, the French Alps. Pictures below, along with a few others from California and Cambridge. (NB: Credit for a number of the ski holiday pictures goes to others on the trip.)
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| One of my favourite views driving the roads back home -- two of the Seven Sisters (extinct volcanoes). |
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| Bird congress. |
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| Trying out a new Italian place -- just missing Ralph. |
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| Don't know what they were up to, but clearly it isn't my fault that I'm looking away from the camera (phone) in this one. |
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| Jack, muddy and resting from his labours. |
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| Mom and I. |
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| SLO airport #whycanttheystaylittle |
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| Would LA be LA without a little smog? |
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| The Round Church from Bould Brothers Coffee. |
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| Just appreciating my work place. |
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| Monêtier-les-Bains, France. |
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| Serre Chevalier! |
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| Not even going to apologise for all of the mountain pictures. |
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| In France (in the winter) (when skiing), I sometimes get up early enough to see the sunrise. |
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| Action shot...ish. |
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| One picture of that view is not enough. |
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| Sunset. |
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| Sandra! |
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| Sophie! |
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| Chris and Sandra -- gettin' married this autumn! |
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| Chris made it his mission to visit every cafe on the mountain -- and pretty much succeeded. |
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| Hot chocolate is best when half of it is whipped cream. |
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| I do take credit for this picture. |
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| Chris, Ally, myself and Sandra. |
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| Stephen -- the rest of us still posing. |
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| We got some serious snow near the end of the week, and skiing in the powder was awesome! |
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| Alistair in action. |
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| A little R & R. |
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| Laura and Sophie and snow! |
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| Not enough pictures of people actually skiing, but that's because we were too busy having fun. |
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| Found while cataloguing books in the Christian Heritage library (note from Francis Schaeffer to Ranald and Sue Macaulay). |
Jesus, thy blood and righteousness
My beauty are, my glorious dress,
Midst flaming worlds, in these arrayed,
With joy shall I lift up my head.
[Count Zinzendorf]
Addendum
I've realised that the quotes included at the beginning and end might seem a bit random. In the interests of context, therefore, the first quote is taken from the end of a book I read recently -- not my favourite by Graham Greene, but a challenging look at the way we are tempted to hold God and other people at a distance -- in essence, to flee from grace. The second quote is itself quoted in Being Human, by Ranald Macaulay and Jerram Barrs. I'm still in the midst of this (non-fiction) book, but am finding it so full of insights into God's grace and what it means to be fully human. Highly recommend!
