In any language

My wife and I just returned from 10 days in Hawaii--three on Oahu and seven on Kauai. I am resisting the temptation to show you my 700 or so photos (of which maybe 25 are very good). But I would like to tell you of two observations:

God does His best work in small places: The island of Kauai, at 552 square miles, is smaller than the metropolitan Atlanta area where I live. It is only 25 percent inhabited. Some of it is only accessible by helicopter. Yet in such a small place there is variety in geography, ethnicity, climate, altitude and flora and fauna unmatched anywhere else. Beauty and surprises await around every corner.

God loves to astound and delight His Children. One of our dear friends, who along with his wife accompanied us on the trip, made this comment: "When I see this, I can't help but think 'My Father made this.'" Amen. On the last night of our stay, we went to a luau at the next-door Hyatt resort. The Hyatt is a monument to conspicuous consumption (suites go for $4500 a night), and the luau was no exception. Liquor flowed freely, the food was mountainous in volume, and the mood was festive. That why it came as a surprise to us when the emcee announced to the crowd that, before we ate, he would like to offer a traditional Hawaiian blessing for the meal, as most Hawaiians do. What we heard, in a rich, baritone voice, quieted the crowd to silence, and lifted our hearts.

Here is a version performed by the Kamehameha Schools Children's Chorus, along with just a few pictures of my Father's work. Enjoy and be blessed. --Wayne S.

A stunningly real work of unreality

The video below is hauntingly beautiful, and one would think it required the greatest patience, a very practiced eye, and a lot of blessing with lighting.

The Third & The Seventh from Alex Roman on Vimeo.
Actually, it took mostly the first. The entire film consists of CGI (Computer Generated Images). There is nothing real about it at all. It was created by Alex Roman (here is an interview).
To me, this makes James Cameron look like a piker.
But when I look around at the constantly changing, very real world that is the canvas, the celluloid, of creativity Himself... well, we're all pikers.
—W. S.

Two from Graham Greene

We are told to forgive our brother seventy times seven and we needn't fear God will be any less forgiving than we are, but nobody can begin to forgive the uncontrite. It is better to sin seventy times and repent each time than sin once and never repent.  

Beauty is like success: we can never love it for long. —from The Heart of the Matter