Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Easter. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Journey to Calvary ...



“God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died, it was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’”
                   ~ Billy Graham
                          ~ 1918-2018
 A wooden Cross draped in purple for Lent stands outside Friedens United Church of Christ, Slatington, Pennsylvania on a March morning, reminding all who see it of the sacrifice Christ made for us.

Monday, April 3, 2017

Early Spring On Leaser Lake ...



“I saw that my life was a vast glowing page and I could do anything I wanted.”
                       ~ Jack Kerouac
                               ~ 1922-1969

A man paddles his canoe amidst the vast beauty of early spring on Leaser Lake, in the shadow of the northern Blue Mountain Ridge, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania.

Spring is the time of new beginnings, and boundless possibilities lie ahead as he charts his course while a late March sunset waits in the wings.

I shot this scene on the day before Easter, and the nearby church bells were chiming “I Love to Tell the Story,” the wonderful Gospel hymn written as a poem by English evangelist Katherine Hankey in 1866. It was set to music by William G. Fischer in 1869. The refrain, always appropriate but especially at Easter, is, “I love to tell the story, ‘twill be my theme in glory, To tell the old, old story of Jesus and his love.” It was wonderful to hear that as I walked the trail looping around the lake on this warm evening.

Leaser Lake’s namesake is Frederick Leaser, an American patriot who in September 1777 with his farm team hauled The Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to Allentown where it was concealed in Zion Reformed Church for protection during the Revolutionary War. His homestead is located one mile north of the lake.

Leaser Lake was built by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission for water-oriented recreation and opened for public use in 1971. Lehigh County leases this area from the state and operates and maintains the park. The land north of the lake was purchased by the county in the early 1970s. It is entirely wooded and is used for nature study and as an addition to the State Game Lands No. 217.

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Dance Of The Dogwood ...


                               "Legend Of The Dogwood"
                                                ~

At the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood had reached the size of the mighty oak tree. So strong and firm was the wood that it was chosen as the timber for Jesus' cross. 
                                                 
To be used for such a cruel purpose greatly distressed the dogwood. While nailed upon it, Jesus sensed this, and in his compassion said, “Because of your pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used for a cross. Henceforth, it shall be slender, bent, and twisted, and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross – two long and two short petals.

"In the center of the outer edge of each petal will be the print of nails. In the center of the flower, stained with blood, will be a crown of thorns so that all who see it will remember." 


Blossoms of a beautiful pink dogwood tree
dance in the May breeze on a sunny spring
afternoon in Allentown, Pennsylvania.