I asked my wife to photograph the heavens:
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Sunday Sermon: Imagination and Perception
Your regular pastor is absent. He is attending a seminar on faith-based driving. Pardon? Yes, it was suggested by the CHP after his car was seen falling over backwards while going downhill. My qualifications for locum tenens consist of being the husband of a photographer but I will fill in as best I can. Can we have our first slide please?
I asked my wife to photograph the heavens:
She managed to get two fingers into the lens but I liked the photo. We look for patterns. What? Oh, well, I suppose it's a habit of the mind --cognitive recognition. We associate imagination and perception in ways that are enigmatic and results can be surprising. My first impulse was to crop the fingers from the frame but that would upset composition, so I turned them into a 4x6 upright post.
That didn't work too well, so I tried adding some color horizontally. Yes? Oh, good question. I learned to do this in Art Class in high school. Well, because I got tired of the other elective, Track --which is where we were taught to outrun and jump over ourselves. But back to the the photo. I experimented with a second sun and got eyes --which left the question of what kind of eyes would be appropriate.
Cats have elliptical pupils and round corneas. The dilation of the pupil is controlled through two shutter-like ciliary muscles. I learned that from cats. From there it was only a matter of adding a bit of fur, some corrugations to the sky and we get a fine picture of a grumpy barn cat.
What's that? Am I an ordained substitute minister? No, I'm a retired gardener. Why me? Well, because your regular pastor was only allowed one phone call last night. I did what I could to help. Go thou and do likewise.
I asked my wife to photograph the heavens:
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I can't comment. I'm too busy laughing and marveling at your ingenuity. I love both of the cat photos.
ReplyDeleteOnly being allowed one phone call can be a bummer. Especially if your lawyer is asleep.
Thanks Jon. I always wondered what would transpire on Sunday if the pastor was in the drunk tank. Public schools have a routine for that but do churches?
DeleteThis was a hoot from start to finish. There is always an air of expectation about your posts. "Where will he go with this?" "What's he up to this time?" And so on. Always a pleasure to tag along with whatever convoluted plot unravels.
ReplyDeleteKind Tom, I have only the vaguest idea where these essays are going. Your questions are familiar because I ask them of myself.
DeleteAnd a fine job you've done of it....if only every Sunday the sermon was so interesting.
ReplyDeleteI'm of the Geo. Burns school: "Secret of a good sermon is...a good beginning and a good ending...as close together as possible."
DeleteGeo, the gardener, Geo the pastor and Geo the poet ... such a man of many talents ..
ReplyDeleteYou always make me smile .. but this post I was laughing out loud at .. you are a comedian as well ...
Have a great day
Smiles
Gardener, pastor, poet --basically the same job. Glad you enjoyed my sermon --high praise from an angel.
DeleteI can see patterns in some things, numbers, verbal patterns, but when I see clouds I think of some thermodynamic principals, temperature and density....but also I can rarely figure out those clever personalized license plates either.
ReplyDeleteI has a boss once that was asked to help the police with their investigation, and is helping them still as far as I know.
You remind me I must study personalized plates. What with texting getting so popular, they may hold the key to the future of written language --& gr8ly reward attention.
DeleteBarn cat was probably grumpy because you woke him with the camera flash. Well, that makes my cats grumpy, anyway.
ReplyDeleteVery likely, Jenny. Also, cats have been roaming the yard at night lately calling each other the most awful names. That makes them grumpy too.
DeleteWait just a minute. You confused me so much that I could not comprehend the rest of your post. Your pastor's car was falling over backwards while going downhill? I cannot wrap my little brain around that. I keep trying to picture it but it is not a picture I am getting. Please explain so I can think once again.
ReplyDeleteYes, poor plastered pastor was so full of spirit, when he fell backward his car did too. Highway Patrol charged him with breaking several laws of physics.
DeleteThe sky is a wonderous sight, with the sun and clouds and pussy cats with smoke coming out of her ears.
ReplyDeleteBy golly I've always thought so too. Thanks, Arleen.
DeleteA sky cat! One the way home tonight we saw three variations on an anteater and one be-quiffed poodle. (The car didn't fall over so we weren't drunk.) I hope your fireballing goes well, and the chainsaw is behaving xx
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lisa. I love finding positive and negative images in clouds too. I often see your dragon. Cautionary clearing of cloying combustibles continues apace.
DeleteLove it. The change from clouds to barn cat is pretty darn cool.
ReplyDeleteGlad you like it. Patterns are fun to play with.
DeleteYou are just oh-so clever! Now I'm wondering if there's a cat constellation... (Must be!)
ReplyDeleteMaybe, but cats tend to appear in negative spaces, between clouds --or constellations.
DeleteLove the way you transformed that photo! I was wondering what was coming up and then suddenly there was a cat! Such fun.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deniz. I think cats like to materialize unexpectedly.
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