The Way, The Truth and The Light

This is actually a combination of two versus from the book of John. John 14:6 Jesus said, "I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." and John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

The window is simple as far as stained glass windows goes but the message is huge. It is only through Jesus Christ that we can gain salvation and have a relationship with God.

This window was at the bottom of a set of stairs. I had to shoot it from the top of the stairs. This caused a distortion problem that I was able to correct in PhotoShop.

This is just one of many windows from the Saint Jacobs Lutheran Church, Anna Ohio.

Reflections of Christ

I wasn't so sure how well this was going to come out. Seeing something and capturing it with your camera sometimes comes up short.

I had stopped by the church on my lunch hour to snag a few pictures when I spotted this on my way out. What you are seeing is not PhotoShop. This was the reflection of the stained glass windows reflecting in the glass of a large display case on the opposite wall.

This is my new favorite capture of the year and will be added to my Picture of the Week Gallery.

On a spiritual note it reminds me of how we are to reflect Christ in our lives and how we should be a living witness to the Lord.

Picture taken at St. Jacobs Lutheran Church, Anna Ohio.

The Parable of the Lost Coin

Jesus told this parable after he'd told another one with a similar message about a shepherd who cares for 100 sheep and loses one. He searches for the one until he finds it and then rejoices. Jesus told these two parables in response to the Scribes and Pharisees who criticized him for spending time among and eating with publicans and sinners.

“Or what woman, having ten silver coins, if she loses one coin, does not light a lamp, sweep the house, and search carefully until she finds it? And when she has found it, she calls her friends and neighbors together, saying, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found the piece which I lost!’ Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” Luke 15:8-10

Check out this link for an interesting insight into this wonderful parable. Woman And The Lost Coin

Picture of stained glass window taken at St. Jacobs Lutheran Church Anna, Ohio.

Hang It On The Cross

If you have a secret sorrow, a burden or a loss,
an aching need for healing ...
HANG IT ON THE CROSS
If worry steals your sleep and makes you turn and toss,
if your heart is feeling heavy ...
HANG IT ON THE CROSS
Every obstacle to faith or doubt you come across,
every prayer answered ...
HANG IT ON THE CROSS
For Christ has borne our brokenness and dearly paid
the cost to turn our trials into triumph ...
HANG IT ON THE CROSS

Picture taken at St. Remy Church Russia Ohio

Saint Aloysius Church (Carthagena Ohio)

The last wedding I shot was in the church of St. Aloysius in Carthagena. I was so focused on the wedding that I took little notice of the church. That was last fall. It took me till spring to make it back to take pictures for the blog. Some of the churches are rather dark even in daylight. I was very pleased to find this one fairly bright for only being lit by window light.

This statue of the risen Christ above the altar was an unexpected find. Most often its a Crucifix. There is a really great shot that I missed of the ceiling above the altar because I lost the light that I needed. I know it seems I am always looking for an excuse to come back.

I found the High Altar ready for Palm Sunday and the Altar/Portrait of Saint Joseph with the Cross of Lent. I caught two great window lit shots. The baptistery and three statues of saints. The church also had a very nice set of the Stations of the Cross. See Pictures Below.















I am always on the hunt for an artistic shot or two when I am exploring the churches. This grouping of worship elements fit the bill nicely.



I was very happy with this picture of the table of palm leaves. I know its centered but to the left and right are two very nice looking fire extinguishers (Ugh).



Of course the church had stained windows and a few other surprises but those will have to wait for another post.

The Death of Jesus

It was late afternoon almost evening when I took this picture. It was an overcast day and I caught the sun just glimmering through from behind the Crucifix. I immediately thought of this passage from the Gospel of Mark as I saw the picture form before my eyes.

Picture taken at the cemetery Saint Remy Church, Russia Ohio.

Guardian Angels

"See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10).



I found this beautiful window in the balcony, hiding behind some blackboards.

Related Link:
New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia Guardian Angel

Picture of stained glass window taken at Saint Jacobs Lutheran Church Anna, Ohio.

Flight To Egypt (Matthew 2:13-15)

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him." So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son."

This stained glass window showing the Holy Family escaping to Egypt is found in the Saint Joseph Church in Egypt Ohio just out side of Minster. I was very fortunate in that I met Dave Osterloh and he was kind enough to forward some of the history of the church that was compiled by his mother Barb Osterloh. The following is an excerpt from her manuscript.



Vividly colored stained glass windows (installed Sept. 1939). Of particular interest is the window depicting Mary's Flight Into Egypt, which commemorates a convent of that name which stood at Egypt from 1857 to 1912 and was an important part of the community. A picture of the convent hangs in the vestibule of the church.



Thanks David and Barb for sharing some of the history of this church. There was a whole lot more that David sent me and I hope to share more of it in future post.

All God's Children Love the Lamb of God

St. Jacobs Lutheran Church in Anna is a lovely church and has a wonderful collection of stained glass windows. The collection is one of the most diverse and numerous collections that I have found. This simple window with the Lamb of God has the best story however.

This window was located in the lady’s restroom, back in the day when the lady’s-room came with a basinet instead of a changing table. The room also served as a refuge for those mothers who’s little one became fussy. If you look you can see where the children over the years have worn down the stain as they found comfort in petting the Lamb.

Look for more post featuring the windows of this church in upcoming post.

April Weekly Journal 2009

Welcome to my Weekly Journal. Each month I create a post to collect my thoughts and meanderings for the month. You can quickly find this post as it drops down the list by clicking on the Weekly Journal Link at the bottom of the Web Page.

April 29, One More Format Change

This weekend I plan on making one more significant change to the layout of the blog. I am going to add a Read More feature to the post. This way I can display a picture and text with the option to Click "Read More" to see the rest of the post. I think this will work well and compliment the current full page layout I am using.

April 26, First Holy Communion and St. Marks Baptism.

This weekend was a good one for pictures. While I didn't make it to any of The Land of the Cross Tipped Churches, I did take quite a few church pictures.

This Saturday was my Granddaughter Emily's First Holy Communion and Sunday I was invited to take some pictures of the Baptismal Service at St. Mark's in Sidney. Saturday was a bit of a struggle as I was not feeling well but I got some very nice pictures.

April 21 Another Change and Missed Opportunity

I was able to find the code that would let me put all my labels into a drop-down box. I am very happy with that.

I was planning on doing a post on the Divine Mercy for this last Sunday but prior commitments took up my time.

April 16, New Navigation Buttons

My Buddy Michael thought I should have buttons instead of text for navigating the post. My son Tyler came up with these in about 20 minutes in PhotoShop. Pretty Cool . Thanks Tyler.

April 14, The Way of the Cross

Starting this Sunday I am going to post the 14 Stations of the Cross. I am going to use the pictures I took at the Immaculate Conception Church in Botkins. I will post a new station each week/Sunday. I am going to use the St. Paul of the the Cross for the text.

April 13, New Header

Well I finally got my new and improved header installed. The new side panels are stained glass windows from the Immaculate Conception Church in Botkins. I plan to keep these as the norm and swap them out from time to time with Holiday or event related content.

April 10, Radio Maria and Up Coming Post

Radio Maria
Well......I would of liked to of had a picture of a broadcast in process at the Radio Maria Headquarters and pretty blue sky with clouds when I shot the transmitter in Botkins.....but I felt I had held up on posting my visit to Radio Maria long enough. The post is scheduled for this Saturday.

Up Coming Post
While taking pictures of the transmitter in Botkins I stumbled upon the Immaculate Conception Catholic church in Botkins. It is very modern compared to the churches I have been shooting. I plan on visiting this weekend and featuring it in next weeks post.

New Format
I am still working out the kinks in the recent Face-Lift of the blog. There are probably more changes to come.

April 6, New Format

I finally took the plug and went for it. I formatted all my previous post to best take advantage of the format I was using at the time. So some of the older post will not display correctly. I will work on these as time allows but the best part is I will make all future post to take advantage of the new format. I am still working on fixing my Header to fit the new look.

I moved a few things and got rid of a few others. Along with some color and font changes I also plan on changing the way I post. Look for smaller more frequent post than long marathon ones.

Blog Ranked 7.7 at Blogged - I submitted my site on the Blog Directory site Blogged and received a 7.7 rating. Please feel free to review my blog with your own ranking and thoughts.

April 1, More Blog Milestones

I had over 60 hits in one day and just over 1000 for the month.

April Fools Day - I was hoping to have some type of image for this special day, but came up short once again. This time I had a little help from a nasty virus which has slowed me down a bit.
Tots to Teens Workshop - There is a workshop focusing on taking pictures of little ones and teenagers April 8, in Columbus, Ohio. I am planning on attending this. Taking pictures of people is not my strong suite. I am hoping this will help and improve my skills.

More church shoots will be forthcoming as soon as I start to feel a little better. I still have a few shots that I haven't posted from previous outings I can use until then.

Last Months Poll - Well there were a total of 10 votes in my poll of more or less Black and White Photos. There were 4 votes for more and 6 for less. Not a very decisive number of votes, but I will keep the results in mind.

Format Change - Look for the layout of the blog to change this weekend. Nothing major just going to a full page layout. May cause some of the older post to display improperly. I will tweak these as I have time.