This article was origonally posted on 7/2/16 and was moved backwards to the date you see.

The words contained in this article are my opinions. Opinions are something we all have, and at some point, we all need to express.

I love dispelling myths. I admit there is nothing that makes people more angry than saying that something that they believe to be true is false, or just a myth. I fully understand where that emotion comes from because I expose more of my own myths than anyone else’s.  Some myths are harmless, and some are destructive and even deadly.

Life is a learning experience. Embracing that fact, will serve to educate each of us.

Psalms 72:12

“For He shall deliver the needy when he cries; the poor also, and him who has no helper.”

This verse is often used to show Jesus or God in general, and His Kindness. The theme of any sermons where it might be used could be, we should be kind, just like Jesus.

It is a great verse and it is a pleasing definition that I have suggested above. It is typical (in my opinion)  of what we humans would want the meaning of that verse to be.

When you read the verse in the context of what is around it however, you realize that David is speaking of the return of The Lord (Jesus), and then you will see that the needy, poor and alone (without a helper) that is referred to, is in fact Israel.

The definition I’ve given is correct and known to be so by most truly respected biblical scholars and theologians over these many centuries.  It does not however, say what many teachers and pastors today want it to say.  Must keep up with the times, they may say.

It has never been more important to teach the true meaning of the Gospel than right now. It was written for eternity.

Israel, indeed becomes more alone with every passing year. Until the past seven years, they could count on America to understand her plight, and stand with her.

In 1948 Harry Truman cast the final vote (America’s vote in the newly created U.N.) that allowed the reformation of Israel and the return of the tribes of Judea to a little piece of their original homeland. He made his final decision because of a Bible verse.

Genesis 12:3  “And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.”  This is God speaking to Abraham who is the father of the Jews, and their nation, now called Israel. His command is to let Abraham know, that they (the Jews) have a purpose in his plan, and he will punish those that oppose that plan, and reward those who support it.

Truman was anything but a Godly man, but he knew enough to understand and believe the Bible. Does America seem currently to be blessed or cursed? The blessings are slipping away, and they will continue (if our road does not change) to slip away at least over the next four, and maybe eight years, judging by the current political landscape.

No matter what has become of America, God will keep His promise and Israel will eventually be restored to meet God’s purpose. While different people may have different jobs in God’s Plan, once all of those Biblical prophesies are fulfilled, everybody, Jew or Gentile, rich or poor, woman or man, regardless of color, are equal in God.
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One myth that I see and hear today, and admittedly I write a lot about, is that it’s all about the equipment in photography, or the reverse, that it is all about the photographer. Two very (in my opinion) inaccurate statements.

Some of the comments I have made over the past few months about the incredible increase in technical capabilities in recent camera models, are the sort that many photographers dislike. Understand what I say, the photographer has always and still does make a huge difference in the photos we see. All things being equal (equipment wise), there will be those image makers who shine. They will rise above the crowd. Just the same, equipment has always been, and today is even more so, of the utmost importance to any photographer who wants to create accepted or applauded imagery.

Gray Clements is a great wildlife photographer. His picture below of a skittish Kingfisher, is a testament to his patience and skills, but this quality was impossible just a short while ago. The image as originally shown, I believe was over 2,000 pixels across. The photo was even better at that size, than it is at the 640 pixels you see here. The comments under his picture were all about how great a photographer he is, and he deserves that praise, but come on……equipment matters…….a lot! I have portraits of Kingfishers, in focus. I was fairly close to those birds, most likely just as close as Gray was, but any images at this level of cropping would fall apart, and all those who viewed them would say to themselves, what a lousy photographer.

It takes great photographers…….and great equipment, to make great pictures.

All photographers should celebrate the amazing possibilities with today’s equipment and software. Those possibilities will continue to increase. The problem (for me) becomes when many great photographers, and the list in my brain right now is much too large to type here, become forgotten in favor of some current photographers, who’s main claim to fame is being able to exploit today’s technical advantages. Never forget those who were doing it at the highest levels in each and every generation. Today, tomorrow, and yes, even yesterday.

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What are heroes?

Heroes should be a personal thing but often they are (and always have been) just what the press or other information providing entities decide they will be.

Our group thinking today does on some occasions choose (my opinion) worthy heroes. The soldier or cop or firefighter who risks everything, and sometimes loses everything in an effort to save others.  The word of their heroism is usually spread by private groups.  Me thinks we would hear plenty little (plenty little?) about them if it were only up to the common press. Of course there are occasional reports of brave, unselfish acts by civilians, but the news media will usually ignore those heroes unless it is a slow news day.

The press like to choose our heroes for us. Eventually a daily feeding frenzy will take place.  Non-stop world attention will ensue for somebody who uses the press to shock us. Deciding you are a woman, when you are a man, and garnering world attention for yourself in the form of female clothing and a genital switch, is not heroic.  Just one month ago it surfaced that he was considering turning back again. I guess the attention he is addicted to is now lacking?

A 45-year-old man who wants to go to the bathroom with little girls, is not a hero. I really don’t care what he “feels like”. He’s managed to use the men’s room all his life without any noticeable trauma. Deciding to pee with the little girls does not make him a hero. It could however, make him somebody who will soon be in the news once again.

Social media has made heroes out of egomaniacal self-declared celebrities, who produce nothing and seemingly, can do nothing. Except be famous.  Of course, as is truly always the case, the hero worshippers themselves are really the ones who create the undeserving heroes. Those that follow the self-created celebrities are the ones that keep them going.

Wow! I feel great now!  Writing what you believe can be sooooo cathartic.

I actually think that most of the world is growing weary of the non-heroic heroes that we are inundated with on a daily basis. There is so much true heroism in the world for any of us to waste our precious breath over the pseudo heroes of the 21st Century.

Have a great day and bust a few myths.

God Bless,                                                                                                                                                      Wayne