You show me the path of life [Lord]. In your presence there is fullness of joy. (Psalm 16:11)

Well it has been a week of photographs here at “Life, Gratitude, Faith, & Passion.” So I thought I’d make it a wrap with a few more images, designed to illustrate the focus of this page.

Besides, I’m pouring chapter-length collections of words into my new book proposal, so I’m intentionally keeping my blog posts closer to bite-sized.

LIFE: I don’t think there’s a better photograph representing life than the one (above) featuring the two aficionados of verve I live with. Rebekah is what the French call élan vital; the force, the impetus, the impulse of life. Scout Labradoodle is – keeping the French emphasis – a tour de force, a force de la nature. There are no half-measures around Maul Hall.

GRATITUDE: Gratitude has been an ongoing and developing theme for the week. But today I’m very much conscious of the bounty of good things we’re privileged to enjoy at home.

Rebekah and I spent Friday afternoon cleaning the house and preparing to welcome friends for dinner. We are so grateful that we are blessed with the opportunity to be generous; to welcome guests, to serve great food, to share our faith, and to share our deepest selves.

FAITH: I’ve included a photograph of Wake Forest Presbyterian Church because the building is a symbol of what it means to live as Followers of the Way of Jesus. We meet in the facility on Capital Boulevard, but our discipleship is lived out in our homes, our businesses, on the road, at school, on the soccer fields; anywhere and everywhere.

I like the “roundabout” (traffic circle) in front of the building; it represents how we gather for worship, but then turn around and head out into our primary mission to live as disciples, equipped to be the presence of Christ in a broken world. There’s no backing up around here – it’s forward in both directions.

PASSION: I can’t think of any better images to represent passion than our grandchildren David (27 months), and Beks (7 months).

David engages his world with curiosity and undiluted enthusiasm; he acts on his surroundings with “what can I learn?” purpose; he has only one speed, and that’s fast-forward. Beks watches – with enthusiasm; with her it’s all laugh, cry, smile, cry, repeat. Neither of my grandchildren has any appetite for half-measures.

I watch their passion and I can’t help but think about the elective mediocrity that characterizes too much of the adult experience. The “can’t be bothered,” the disengagement from vibrant life, the “I’ll pass” mentality that’s all too often scared to move beyond predictability and into reinvention.

No half-measures. That is my word for today. No appetite for half-measures. How about you?