In my weekly Works & Wonders column, I combine a brief devotional with other interesting and uplifting bits and pieces I gleaned throughout the week. I hope you enjoy this week’s collection! It includes:
- Ask and Expect (a Brief Devotional)
- Astronomy Photographer of the Year
- The Risen Conqueror
- Chasing Totality
- Inside a Gilded Age Mansion
- WindowSwap
1.
Ask and Expect
Though wisdom is an attribute of God, it is an attribute that is communicable—one that may be ours as well. But it may be ours only if we receive it from God’s hand and on God’s terms. It certainly cannot be conjured up from within and cannot be earned or deserved. It can only be called down from above, gracefully distributed by God himself. Wisdom comes to those who are humble and teachable, not to those who are proud and self-assured. Wisdom flows to those who know themselves to be “little” before God, those who have greater confidence in God’s thoughts than in their own, who are willing and eager to think in divinely paradoxical ways rather than merely human ways. God makes wisdom available to those who long for it and who request it as a gift from his hand. “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him” (James 1:5). So ask in faith and expect to receive it.
2.
Astronomy Photographer of the Year
The ZWO Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition is said to be the largest and most prestigious of its kind, and it just unveiled its top photos of the year. As you’d expect, they are nothing short of spectacular.
3.
The Risen Conqueror
I enjoyed listening to The Risen Conqueror, a new song from Joyful Noise. You’ll recognize the melody, I’m sure, but not the lyrics. Yet in a sense you actually will recognize the lyrics, since they simply tell poetically of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
I lift my eyes to see the risen Conqueror,
declared in power to be the Son of God,
who bore the curse of Adam’s disobedience,
who brings unnumbered blessings by his blood.
The angels sing in joyful adoration,
for death is swallowed up in victory,
and countless souls, long held in death’s dominion,
walk with their Saviour on the way of life set free.
4.
Chasing Totality
Angel Fux dreamed of capturing a very special photograph of a total solar eclipse. She spent a couple of years preparing, then went deep into the Spanish mountains to get it. As I’m sure you’ll agree, the results are pretty special—the photograph of a lifetime. You can read an article at PetaPixel and/or watch a brief video.
5.
Inside a Gilded Age Mansion
One thing I always find fascinating is what wealthy people do when they’ve run out of normal things to spend their money on. Today it’s the mega-yacht, but during the Gilded Age, it was often a grand summer home. In the case of Edward and Herminie Berwind, the summer home was a 60,000 square-foot mansion they intended to use for just a few weeks per year. Architectural Digest offers a tour, Inside a Gilded Age Mansion, and focuses on the design tricks that cleverly hid the servants.
6.
WindowSwap
WindowSwap is a neat and compelling little app/site. What is it, you ask? It’s simply the view out someone else’s window. You are given the view out another person’s window from somewhere in the world, and if you mash the button at the bottom of the screen, you get another, and another after that. It’s quite fascinating, and kind of fun to guess what country you’re seeing before you look at the key.
