Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I need to start this entry by acknowledging him and all that he contributed to our nation.
The true history of Martin Luther King Jr. has been sanitized recently to make him more palatable to white suburbanites. You will even see some of the most vile, racist politicians our country has to offer (and our country has a ton of them) will put out his quotes on social media today. Maybe even by that racist uncle (our country has a ton of those too) of yours on Facebook too. But never forget, that he was a radical in all of the right ways. We could really use the true Martin Luther King Jr. today.
I thought I would share a little from his Mountain Top Speech today:
Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness. One day a man came to Jesus, and he wanted to raise some questions about some vital matters of life. At points he wanted to trick Jesus, and show him that he knew a little more than Jesus knew and throw him off base….
Now that question could have easily ended up in a philosophical and theological debate. But Jesus immediately pulled that question from mid-air, and placed it on a dangerous curve between Jerusalem and Jericho. And he talked about a certain man, who fell among thieves. You remember that a Levite and a priest passed by on the other side. They didn’t stop to help him. And finally a man of another race came by. He got down from his beast, decided not to be compassionate by proxy. But he got down with him, administered first aid, and helped the man in need. Jesus ended up saying, this was the good man, this was the great man, because he had the capacity to project the “I” into the “thou,” and to be concerned about his brother.
Now you know, we use our imagination a great deal to try to determine why the priest and the Levite didn’t stop. At times we say they were busy going to a church meeting, an ecclesiastical gathering, and they had to get on down to Jerusalem so they wouldn’t be late for their meeting. At other times we would speculate that there was a religious law that “One who was engaged in religious ceremonials was not to touch a human body twenty-four hours before the ceremony.” And every now and then we begin to wonder whether maybe they were not going down to Jerusalem — or down to Jericho, rather to organize a “Jericho Road Improvement Association.” That’s a possibility. Maybe they felt that it was better to deal with the problem from the causal root, rather than to get bogged down with an individual effect.
But I’m going to tell you what my imagination tells me. It’s possible that those men were afraid. You see, the Jericho road is a dangerous road. I remember when Mrs. King and I were first in Jerusalem. We rented a car and drove from Jerusalem down to Jericho. And as soon as we got on that road, I said to my wife, “I can see why Jesus used this as the setting for his parable.” It’s a winding, meandering road. It’s really conducive for ambushing. You start out in Jerusalem, which is about 1200 miles — or rather 1200 feet above sea level. And by the time you get down to Jericho, fifteen or twenty minutes later, you’re about 2200 feet below sea level. That’s a dangerous road. In the days of Jesus it came to be known as the “Bloody Pass.” And you know, it’s possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it’s possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the priest asked — the first question that the Levite asked was, “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
That’s the question before you tonight. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to my job. Not, “If I stop to help the sanitation workers what will happen to all of the hours that I usually spend in my office every day and every week as a pastor?” The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help the sanitation workers, what will happen to them?” That’s the question.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God, once more, for allowing me to be here with you.
Dangerous unselfishness. Man we could use some of that!
+++++++
COLORFUL! What a great theme! But how many people got their photography juices saturated? Keep scrolling to find out.
As of 12:01 PM on Monday, January 13, this was the current list of ACTIVE streaks:
*1-Mary Green – 1 week
2-Sara Lockner – 1 week
3-Becky Parmelee – 1 week
*4-Sabas Hernandez – 2 weeks
5-Monica Jennings – 2 weeks
6-Deanna McClain – 2 weeks
7-Alexis Stensland – 2 weeks
*8-Deb Powers – 20 weeks
9-Willy McAlpine – 26 weeks
10-Mike Vest – 34 weeks
11-Lowell Davis – 54 weeks
12-Brandon Kahler – 55 weeks
13-Scott Degeneffe – 73 weeks
14-Sheri Fakhouri – 83 weeks
15-Logan Kahler – 84 weeks
*16-Nathanial Brown – 84 weeks
17-Tamara Peterson – 96 weeks
*18-Mindi Terrell – 100 weeks
*19-Linda Bennett – 129 weeks
20-Sarah Toot – 130 weeks
21-Angie DeWaard – 133 weeks
22-Dawn Krause – 138 weeks
23-Kim Barker – 144 weeks
24-Joe Duff – 145 weeks
*25-Teresa Kahler – 156 weeks
26-Carla Stensland – 156 weeks
27-Micky Augustin – 158 weeks
*28-Andy Sharp – 159 weeks
29-Bill Wentworth – 160 weeks
30-Cathie Morton – 164 weeks
31-Elizabeth Nordeen – 165 weeks
32-Shannon Bardole-Foley – 167 weeks
33-Kio Dettman – 169 weeks
Here is the list of rules for Year 12 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE:
1. The picture must be taken between 12:01 PM today and 11 AM next Monday. This isn’t a curate your photos project. This is a get your butt off the couch and take pictures challenge!
2. There is a limit of 2 submissions per person per theme. If you send me more than 2, I will use the first 2 that you submit. If you submit 2 pictures, make sure they are of different subjects.
3. Deadline to submit your submission is 11 AM Central Time the following Monday. But that is a deadline. Pictures can be submitted as soon as you take them.
4. To be considered the photographer of an image, you have to be the one that clicks the shutter. If you hand your camera over to somebody else to take a picture of you, you are NOT the photographer of that image.
5. No screen captures. This is a photography challenge. Not a “look at what I found on the internet” challenge.
6. Please include the location of where the picture was taken with your submission.
There are still 2 ways to submit:
1. Email your submission to bennett@photography139.com.
2. Text your submission to my Google Pixel 8 Pro.
It is the third week of the month and on the third week of the month I like to share a map of all the states where people have submitted from heading into today. Here is that map:
7 States
But you didn’t come here to listen to me talk all tommyrot about participation rates or streaks or the rules of the challenge or how to submit. You came to see the submissions and what streaks continued and what streaks flamed out:
Micky Augustin (Rochester, Iowa) – 159 weeks
Shannon Bardole-Foley (Wesley Woods Camp – South of Indianola, Iowa) – 168 weeks
Kim Barker (Ankeny, Iowa) – 145 weeks
Christopher D. Bennett (Hilton Coliseum – Ames, Iowa)
Linda Bennett (Kansas) – 130 weeks
Linda Bennett (Kansas)
Nathanial Brown (Chevy Chase, Maryland) – 85 weeks
Nathanial Brown (National Museum of America History – Washington D.C.)
Lowell Davis (Iowa) – 55 weeks
Scott Degeneffe (Fat Putter – Des Moines, Iowa) – 74 weeks
Scott Degeneffe (Fat Putter – Des Moines, Iowa)
Kio Dettman (Boone, Iowa) – 170 weeks
Angie DeWaard (Ames, Iowa) – 134 weeks
Joe Duff (Bad Astronaut – Houston, Texas) – 146 weeks
Joe Duff (Houston, Texas)
Sheri Fakhouri (Iowa) – 84 weeks
Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa) – 2 weeks
Mary Green (Manchester, Iowa)
Sabas Hernandez (Green Bay, Wisconsin) – 3 weeks
Sabas Hernandez (Milwaukee, Wisconsin)
Monica Jennings (Grimes, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Brandon Kahler (Omaha, Nebraska) – 56 weeks
Logan Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 85 weeks
Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa) – 157 weeks
Teresa Kahler (Boone, Iowa)
Dawn Krause (Boone, Iowa) – 139 weeks
Maven Lockner (Iowa) – 1 week
Willy McAlpine (Santiago, Chile) – 27 weeks
Deanna McClain (Iowa) – 3 weeks
Deanna McClain (Iowa)
Cathie Morton (Norwalk, Iowa) – 165 weeks
Elizabeth Nordeen (Iowa) – 166 weeks
Becky Parmelee (Rogers, Arkansas) – 2 weeks
Tamara Peterson (Iowa) – 97 weeks
Tamara Peterson (Iowa)
Deb Powers (Ankeny, Iowa) – 21 weeks
Deb Powers (Ankeny, Iowa)
Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa) – 160 weeks
Andy Sharp (Boone, Iowa)
Alexis Stensland (Ankeny, Iowa) – 3 weeks
Alexis Stensland (Madrid, Iowa)
Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa) – 157 weeks
Carla Stensland (Ogden, Iowa)
Mindi Terrell (Iowa) – 101 weeks
Mindi Terrell (Iowa)
Sarah Toot (E. Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania) – 131 weeks
Mike Vest (Madrid, Iowa) – 35 weeks
Bill Wentworth (Omaha, Nebraska) – 161 weeks
34 participants this week. A solid week! Including the 1st ever submission from Maven!
There were submissions this week taken in the following places:
+ Arkansas (1)
+ Chile (1)
+ Iowa (34)
+ Kansas (2)
+ Maryland (1)
+ Minnesota (1)
+ Nebraska (2)
+ Pennsylvania (1)
+ Texas (2)
+ Washington D.C. (1)
+ Wisconsin (2)
Thanks to Micky’s trip, we added Minnesota! Thanks to Nathanial’s trip, we added Maryland and Washington D.C.! Thanks to Sabas’ trip, we added Wisconsin! Thanks to Willy’s trip we added Chile! The first foreign country of the year. I believe the first ever submission from South America. Also the first ever submission from the Southern Hemisphere! I believe all 4 hemispheres have been covered at some point during the life of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE.
Here is the Year 12 list of places where submissions have been taken (submissions taken in each places):
+ Arkansas (2)
+ Iowa (66)
+ Kansas (4)
+ Maryland (1)
+ Minnesota (1)
+ Nebraska (5)
+ Ohio (1)
+ Pennsylvania (3)
+ Texas (3)
+ Washington D.C. (1)
+ Wisconsin (2)
+ Chile (1)
The big milestone reached this week was Linda joining the 2.5 Year Streak Club. WooHoo! WooHoo! Woo! But it wasn’t all unicorns and rainbows. Sara couldn’t build on last week’s submission and her streak ends before it begins.
Enough dwelling on the past! Time to look to the future. We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives. And remember my friend, future events such as these will affect you in the future! This week’s theme:
COMPETITION
COMPETITION! What a great theme for Year 12 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE!
I look forward to seeing your interpretation.
PHOTOGRAPHY TIP OF THE WEEK
The brightness (AKA) exposure of an image is dictated by 3 things, known as the exposure triangle. Those 3 things? Aperture. Shutter speed. ISO. Think about how to balance these 3 things to properly expose your image. Don’t know what they are? Don’t worry. Might be in a future tip.
That is all I got, so if the good Lord’s willin’ and the creek don’t rise, we will see your idea of COMPETITION in this place that isn’t one next Monday.