Looking Deeper

Posted byGary FultzPosted inabundant life, accomplishment, adventure, Build Faith, christmas, comments, discipline, ermine, eternal, Faith, Gary Fultz, Gary Fultz Blog, goals, Haiku, initiator, Jesus Christ, knowing God, most imortant relationship, Nature, nature pictures, Outdoor Adventures, outdoor scenery, perspective, quality of life, relationship building, relationship with God, Ruffled grouse, spiritual concepts, Spiritual Perspective, victorious living, winterTags:, , , , , , , , ,
We are seen long before we see

I was being watched. I knew it. I scanned the whole woods around me. Nothing. I looked deeper. Nothing. Much deeper an ear flickered and a black dot looked like an eye. I raised my camera with a long lens, focused, moved forward to see the deer’s head and clicked. The deer disappeared into the swamps tall grass away from me.

A ruffled grouse, frozen in place, hopes the camouflage is working.

We writers want to sit down and write something profound. We want to help others think deeper. We want to _________________________________???? Well, what do we want? How do we start? How deep will our content be, knowing our audience responds best to catchy sound bytes, but that is not the game we want to play. Or, is it?

I would encourage both of us to look deeper, see further than the news, see people beyond their actions and words, spot the deer and grouse hidden to most onlookers and get off the beaten trails where a real compass is needed.

You can see the world in a dewdrop…who notices??

Our thoughts and words will never go beyond who we are as people. Go deeper, look deeper, be deeper. Our conversations, scribblings, blogs, comments, personal relationships and nonverbal communications will reflect who we are.

Use pictures. Use verbal pictures, stories that create pictures, take pictures and use other’s pictures. We live in a visual world. Many of us use pictures as prompts. Some use drawings photos and as artistic expression. There are those who embellish what they are saying with photos. I will freely admit that I look carefully at the comments section of mine and other blogs to see if people are considering the words to be as strong as the pictures. Sometimes the pictures are the main attraction, other times just support for our message. I intentionally use pictures in all these ways.

I wanted to post some past pictures that I love for prompts in my own writing as well as support what I have wanted to say from a deeper perspective. 100 views of one picture may prompt 100 different discussions…or just one…what do you really see? (Click to enlarge). The last 3 pictures are of the same granddaughter…really.

Debs post prompted this post. I freely admit to “liking” her post as I related to what she was saying on many levels. I was pleasantly surprised to see that I contributed to being “support staff” as she used pictures I had posted for free download on “Unsplash“, a free download site with millions of pictures. I sent her link to all 6 of my siblings to show them how my pictures were being used. They responded by saying she used them well in a really good post and the pictures supported her post well. I agree. (check out Deb’s blog). I enjoy the Haiku’s from David (who uses a lot of my pictures with his allhaiku blog…Click here) and ocassionally Suzette uses my pictures as well (click here).

Lastly. Have a Merry Christmas. I shall not let the “trappings of the holidays” ruin the true meaning of Christmas. I am not just saying that frivolously. I have looked deeply into where Christmas fits into such a relationship with God, that makes one love God and love people. One should look deeply into the eyes of “Faith.” What an amazing concept.

Sorry, gotta go, fish are biting and the lake has at least 3 inches of clear ice.

Gary

Published by Gary Fultz

Outdoors Man, Hunter, Fisherman, Guide, Writer / Author, Photographer, Public Speaker, Musician, Song Writer, Story Teller, Follower Of Jesus. Love God and family and total strangers

89 thoughts on “Looking Deeper”

  1. I appreciate this post, Gary. I learned a while back to give honest and encouraging feedback. Your post caused me to reflect on a recent experience where I deliberated on what I wanted to say just as you described above. Pictures do make a difference. In the current culture of moving so fast we miss the blessings, I appreciate what you had to say. Thanks. Oh, and Merry Christmas! JESUS is the reason for the season.

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  3. Thanks for the ping back, Gary. Your photos make great prompts—for hundreds of words, or a seventeen syllable haiku.
    Either way, I want to write “off the beaten path where a real compass is needed.”
    I hope you catch a bunch of fish. Are they pike?

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  5. The photos are amazing! I just did a post about going deeper. Then went to the page to see what has been posted and see your title Looking Deeper. I love how God does this. p.s. the pure joy on the face of the little girl with the paint by numbers book is fantastic! Her joy brought me joy!

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    1. Thanks, and yes, God does stuff like that very often. He delights in “like minded” people. The photo of a little granddaughter has been a favorite of mine. As she grows, she has not lost enthusiasm. Very fun.

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  6. Yes, “Use pictures. Use verbal pictures, stories that create pictures, take pictures and use other’s pictures. We live in a visual world.” This is why Jesus was an effective communicator. He had his listeners and disciples observe things: sparrows, lilies, bread, foundations, fields, pearls, and then he told stories. The combined pictures and stories are effective and memorable ways to communicate. That is why your writing is effective Gary. You do all of these.

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    1. Thank You Wayne. I believe pictures also help us come alongside others and are less confrontational as well. A buffer, if you will.
      That being said, I feel like the kid who reached level 7 on a computer game and then discovered there were 100 levels, not 10…so it is finding, knowing God and discovering we have begun the journey to take on his character.
      Oh the power of a decimal point.

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  7. Oh, I have been waiting for your post, scanning the horizon once or twice a week. Thank you for these interesting photos. My top four are 1) granddaughter with flowers (people are always my favorites) 2) the colorful moth with the purple bloom, 3) Oak leaf with frost 4) other granddaughter with what I presume is a gift. and I struggle with the same perspective on writing. I wonder sometimes how much is inspired and how much just the noise of words meeting together in an article. The ones I bleed over often get little attention.

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    1. Thanks Pete. I understand about the bleeding ones getting attention.
      I also write a lot more than I publish. I will take 600 pictures and end up keeping 10.
      I would categorize most of my words as “horses in the corral”. It’s when they get out and “silhouette the horizon” or oddly butt heads with each other or the dog that I get somewhere. Something that carries a story good enough to retell.
      Sadly, I empty my draft files a lot.

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    1. Thankyou. My father was known for finding a new and deeper insight each year in the Christmas story. Each year the church would ask him to share. The depths and small details he explored were amazing.

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    1. I had been trying to figure out how to write about that particular parallel Alan. Nature provides so many examples. For me a nature trail is a golden street. Have a great Christmas.

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  11. Thank you Gary for your wise counsel on the power of words and presenting them at levels that encourage deep soul searching thought.
    Great photos as always. I like the effect of your image in the mirror…really cool!
    Merry Christmas to you!

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    1. Thank you Suzette. Deep thinkers are hard to find and soul searchers even more these days. Your words are encouraging that I may have the encouraging effect.
      My idea of a creative selfie on that picture. I put the camera on a 30 second time exposure and held 3 poses for a one click photo. Kind of fun and quicker than learning how to do that in photoshop.

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  12. Evidently the camouflage didn’t work for the grouse! I love the deer peeking through layers of foliage. The dew drop is phenomenal. Your pictures are not snapshots. They’re images you’ve created, and your writing compliments your photographs. Praise God for the gifts He’s given you. 🙂

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    1. Thank you, Nancy. The grouse was quite close. It was getting ready to scare me by flying. They make a hug amount of noise on take-off. I often miss seeing grouse as they blend in so well. Rain drops and dew drops are like a fish-eye mirror. In low light especially they will reflect the whole world around them. Some things seem too wonderful for words.

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  13. Wow! Just wow! Great pictures and writing. Yes, look deeper. Always. You are blessed with a great talent my friend.
    Merry Christmas to you and your family. God bless you.
    Thanks for sharing. How about some fish photos?

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    1. Thanks, Wayne, yes. Fish photos are in order, I need to actually catch some. They are very skittish with thin clear ice. I’m going to have to put out lines and back away as they see me and any movement I make in the clear water. Merry Christmas!!
      BTW…I do have plans B,C, and D on catching fish.

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    1. So very true. I am glad you brought that to the forefront …you have a Merry Christmas as well. Looking deeper at Christmas one see’s the cross. Those who kneel at the manger do so at the cross as well.

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  20. Don’t know where to begin, brother man. You have a great collection of photos here, taken by a man who loves his work. Some very unique shots. Thank you. I learned all I needed to know about deer hunting from my Dad when young (he was an excellent teacher and I a good student). He taught me to believe in hidden bucks waiting for the right time to step out. Part of that lesson was seeing them first which usually works the other way around. Of course, it’s relatively easy sitting up in a tree…

    Merry Christmas Gary. You are blessed to be in a place where all the traditional natural Christmas stuff happens right outside your door. Treat yourselves to a sleigh ride and roasted chestnuts. It always gets cold again by January, if you get my drift. We must make the most of a great traditional season. Blessings

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    1. Thanks RJ. Yes, those deer materialize out of nowhere and disappear just as mysteriously. I hunt both ways and fill the freezer. It is quite full now between the garden and the woods. It has taken me a lifetime to let the animals be at peace with me, with my stop and go woods shuffle. There is no such thing as not being seen first most of the time. Your dad was wise.
      Merry Christmas to you as well. My grandma always said…”when the days begin to lengthen, the cold begins to strengthen,” how true. I caught your “drift” that’s good.

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  21. You have the eye of an outdoorsman Gary and your camera is an extension that captures that. Thank you for the encouragement to “Go deeper, look deeper, be deeper.” The temptation to stay at the shallow end or not to get into the water at all is strong.

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    1. Oh yes, the temptation is getting stronger as I age. I intentionally told our youth director I would take some select teens to the wilderness for a canoe trip through 30 plus lakes and rivers this next spring. Those following me may find pieces of my perceived youth lying on the portage trails. 60 miles and 30 plus portages in 5-6 days will break down youth as we build them up…good times ahead I think. I could hear the optimism in my wife’s reactive voice “you promised what??”

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  22. Gary, the inscription under each of the first three photos are powerful. First, I’m grateful that God saw me long before I saw Him. I’m beginning to understand, that I and others are like the ruffled grouse who believe its camouflage protected it and made it invisible to danger whether real or perceived. And lastly, I wonder, how many societal ‘dewdrops’ do I pass as if insignificant? Whereas, if I were to slow down and take note the reflection of the King of Kings could be observed.

    Thank you for this post and thoughts to take us deeper! God bless you and your family.

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    1. Bless you Manette. You have added great insights to the compilation of the post and comments. A big amen from me. I have often wondered how much God can be seen in the gazillions of dew and raindrops hanging around long enough for a glimpse of the eternal sequestered for a split second or two. This is the kind of talk I see around the wilderness campfires and sometimes in the comment sections..

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  23. Beautiful photos accompanied by beautiful thoughts. Both images and words tell the story of pausing in life and taking the time to look around, see the details, and see the beauty life has laid out before us. And this allows us to “Go deeper, look deeper, be deeper…” and learn a bit more (or a lot more) about ourselves. Your series of photos hold a wide variety of feelings, each a blissful view of nature, life, and maybe of your soul. And the last three are, of course, awesome… especially the middle one 👹! I wish you a wonderful finish to the year and Christmas holiday ~ take care.

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    1. Finally, someone liked the middle one of my granddaughter (a haloween picture). I have always liked that, and my friends are saying “what was that?” Ah, the eyes of the beholder.
      Yes, depth of soul. I have described some moments in frame as a 7 layer cheesecake and some people only want vanilla pudding on a cracker. You have a merry Christmas as well.

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      1. Ha, yes, the middle one is firstly just a great photo ~ and then add in the artistry/creativity of your granddaughter, and this will be a photo that will be remembered 🙂 Cheers to the Christmas spirit.

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    1. Thanks Linda. I was in awe when a heavy fog from the west rolled by and left heavy beautiful frost on , one side and nothing on the other….then, the sun came out and melted everything. You have a great Christmas as well. Our season when the light of the world was worshipped in a barn by sheep herders. I am in awe of Gods methods this season.

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    1. Perspective is big deal to me when I try to put life in frame. Nature frames itself in so many ways. You are so right Alicia. We choose our framing of life. Sometimes we are like the guy in Alaska’s last selfie with his big salmon before being mauled by a grizzly bear who made it in the picture behind him. It’s hard not to make it all about us. For me, taking nature pictures gives me good perspectives and insights.
      off topic…did you get your T3i working well?

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      1. Yes I’m thankful God always sees the big picture when I have the focus all out of sorts!!
        So I haven’t messed with my t3i lately, I’ve just been using my phone a lot, I guess because I’ve fallen prey to convenience. My girls have been taking pictures with it though and they seem to not fight with it the way I did. 😅

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  26. Gary, forgive my late reply. When I first read through your words here I knew I would have to return to reread, to sit in them a while. Yes, to sit. Because when I sit with words such as yours I am aware of God’s Presence and deeply moved. And in that place there are often, “no words”. Isn’t that amazing?
    I am “looking deeper” into Peace this week and your pictures here speak more powerfully than anything I could write. They are the expression and very Nature of God. But I will try because that’s when I feel most alive. I can’t keep it to myself.
    Is it ok if I use more of your Unsplash photos for my Advent musings?
    Also, I want you to know I share my WordPress posts on FB. I haven’t been as successful as I’d like moving my readers there to my blog. And I also want you to know you touched many with the calm and beauty you captured in those photos (including me). Oh, to offer calm in this potentially overly busy season is a gift indeed. Thank you and please let me know. Your friend, Deb

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    1. We are alike in many ways Deb. I understand holding awhile. I also understand seeing beauty with no words, as words cheapen the experience. Sometimes words are vinegar in milk, intending creamer in coffee. I am humbled that the pictures I post move people in so many ways, yet, knowing people of God are moved by one another’s gifts.
      As far as sharing my photos; use them. I made the decision to share freely so they could be shared freely. I was given gifts freely by God. If it was my livelihood, I would not use unsplash. Each picture is put out there with a prayer to be of use for the Lords Glory no matter the motive of the user.
      I am glad calm and beauty are experienced in this way. Your use of words is uplifting by the way. To be aware of God’s presence is an amazing thing…Yes!

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  27. “How deep will our content be, knowing our audience responds best to catchy sound bytes, but that is not the game we want to play. Or, is it?”

    I don’t do soundbytes, but I occasionally want to be frivolous and have accepted that about myself. Sometimes I enjoy brainless things that are light and fun, and I’m okay with that. I wasted too much of my life trying to be more serious than I really was! Other times I find myself meditating on one verse of scripture for days and days. I call this balance.

    Thanks for sharing the pictures, particularly of the grandkids! They’re precious, but I know you already know that.

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    1. Stacy, I realized that my words may have been a put-down of the frivolous. Not intended at all as I am known in my relationship circles for my extremes in depth one moment and crazy frivolous the next…great comment on balance. Someday we will find out some of the jokes Jesus played on the disciples as they had a lot of time for laughter and serious life stuff.
      I do sound bytes sometimes…they make a good springboard into some interesting discussions and going deeper.
      I actually relate (too much I think) to the little rhyme “roses are red, violets are blue. I’m schizophrenic and so am I.”

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  29. Thanks GW. You have a great Christmas as well. One could spend several lifetimes and still only scratch the surface, marking mile-signs of depth in what God would have us know and be known here, much less eternity’s knowing

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    1. Seeing the sky and a whole garden of flowers in a dewdrop was a mind opening experience for me. Size of creation and creativity matters not to God. When we do not notice those things, our loss not Gods. I’m sure he is saying “Oh little minds, there is so much more”

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  31. “You can see the world in a dewdrop…who notices??” I love that line, Gary. I think photographers capture things others would often miss, because we notice the beauty and details in unexpected ways. Thank you for using photography to inspire us and how wonderful that God is using them to prompt others into going deeper with their writing. Merry Christmas to you and your family!

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    1. And a Merry Christmas to you and your family Nancy. Thank You.
      It’s true that photography is a discipline of seeing and framing to share what is otherwise mostly unseen. I consider myself a beginner, but advancing in the art. The fun stage I think.

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    1. Thanks Dwight. I don’t put the grandkids on much. They are a very expressive and creative fun bunch.
      Nature shots are much more compliant…”Hold still or I’ll put you on ebay”
      I don’t know how to do that and they know it.

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  35. Pingback: Looking DeeperWritten by Gary Fultz🌹❤🌹 | roseyeveningaruna3wordpress

  36. Ahhhh, your prompts for discussion really do help me to take a moment … or two, to ponder. The concept of sharing stories, in words, in pictures, in fiction and fact, through joint experiences, burrows deep into my soul. I love listening, to friends and family, to people I meet in the street, to the sounds of the world around us, to the cityscape my wife and I are part of. It consistently astounds me how the same poem or photograph can be viewed in those 100 different ways by 100 different people, and I LOVE the conversation that can come along with that!

    God bless you and your family’s year as it gets underway. Here’s to many more stories shared, experienced, and left to keep the cogs turning in the minds of the many, to encourage creativity in more ways than we could ever expect.

    Thank you, as always, for your beautiful words, and prompts for thinking deeply. 🙏

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    1. Thank You Hamish.
      Your awareness and alertness to the little things around you will carry you far. I come from generations of story tellers. Life-times of passed on prompts, inflections and deepening of relationships all around. I hope not to disappoint in mentoring the grand kids as well.

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  38. Those are some beautiful photos, but even more beautiful words. As I sit here with some down-time listening to the air duct cleaners work in the room next to me, I can’t help but meditate a bit the caption under the first photo: We are seen long before we see. In what areas am I seen but do not yet see? Thanks for posting this.

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    1. Thanks Janet. In nature many animals see us, and we never see them. We are unaware. In the spiritual areas of life, God sees us in ways we do not see ourselves as well as his perspective being way bigger than ours. Often total strangers will notice us and our actions without ever seeing them. I think that at our funeral things will come out about us we never saw in ourselves. I think a book could be written about how much we think we see and don’t …especially about ourselves.

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