Questions for Review: Bodies

    How are the dead raised up?

    With a mighty whoosh, propelled by gases and burning at thousands of degrees. A violent wind filling the entire house. And fire like a flood, separating on the head of everyone, burning everything. Heart pounding within the throat. Blood splashed across the mirror. How is this possible? Historically? It is a mystery written in fire and in flame.

    And with what body do they come?

    Literally melting skin from their bodies like a horrific fireball. The lucky incorruptible survive – not subject to decomposition. Subject to char and to ash. Subject to cinder. A body of glory in black smoke. It is searching – not weakness. It is clawing in the dirt, flailing at broken windows, refusing to die.

    What is the ‘Spiritual Body’?

    Dormant for centuries, pent up, waiting for release. Like a plague. Razor-like shards of faces and torsos squeezed through the emergency exit. Bodies pulled from the iron furnace. Bodies under a shower of iron arrows.

    What are the four stages of the resurrection of these bodies?

    1) Men come back to their physical senses. What held them back? A bullet in their brains. 2) Petite women dragging themselves through an inferno, screaming through the smoke. Women armed with blowtorches. 3) Men of strength and security - a skeleton crew in the catacombs. Same agenda. Different crew. 4) Women breathing – barely. Coughing. Staggering. Screaming for policemen in the distance. Rushing toward from the fire in a spontaneous display of rage.

    Has the leak been sealed?

    Position his arms on the patibulum­ - the horizontal – and his legs on the stipes – the vertical. The largest of soldiers swung his mallet and drove a wrought-iron spike through his wrist.

    Has the leak been sealed? Answer me.

    The leak was sealed, but the seals have been broken.

    What two purposes will the tribulation period serve?

    Slam the prisoners against the wall. Pin them there with a fire hose spray. Turn off the spray. Watch them fall to the floor. God will change these vile bodies so they can enter locked rooms, vanish from sight and appear in the clouds. There is no guarantee except exhaustion.

    Who is the beast of prophecy?

    AntiChrist. False Prophet. Slight of build and two inches shorter than me. Just another spoiled American, complaining. The local cops kick in the door, en masse for the arrest. Watch for a wicked chemical flash like napalm on white skin, bubbling black like burnt asphalt. Then comes the end – though none of it makes sense without the handcuffs.

    What is a literal interpretation of prophecy?

    More smoke than an oil refinery. More shit than a proctologist.

Before We Get to the Upper Room

 

    What is it today? What is my heart doing and why? Heart and lung and unidentified pains. Heart and lung and sudden onset migraines. Dislocated hips. Hospital tests and procedures. I am frail and vulnerable, seeking care.

Unspoken silence.

    Years of pain, howling wind and a house a’ fire. The familiar rhythm of struggle. Something missing – a loss of spark. But the inevitable doubt is tinder for the fire.

Is this the restoration time?

    Yes, but not just yet. It is not for you to know. Between the was and the will be. Between dry bones and breathing wind. I’m on fire or soon will be. Head and heart. Flesh and bone. Spirit and soul all at once.

Unspoken silence.

    
    Come wind. Come fire. Burn, breathe, blow. Lord, in your mercy, hear our prayer.

In the Memory of the Fire

 

Exploded stars long extinguished,
wind-swept blazes on the prairie,
incinerate the branches of last year’s joy
for we are dust and ash
and there is life in the memory of the flame.

Strange Surf

Strange surf,
like a sunset
on an ocean of fire.

There Is Always more Flame.

“These are the prayers of the saints,” Pastor Lincoln says as he stands in front of the congregation lighting a candle for each of the shared joys and concerns.

-For Andrea who fell and broke her hip.
-For Pat who is retiring later this month.
-For Becki whose daughter is about to give birth to twins.

“These are the prayers of the saints, each one marked with a candle and a flame. Are there others?”

-For people living in the path of the storm.
-For Linda who is walking better.
-For Micah and his father.

So many prayers - prayers of thanksgiving, prayers of supplication - so many prayers that Pastor Lincoln runs out of candles. “These are the prayers of the saints,” he chuckles. “We may have run out of candles,” he says, “but there is always more flame.”

Fire Is not Water

I suppose it should be obvious, right? But fire is not water. The converse is probably true as well.

Pyrotechnic Rex

Fire / Not Fire

Saint Francis and Brother Fire

"Be praised, my Lord, through Brother Fire, through whom you brighten the night. He is beautiful and cheerful, and powerful and strong."  - Saint Francis

Biblical Limericks: Some Men just Want To Watch the World Burn

I’ve come to set the world on fire;
I wish the flames were burning higher!
I came not to bring peace
but divide, piece by piece.
Doesn’t that excite and inspire?

Luke 12: 49 - 51

Setting Sunflowers on Fire - Again

Using a long exposure and motion to set sunflowers on fire...again

Biblical Limericks: Caterwaul

At Carmel the prophets of Ba’al
danced about with a loud caterwaul,
cutting themselves with knives
and screaming for their lives,
“Oh Ba’al, please let the fire fa’all!”

1 Kings 18: 26 - 29

Tea Lights

Trees of Fire

I used a simple, homemade bubble-wrap filter and a bit of motion to set an oak tree on fire this afternoon.

Setting Sunflowers on Fire

This one's for Kyle - who may or may not appreciate all the sunflower photos...

Setting Sunflowers on Fire by Jeff Carter on 500px

Sunflower Fire

I've begun using long exposures and zoom lenses to set sunflowers on fire...

Sunflower Fire by Jeff Carter on 500px

Higgins and Sparkler Graffiti

Earlier this morning, for reasons unknown, I began yelling at my daughter - calling her "Higgins" as if she were my lazy butler.

"Higgins, I would like coffee in my study following dinner this evening."
"Get it yourself, dad."
"I must say, Higgins!  There has been a deplorable decline in the quality of your service this past fortnight."
"You only started calling me that this morning. Cut it out."


But, for all of Higgins' recalcitrance, she did help me take some marvelous photos this evening.

Sparkler Graffiti by Jeff Carter on 500px

Biblical Haiku: Acts 2: 1 – 4

what howling wind
could fan such flames as these
we burn and speak

Another Controlled Burn

My Environmental Science class took a field trip this afternoon to the Neil Smith Wildlife Refuge in Prairie City, Iowa.  While we were there we watched a little bit of a controlled burn.  A regular burning is part of good prairie maintenance.   I've been able to photograph these controlled burns a couple of times.

Controlled Burn by Jeff Carter on 500px

In Flames