Tag: Reflection

Cloud reflection

Just from this image the brain understands there are ripples on the surface of the water and from past experience will also know that these ripples will be moving.

< Previous | Index | Next >

Image of the day – 176

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye. I’m posting an image every few days.

Click to enlarge

Sometimes we see things indirectly, and our brains are capable of retrieving far more information than you might at first think. It’s true of all our senses – hearing, touch, taste, smell and all the rest. The senses provide information but the brain makes much more of it all.

What do we see in this image? It’s just a pattern of coloured patches reflected from a water surface. That’s what the eye sees. But the brain tells us there are clouds in the sky above and there are ripples on the water. Then the brain compares this basic information with what it recalls from past experience and it can construct two narratives, one for the clouds and another for the water.

The clouds

There is a dark cloud and it’s the closest one to us, it threatens a shower of rain. A second image taken a few seconds later would be enough for the brain to decide the direction of movement of the cloud and predict whether the rain might fall here or somewhere else. Paler clouds, white clouds and blue sky suggest there’s some sunshine around as well so although there might be a brief shower, it won’t turn into ongoing steady rain. All of that from from a few colour patches.

The water

Because of the way the cloud reflections are distorted, the brain can infer the water is neither heavily disturbed not completely calm. Just from this image the brain understands there are ripples on the surface of the water and from past experience will also know that these ripples will be moving. The same brain will realise that there are two likely causes; either there is a light breeze blowing or perhaps a boat has passed recently. Once again, past knowledge in memory is necessary to arrive at these conclusions. There are some large ripples and, near the top of the image, some much smaller ones too. There was a small disturbance in the water further away as these small ripples seem to form an expanding circle of which we see only a small part.

Here and there things are floating on the water, small leaves, perhaps? If so, there must be trees nearby, perhaps with branches overhead. What a lot the brain can reconstruct on the basis of prior knowledge! And all of these conclusions come from some patches of colour in a still image. And what about the little sticks emerging from the water on the left-hand side? It’s the remains of vegetation of some kind. Was there a plant growing in the water? Did a strong wind break twigs off an overhead tree branch?

And one last point – it was not raining at the moment the photo was taken. The water would have been covered with dozens of circular disturbances if rain was falling. That’s a lot of information that your eyes and brain can glean from a single fragment of time trapped by my camera!

We are, as the Bible expresses it, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139:14).

See also:

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

You might also like:

Image of the day – 72
Churn flooding
Season’s Greetings 2023
Reflections from way back when

Image of the day – 72

If it’s raining you’ll be looking for an umbrella or zipping up your waterproof coat, in the sunshine you’ll be glad of the shade while enjoying the clear sky.

< Previous | Index | Next >

What’s in an image? Sometimes quite a lot, more than meets the eye.

I’m posting an image every two days (or as often as I can). A photo, an image from the internet, a diagram or a map. Whatever takes my fancy.

Click to enlarge

The Riverside Walk runs from Thomas Street (near the junction with Cecily Hill) to the north-western end of Gloucester Street in Cirencester. It crosses the Barton Mill pound, although the mill itself was destroyed in a fire in the 1920s.

This view is from the bridge across the mill pound looking towards the site of the old mill. Riverside Walk is a favourite for Cirencester people walking or cycling from the town centre towards Stratton. It’s a peaceful place to stroll, one end surrounded by fine, old Cotswold stone houses, and the other with a view over flood meadow, and the path is accompanied by water for the entire length.

At the halfway point this footpath crosses Barton Lane, with access to Cirencester Park to the west and Gloucester Street to the right. A lovely part of the town.

What will you think about as you walk this lovely footpath? If it’s raining you’ll be looking for an umbrella or zipping up your waterproof coat, in the sunshine you’ll be glad of the shade while enjoying the clear sky. If you are lucky you might see the kingfisher, the heron, the little egret, or a red kite passing overhead. All are regulars here, though you’ll have to keep your eyes peeled.

Cirencester

For convenience, here’s a list of all the Cirencester area images:

A417 roadworks, Advent Market, Bishops Walk, Baunton, Canal 1, 2, Castle Street, Christmas lights 1, 2, Church 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, Churn flood, Countryside, Fallen tree, Fleece, Gasworks, Gloucester Street, Hare 1, 2, Hospital, Market Place 1, Phoenix Fest, Riverside Walk, Stone plaque, Stratton Meadow, Tank traps, View, Wonky 1, 2, Yellow Iris

Themed image collections

The links below will take you to the first post in each collection

Cirencester, Favourites, Irish holiday 2024, Roman villa

< Previous | Index | Next >

Useful? Interesting?

If you enjoyed this or found it useful, please like, comment, and share below. My material is free to reuse (see conditions), but a coffee is always welcome!

Season’s Greetings 2023

Look at the world around you and you will see pain, loss, discouragement, guilt, and hard struggles for survival. But look at the world from just the right angle and you will see altogether better things.

I have something a little different for you this year. The photo shows a reflected image of Cirencester Parish Church in a puddle of water in Gosditch Street. What can this photo say to us?

What’s in a puddle?

More and more, the UK is a rich mix of people from many cultural backgrounds. That’s why the title is not ‘Christmas Greetings’. Please accept the greetings and replace the word ‘Season’ with whatever you like. If you’re Hindu you could choose Diwali as a reminder of your celebrations in November, or Jewish friends might go with Hannukah in December, if you’re Muslim you might look forward to Lailat al Miraj in February; Buddhists might consider Bodhi Day, and there are more groups of people I haven’t mentioned specifically. But whatever you celebrate, please take my greetings as a blessing for the whole of next year – spring, summer, autumn and winter.

I’d also like to bless you with a few thoughts about the picture. What, indeed, is in a puddle?

Look at the same puddle from any other angle and you would see dirty water; perhaps some litter; bits of road grit; a rather grubby, yellow ‘no parking’ line; and the general detritus of everyday life. But look at it from just the right angle and you see a reflected image, in this case an image of beautiful mediaeval architecture, detailed fine carving in stone, and the leaves of a living tree.

Look at the world around you and you will see pain, loss, discouragement, guilt, and hard struggles for survival. But look at the world from just the right angle and you will see altogether better things. Love for family, friends, and neighbours, beauty in nature and in people’s hearts and actions, joy, discovery, encouragement, peace, and thriving life. As a follower of Jesus (Yahshua, Isa), when I look at him in the right way I see a reflection of the Creator, the Source and Power behind this amazing universe.

Reflections in puddles also have another effect – they turn everything upside down. Jesus did that too: he confronted people with truth, he pointed out false motives, uncaring behaviour by the wealthy, blame-shifting, and striving for power or approval. People don’t like that, truth is often inconvenient.

Who should we think of this winter? Who can we help in some practical way? It might be someone in the road where we live, or the place where we work. In the world at large let’s remember the people in Ukraine, Gaza, and other places where there are struggles and loss of life (it’s not hard to think of more).

So my message this winter is that we should all help those around us. Talk with lonely people, provide some dried or canned food to your local food bank, donate warm clothes you no longer need, perhaps to a charity shop. If you can afford a gift of money, choose a charity that will use your donation wisely and effectively. And reach out more widely too, perhaps on the internet; send a message of encouragement or a gift to someone.

So whoever you are, whatever faith you have (or none), I hope 2024 will be a year to look forward to. As this year closes and the new one arrives, my hope, wish, and prayer for you is that grace and blessing will fill your life in ways hoped for and ways unexpected.

Let’s all be grateful for what we have, and display compassion and love towards those who need it. In that way, blessing will have a chance to touch you, and through you, touch others as well.

PS – If you like the puddle photo, click it for the full size version. Print it out, put it in a frame and hang it on the wall. Give a copy to friends if you think they’d like it; or send them a link to this message.

Other years

2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016

Reflections from way back when

The weak are doubly rewarded, they’re glad to do the easy things and by their childlike faith and trust achieve the hard things too

This is an edited repost of one of my earliest blog messages, originally from 18th December 2002, so almost twenty years ago! In fact, it was my first serious post.

Back in those days I’d been meeting with my sister, Rachael, and some local friends. Sometimes we met in Rugby, at Rachael’s house, sometimes near Wellingborough where one of our friends lived, and sometimes at my home or others in St Neots.

The meetings were always full of spiritual life; we would sit together, share coffee, do a bit of a catch up chat, and then fall into a comfortable silence – waiting, and expecting the Holy Spirit to guide us. These were very fruitful times for all of us. Out of the quietness would come a mental picture, a thought, some Bible verses, a prayer, words in an unknown language, an interpretation, a song, some prophecy. Usually everyone would contribute something, and always by the end of the meeting we would see a clear thread running through the whole, something we could remember that would encourage us or bless us in some way.

The following is what I wrote twenty years ago:

Our meeting reminded me of the seventh day of creation, when He rested. Even God desires quiet times!

The other bit I particularly remembered was, ‘It’s not for us to do, but for Him to do in us’ (RK)

Four of us met and the Holy Spirit led us very gently. We felt encouraged and uplifted, it was a peaceful and quiet time with a variety of words and pictures.

There was a wonderful picture of still water, with a reflection of the Almighty’s glory clearly visible in it; the water also reflected images of us towards him. Our feet were in the water; and he said that we should be careful not to make disturbances as this would spoil the reflection, only if we stayed quiet and very still would we be able to see his reflected glory.

We also had a word that the easy things he wants done are overlooked by the great and the learned, while the difficult things are only ever attempted by the weak and foolish.

Thinking about this afterwards I realised that the great doubly miss out, they miss the easy things because they think they’re not worth doing, and they miss the hard things because they realise they’re too difficult to attempt. But the weak are doubly rewarded, they’re glad to do the easy things and by their childlike faith and trust achieve the hard things too!

We came away encouraged and strengthened – it was a great evening!

See the original post

(Note: RK is my sister, Rachael.)

A reflection of what is not directly visible – Image from Wikimedia Commons

My thought after the meeting is what I want to emphasise here in 2022. Perhaps we are much too easily impressed by the people in society who are thought to be great in wisdom, or wealth, or skill. Great leaders, great speakers, powerful company bosses. Reputation can be overvalued.

Perhaps we should be more willing to also value weakness, and to notice how the weak are doubly blessed. They achieve this by doing the easy things that the great may overlook or regard of little value, and they achieve the hard things by just doing them, often without recognising the difficulties.

So let’s value the weak and the humble. Let’s notice them, and learn from them. At the same time we can (and should) appreciate the people around us who achieve so much through skill, learning, persuasive speaking, and sheer hard work and persistence. The great are good, providing they are also humble and gentle. Indeed, good motives are fundamental, for both the strong and the weak.

And if you think you are weak – rejoice! Savour the double blessing.

Some questions

  • If you follow Jesus, could you meet like this? Have you tried?
  • What advantages are there in preparing the content, structure, and leadership of a meeting in advance?
  • Are there any disadvantages?
  • What does Paul mean when he says that all should contribute? (1 Corinthians 14:26) – For more on this question, see my subsequent tweet.