The word friend is tricky.  I imagine that in a lifetime we have very few real friends.  I have a lot of folks that I know well and have real affection for and I don’t know what else to call them.  On this week of Thanksgiving I’ve been thinking about all that I have to be thankful for, and way high on the list is the great people that God has allowed me to get to know and spend time with.  Some of those people are no longer with us. 

Many years ago I got a very small envelope in the mail, it was from Galen Rowell.  When I opened the envelope out fell a single 35mm color transparency.  It was the image above and written on the slide mount in Galen’s hand was,“it should have been Fortney’s way.”  Galen was a very interesting man.  The public Galen Rowell and the private one were very different.  Galen seemed, on stage, in front of a crowd, to be serious and focused.  In private Galen loved to cut up and was actually pretty fun loving.  Over a period of five years I worked with Galen several times a year.  I got o know and really liked Barbara, his wife, and was crushed when they were both were tragically killed in an airplane crash.

John Netherton was another great person in my photographic life.  John was the first well known photographer I ever met in the nature field.  John, unlike Galen, was never serious, except the moment before making an image.  John was one of  the greatest photographers I ever knew.

John was technically sound and had a great eye. 

I miss them both, but they each left some valuable things in my life.  They both inspired me as a photographer and they both brought laughter and warmth into my life.

The list of people like that goes on and on, and I thank God for the opportunity to have known these two men and the many other people that I’ve been blessed to spend time with.  I hurt very badly when we lost both of  these men.   I witnessed as much as I could to both of them but

I’m not certain if either ever turned their  lives over to Christ. 

I beat myself up for a while when each died, but Dr. Charles Stanley relieved my pain, somewhat,

when he advised me that, “all you can do is lay the invitation in front of someone, the rest is up to them.”  I know he is right, but I still often wonder if I could have done more.  In some ways that is why you are reading this today.  I made a vow, that I would not fail to do everything I could for

everyone I knew in the future. 

I hope I’m wrong and both Galen and John will be at the Gate when I arrive, that would make getting there all the sweeter.  Both John and Galen died suddenly, they had no chance to consider spiritual matters in their last few moments.  I pray that we will all get that issue resolved long before our appointed time.

Today’s prayer,

Father, I don’t want to leave another friend behind.  Please help me to share your love in a way that makes others want to know you and accept your gift of grace.  Please help me to never be so intense that I run someone away.  I know that I don’t deserve your grace, please don’t ever let anyone think that I’m judging them for where they are.  Help them to know that the only thing different about me is that I said yes to you.  Amen

the pilgrim

* Note:  I was going through images to use for blog entries while my right arm is in a sling for most December and early January, I saw this image and memories came flooding back.  That is what is so great about photography, all the emotions and memories that can be attached to a single image.