I've been wanting to take photos at the fair for several years now, and haven't had the chance. I finally was able to make time this year, and it was a lot of fun. I didn't spend as much time photographing, but did have some great food and some good conversation.

That's part of why I love photography...it reminds me of the inherit goodness in the world around us. If you pay close enough attention, there's always something worthwhile, something beautiful, something good. The story of my faith tells me that when God created the heavens and the earth, it was very good..but before long, by humanity's selfish arrogance, the very-goodness of the world (what the Scriptures call shalom), was fractured and broken. So as one theologian says, "Through faith we can see that God made the world...but the world is not the way God made it." We are all aware of the violence, pain, and suffering that is an ever-present companion. 

But God has not abandoned the world. That's what the cross is all about. And that means there is always a current of love, a buzz of reconciliation, a spark of beauty, and a glimmer of hope.

Photography helps me to look for it.

It's always there, even at the county fair.

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