Increasingly Creative

For me, one of the most exciting things that happened during a day-long “water workshop” I attended was watching fellow camera club members become increasingly creative.


The two photography instructors had set up “stations” around the large room, each designed to provide a different kind of image. For example, one station had a glass baking dish half-filled with water to which a few drops of oil had been added. Underneath the dish was a multi-colored piece of fabric. All of that was sitting atop a light box, which lighted the dish from below. Other lights were strategically placed to illumine the sides.

After each student who photographed at that station gently stirred the water in order to move the drops of oil around, he or she began snapping images, varying the camera’s position and settings.

As the eleven of us worked, the instructors stayed nearby, offering guidance when needed.
As we experienced some measure of success at the various stations, we began to say, “I wonder what would happen if…” Soon students were working together, varying the lighting and the angles, changing out backgrounds and props, and so forth.

Because I was still recovering from having had blood clots in my lungs, I was more of an onlooker than an active participant, which allowed me to watch adults becoming increasingly creative—and having so much fun in the process, like children do.

A few weeks later, I was reminded of that experience the morning my grandson (age 3) began playing with Tinkertoys the three older grandchildren have enjoyed through the years. As he dumped the wooden sticks and circles and other components onto the bed where we were playing, the instruction sheet fell out.


“Nana, let’s make these,” Michael said, pointing to the diagrams.

“Honey, we can’t,” I said. “Some of the pieces we need are lost.”

Not upset by that, he began using the available pieces to make unique designs. For a time, I worked alongside him, creating fairly typical things like a flower, etc. But I began to notice that he wasn’t even attempting to create anything that already had a name. He was simply having fun fitting all the pieces together—in no particular order. And, let me tell you, he created some rather grand designs.

Naturally, I had to take pictures of him and his creations. So, for more than an hour he continued to be engrossed in his designs as I snapped photo after photo. (The external flash on my camera was pointed toward the white ceiling, causing reflected light to fall softly upon him, keeping him from being distracted—or blinded—by bright light.) While he played with his toys, I “played” with my camera by changing settings and lenses and shooting positions, and so forth. So, once again, as during the photography workshop, “A good time was had by all.”


As I reflect on that, I wonder why we adults rarely permit ourselves to enjoy creative activities. Why do we feel we ought to suppress that wonderful ability our Creator has placed within us? After all, He is creative! Beginning with the first book in the Bible, there are all sorts of acknowledgements of His creativity. Since He obviously enjoys expressing His creativity and surveying with pleasure His work, shouldn’t we?

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. For permission to use, please contact her at johnniegaskillDOTgmailDOT com.

Drip! Drip! Drip!

Drip. Drip. Drip. One drop followed another, each splashing into a glass bowl half-filled with water. Our assignment was to photograph a drop after it hit the water and splashed upward. That was easier said than done!

Some of the 11 photographers who were trying to accomplish that ended up with a few beautiful images. As you might guess, not every picture was a keeper. One photographer said she tried more than 50 times to get a shot she liked. I finally managed to snap a few pictures of drops as they rebounded from the water; but, alas, none of mine were sharply focused. Therefore, I won’t be able to use them in any way. However, I plan to keep a few of the best ones on my hard drive, since they represent my first attempt at photographing a water droplet in motion.

Frequently throughout the all-day photography workshop, we had to use an empty detergent bottle to suction out the excess water in our bowls. I was surprised at how quickly the bowls filled up. After all, there was only one drop falling at a time. Drip. Drip. Drip. Yet, those individual drops made a difference!

A few days after the workshop, I listened to a speech that had been given at a photography workshop a year ago. The speaker reminded everyone that sales, even little ones, do add up. “It’s like water dripping from a faucet,” she said. “Drip. Drip. Drip. Your little successes may not seem like much, but, over time, they’ll add up.”

Her words encouraged me, not only in regard to photography, but to life in general. Little things we do consistently and to the best of our ability will, over time, make a difference.

For example, since I’ve rejoined The Wellness Center, I’m hearing about dramatic changes in many of the people who go there regularly to exercise. One friend has lost over 40 pounds. Another now has a full range of motion in knees that once were too stiff and sore to move very much. Another has lowered (significantly!) her blood pressure and cholesterol.

These changes didn’t happen overnight. Like the drip, drip, drip of the water, the frequent visits to the Wellness Center, over time, slowly added up, making a noticeable difference.

Rather than just sitting around wishing, hoping, and praying for change, the clients are working day by day to achieve their fitness goals. And, as I said, they are experiencing remarkable success.

No matter where we want to go in life or what we want to achieve, we reach our goal step by step by step, don’t we? Whether it’s restoring order to a cluttered space or training for a career, we do it bit by bit by bit.

As I reflected on all these things, I recalled a parable (an earthly story with a spiritual application) Jesus told. In the story, three servants are called to appear before their master to give an account of how they had managed the money he had given to them to use while he had been away. Two servants had managed the money wisely; one had not.

Read all about it in the 25th chapter of Matthew. Notice what the master said when he commended the two wise servants: “You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!” (verses 21 and 23).

Being faithful in little things really does matter! So, let’s consistently take the small steps needed to get us to wherever we want to go. Step. Step. Step.

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. For permission to use the photos and/or the text, please contact her.

Eyes That See

“Oh, my goodness! Come and look at this!” I said to my two oldest grandsons (ages 12 and 9) as I viewed the photos I’d taken earlier that day. “You can see the little straw-like thing that the butterfly is using to sip the nectar from the lantana!”

As we discussed the photo, I said, “I believe that little straw is called a proboscis.” A quick search on the Internet confirmed that.

Although I’ve taken lots of pictures of butterflies, I’ve either never taken a shot as sharp as the one I’d captured that day or else I’ve simply failed to notice the proboscis. But there it was!

That set me to thinking about how the Creator designed everything in great detail. No wonder, then, as He was creating the world and all that was in it, He often looked over His work and noted that it was good. (See Genesis, chapter 1.)

Photography enables me to get a closer look at His handiwork than I could with my natural eye. For example, I use a zoom lens to take a digital photo and then upload the image to my computer where I can magnify it even more, allowing me to see incredible details that I might have missed.

Thinking about this makes me wonder what else I’ve been failing to see, even though my physical eyesight is good (as long as I’m wearing my glasses).

As Jesus pointed out many centuries ago, “…people see what I do but they don’t really see. They hear what I say, but they don’t really hear, and they don’t understand. This fulfills the prophecy of Isaiah [6:9-10], which says, ‘You will hear my words, but you will not understand; you will see what I do, but you will not perceive its meaning. For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them’” (Matthew 13:13-15).

Since it is possible to have eyes that can see quite well yet often fail to see the incredible details all around us, it’s no wonder that we also fail to “see” (discern) deeper truths.

Thus, I hope that you, Dear Reader, and I will regularly use the words in the old hymn, “Open My Eyes That I May See,” as a prayer. Oh, how we need to see spiritual truths and to discern God’s will.

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill, http://www.jgaskill.com/.

A Sad Demise

As I watched a piece of heavy equipment tear down an old building that had long been an historic landmark in our town, I thought, “This is coming down much faster than it went up.”

According to an article in one of the local papers, those who attended the hotel’s grand opening in 1928 had deemed it “magnificent” and “gorgeous.” For many years, the four-story hotel attracted many visitors to the area and hosted civic club meetings, wedding receptions, showers, class reunions, and so forth.

But the years took their toll on the once grand hotel, and it had stood empty since the early 1990’s. Now, it’s being torn down, saddening many people and greatly altering the landscape.

I thought about the demise of the old hotel one recent morning as I heard a song on the radio that said, in part, “People don’t crumble in a day.” In other words, deterioration is usually a slow process, although when destruction is complete, it seems to have happened quickly. For example, through the years, neglect and the forces of time had been slowly destroying the old hotel. Yet, when the wrecking crews moved in, it was reduced to huge piles of rubble in a matter of hours. In about a week, all the debris had been hauled away, leaving the area ready to be used in a new way.

Similarly, we don’t often see the subtle changes that point to our demise. For example, we often fail to notice how our attitudes and actions are slowly propelling us down the path to pain and/or ruin. But, as the years pass, our condition becomes increasingly obvious. Our health begins to fail or our money runs out or our career ends abruptly or our reputation is ruined because of “little lapses” along the way.

Then, we, like the old hotel, come to an end that neither we nor anyone else expected when we set out upon life’s path. But as the song I heard also says, “It’s a slow thing when you give yourself away” or, to put it another way, when you and I give in to temptations that lead us down wrong paths.

As the Bible points out, there are definite steps that lead to destruction: ”Temptation comes from the lure of our own desires. These evil desires lead to evil actions, and evil actions lead to death” (James 1:14-15, New Living Translation.)

The King James Version, an older translation, describes the progression this way: “But every man [person] is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).

So whether we read the older version or a more contemporary one, the path to ruin is easy to understand, isn’t it? Desires. Deeds. Death. Yet, we often don’t see the progression, because, as in the case of the old hotel, deterioration can be imperceptible—on a daily basis. But as time passes, we begin to see how far we’ve gone in the wrong direction, sometimes to the point of total ruin.

Little wonder, then, that the Bible says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do” (Proverbs 4:23, NLT). So, let’s keep watch over our daily choices, habits, and words, for they reflect the desires that are within our hearts.

© 2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill, http://www.jgaskill.com/.

The Teacher

We worked in silence most of the time, not because we had to but because we were concentrating hard on the 16x20 oil painting we were supposed to complete during the eight-hour session. As the instructor began to move from student to student, someone called out, “Help! I need the magic brush!”


Soft laughter erupted, and then several others said, “Me, too!”

That continued throughout the day. But while we waited our turn for help, we’d look more closely at the instructor’s painting that was projected on large TV screens and try to do what she had done.

Applying the paint to the canvas had looked so easy—effortless, actually—when the instructor had shown us how. But whenever we tried to paint the same part of the picture on our canvas, the clouds or the barn or whatever we were painting at the time didn’t look as wonderful as hers. So, we’d cry out, “Help! I need the magic brush!”

As soon as the instructor arrived at our easel, she’d make a cheerful comment and then take a long-handled brush like the one we were using, load it with some of the paint we’d mixed on our palettes, and then deftly apply it to our canvas. Within seconds she’d transform our round blobs into natural-looking rocks or our un-natural-looking water into a flowing, shimmering creek. Then she’d move on to the next student in need of the “magic brush.”


Actually, it wasn’t the brush that made the difference, else those of us who were using a brush like hers could have painted beautifully without any assistance. It was the teacher’s ability that brought about the transformation. Had it not been for her, many of us would have gone home with a mess rather than a beautiful oil painting we were proud to display.


Now, she didn’t do all of our work for us. Quite the contrary! We tried as hard as we could to do exactly what she had done, but whenever we called for help, she’d come right alongside us and show us what to do. Not once did she reprimand anyone for not listening carefully, for not remembering what she had said to do, for not trying hard enough, or for not being able to paint as well as she could.

She knew we wanted to learn. And even though some of us had to be told and re-told what to do, to be shown and re-shown, she remained patient.

As I reflected on that experience, I began to see how it paralleled, in some ways, that of Jesus and His disciples. What He did looked so easy, so effortless. But when they tried to perform a similar miracle, they couldn’t do it. More than once, they had to call on Him to do what they couldn’t do.


Naturally, they were terribly upset when He told them He was going away. However, He assured them they would continue to have a Teacher. “But when the Father sends the Counselor as my representative—and by the Counselor I mean the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I myself have told you” (John 14:26).


An ever-present teacher! What a gift! And there’s more Good News: the Teacher is always with you and me, too, enabling us to be and do far more than we (or anyone else!) ever thought possible.

© 2006 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill, http://www.jgaskill.com/. Scripture quoted is from the New Living Translation.

Essence

I’ve taken lots of “people pictures” here lately. Some have been documentary— the kind that shows the subject in a particular setting and could be used to accompany a newspaper or magazine article that further explains the “who, what, when, where, why, and/or how.”

Other photos I’ve taken have been less documentary and more “expressive.” For example, while attending a kite flying activity at the University of Georgia’s Research and Education Garden in Griffin, GA, I took several images of a mom, her two sons, and their grandparents. After taking one particular close-up image of the younger son, I checked the LCD screen to make sure the image wasn’t blurred, as can often happen when hand holding a camera.

“Oh, look!” I said to the grandmother as I held the LCD screen so she could see.

“How sweet!” she said.

As I showed the image to the boy’s mother, she asked, “Is there any way we can have copies of these?”

“I’ll be glad to share them with you,” I told her. “Just send me an e-mail at the address that’s on this card.”

When she contacted me several days later, I sent her an invitation to view the photos I’d uploaded to a private album on an on-line site and gave her instructions for downloading the ones she wanted.

She wrote back saying, “I LOVE the pics!!! Thank you SO much….This was an unexpected treat for me and my family…we appreciate it so much! ”

I replied, “So glad you liked the photos! I really love taking pictures, especially of people in “unposed” situations. Their heart/essence really shows during such times—for example, the sweetness/innocence on the faces of your handsome boys. I photographed at my grandsons’ baseball games last Saturday and captured some of the most precious expressions on their faces, too!”

That set me to thinking about other “people pictures” I’ve taken that have become favorites of mine. So, I decided to post a few of them in an on-line album here: http://picasaweb.google.com/johnniegaskill

As I selected the photos, I realized I liked them because they conveyed each subject’s essence—that is, his or her uniqueness or what I like to call “specialness.” The photos I selected also portrayed an emotion each of the subjects was feeling at the time I took the photo. Thus, each photo is a once-in-a-lifetime image since it cannot be recreated. Even if I were to photograph the same subject again in the same setting, the facial expressions and the lighting and even the angle would be different.

So, I love capturing those one-of-a-kind images that convey a subject’s uniqueness. And I do believe that each person has a God-given “specialness” that is to be acknowledged—and celebrated! If I, as a photographer, can capture even a glimpse of that awesome “specialness” then I am, indeed, happy!

I pray that all of the photos I take, not only of people but also of landscapes and flowers and animals and… will convey what the psalmist said to God many centuries ago: “Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it” (Psalm 139:14, New Living Translation).

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

Spring Will Come!

If I were to describe today, I could echo what Charles Dickens said years ago: “It [is] one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold; when the summer is in the light, and winter in the shade.”

The sun is shinning warmly enough (63 degrees, according to the thermometer), yet the brisk wind is bone-chilling. If I stand in a sheltered area, I don’t need a jacket; but if I walk out in an open space (such as my driveway), I need a coat, scarf, and gloves.

But soon it will be spring, for sure. The daffodils are finally blooming, albeit later this year than usual, and are dancing in the breeze. The ready-to-burst-open buds on the forsythia and other shrubs and trees will soon show off their colors.

Since spring has been delayed a bit this year, folks are saying this will be one of the most beautiful springs we’ve had in a long while. Rather than spring coming “here a little, there a little,” it will arrive all at once. Won’t that be delightful?

This winter has seemed to drag on and on, hasn’t it? Even folks here in the south have grown tired of it and are longing for spring. We are so ready to go outside and dig in the dirt. We long for sunshine’s warmth on our backs as we play and work outside. We’re eager to feel warm breezes blowing through our hair as we walk through neighborhoods ablaze with color.

Perhaps we love spring so much because, as Virgil A. Kraft said, “Spring shows what God can do with a drab and dirty world.”

In addition to beauty and comfort, spring brings hope—hope that God can and will make something beautiful of our lives and of the lives of others, hope that He will make something beautiful out of the ugliness that’s all too often seen and experienced in our world, hope that He will….

We know that no winter, no matter how long it lasts or how bitter it is, will last forever. Spring will follow, even if winter delays its arrival for a longer than usual time. Knowing that spring will come, one of these days, renews our hope that God will make all things beautiful in His time.

Consider, for example, the prophet, Jeremiah. He experienced a terrible winter of the soul, brought on by severe afflictions and frustrations that seemed to never end. After mentioning many of the things that caused his pain, he said, "The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words. I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The unfailing love of the LORD never ends! By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day. I say to myself, ‘The LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!’” (Lamentations 3:19-24).

Having said that, Jeremiah then added, “The LORD is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. So, it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the LORD” (v. 25-26).

Waiting during a long winter is so hard. But that waiting is made easier when we have hope that God will change things for the better, which He surely will. The coming of spring reminds us once again of that great truth.

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill. Scriptures quoted are from the New Living Translation.

There's Wonder All Around!

Everywhere I look, I see things that fill me with awe. For example, one mid-February afternoon, I went out into the yard to photograph. I had no idea what I’d find that would make a good subject for a photograph, but I felt confident I’d find something, even though the landscape was composed mainly of shades of brown, gray, and black.

With pleasure, I noticed that the tender daffodil shoots had survived the snow that had blanketed them a few days before.

Normally, I could find lots of beautiful camellia blooms to photograph, since we have several bushes, each producing a different kind of bloom, but all the blooms and buds had been “burned” by the bitterly cold temperatures.

“Maybe I can find one that looks good,” I said to myself. Sure enough, I found one in a sheltered spot near the bottom and center of the bush. So, I picked it and then placed it in a spot on the bush where I could photograph it more easily. It looked very natural there, so I set to work.



The 12 mm extension tube I’d added to my 50 mm lens before placing it on my camera greatly magnified what I was seeing through the viewfinder. So, I literally caught my breath as I noticed, as if for the first time, not only the beautiful pale pink color of the petals but their gently curving edges and the way they fit so perfectly together, layer upon layer. Amazing! A true work of art!

Enthralled by its loveliness, I lingered there, capturing thirty or more images of that one bloom, from various angles. Finally, I forced myself to leave and walked around the house to the holly tree that was loaded with red berries. I sprayed some of them with water, watching eagerly for a single drop that would form at the bottom of a berry or leaf. As soon as I spotted one, I set to work, hoping to capture the surrounding colors reflected in that tiny drop.


Once again, I gasped with wonder at the image in the viewfinder. Such perfection. Such beauty in the bright red berries and in the deep green of the leaves themselves and also in the tiny droplet.

I felt a similar sense of awe as I photographed nandina berries in the front yard and a tightly encased bud on the Japanese Magnolia tree.

When the cold compelled me to go inside, I didn’t want to lose the sense of wonder I’d felt. So, I moved a 6-inch pot of tulips into better light and began to photograph their centers. With window light lighting them from behind and “fill flash” from my camera lighting them from the front, I captured amazing details that I would have missed if I hadn’t slowed down to take a long look.

Experiences such as these remind me that wonder is, indeed, all around. Whenever I see it, it leads me to worship the One who created such wondrous details. I’m thankful I can do that. According to Romans 1:25, some folks worship the things God has made but stop short of worshipping Him. How sad to miss the joy and blessing of worship! But far more importantly, how unfair to deprive Him of the praise rightfully due Him!!


(c) 2010 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill. These photos as well as others on this blog are for sale. To purchase, please contact Johnnie.

Blessings in Every Trial

For over two months now, I’ve been experiencing round-the-clock nausea. While my doctor has no definitive answer, yet, as to why, he has told me I do have gastritis and esophagitis, which he attributes to acid reflux. He wants me to have more diagnostic tests to find out for sure what’s really causing the problem.

In the meantime, I continue to feel miserable. I am sick of being sick! Increasingly, I’m giving up activities, like photography, that I used to engage in because bending over, even slightly, produces more nausea.

One weekend, when the nausea was particularly bad, I spent all day Saturday propped up on the couch, trying to stay as still as possible. I watched a photography CD that inspired me so much that I played it again and again, longing for the images I take to convey the beauty and wonder of the Creator’s work.

Sunday, I felt just a tad better, so I spent most of the day at my computer, which didn’t require much bending (other than when I got up and down). Although I couldn’t go outside in the spring-like weather and photograph the daffodils, I spent many pleasant hours designing 3.5 x 5-inch note cards.

To create them, I used photos I’d taken some time ago. By late afternoon, I had several designs that I really liked. One of the last ones I created (shown here) had a pastel pink background (that was actually a close-up of a camellia bloom I’d taken weeks ago).

As I worked with that quote—changing the font size and color, creating a border for it, etc.—I realized God had indeed given me “a blessing in each trial,” several blessings, in fact! For example, if I hadn’t been too sick to do other things, I probably wouldn’t have designed the note cards. And the persons to whom they would have been sent (whether by me and/or by those who purchased the cards) would have missed out on much-needed encouragement.

Another blessing I’ve received during this trial has been “a faithful friend to share” it. Actually, I have many friends who are concerned about me and are praying, as I am, that I will soon be well. Although none of my friends can make the nausea go away, their support helps me endure it.

As I reflect on this current problem, I realize anew that others I’ve encountered have also contained blessings of some sort. Initially, some were not obvious, but as I look back on various trials I’ve been through, I can see God-given blessings in each one.

That’s why I remind myself often of Romans 8:28: “God causes all things to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose for them.”

Although the “things” themselves aren’t necessarily “good” (my nausea, for example), God takes all difficulties and distresses and extracts blessings from them. I do not understand how He does it, only that He does!

©2010 by Johnnie Ann Burgess Gaskill

Stay with Your Subject

While attending the Georgia Nature Photographers’ Association’s first annual Expo, held at Callaway Gardens, I received many excellent tips for improving my photography. For example, during the Saturday afternoon session, Nancy Rotenberg, one of the keynote speakers, said, in essence: When you see something that interests you, don’t just press the shutter button and move on. Work with your subject. Figure out what captivates you most about your subject. Then photograph it in such a way that the viewer will see what you saw and understand what your photograph is “saying.”

The following morning when Nancy met a small group of us at the Cecil B. Day Butterfly House for a guided photo shoot, I decided to take her advice. As I walked down a paved path bordered by beautiful plants, some blooming, some not, a cluster of small blooms growing on a vine caught my eye. So, I set my tripod near the orange blooms and began looking through the viewfinder to figure out the best way to “frame” them.

The longer I stayed there, the more I noticed the details, which made me more eager to photograph their beauty. So, I’d take a shot, check it on my camera’s LCD screen, realize I’d not captured the image the way I wanted to, adjust a setting or two on my camera, and take another shot.

When other photographers passed by, I’d ask them for advice. Even though their tips improved my images, I still couldn’t get one that made me say, “Yes!!!”

When Nancy passed by, I asked her for help. “What is it you want to photograph?” she asked.

After I’d pointed out the little orange blooms, she said, “In three words, and only three, tell me what captivates you the most about those blooms.”

I replied, “Tendrils, colors, and shapes.”

“Well, let’s zoom in and focus on those three things.”

I did what she said and was able to place those “elements” inside the frame in a way that pleased me. But each image I shot had problems: the color wasn’t right or else the focus wasn’t as sharp as I wanted it and so forth.

Since I was determined to get the image that had formed inside my head, I stayed with my subject, as she had advised. Although I was aware that other photographs were capturing images of the beautiful butterflies, I stayed with the blooms.

As I lingered there, all sorts of thoughts went through my head. Just give up on this and move on. After all, you’re supposed to be photographing butterflies!

But I stayed with my subject, changing a setting on my camera and checking each image to see if I’d “nailed it” yet. If not, I’d change another setting and press the shutter button again.

As the photo shoot was ending, I tried one more time. As I looked at that image, I said, “I got it!!!!”

I love that photo! Not only is it beautiful (in my eyes, at least) but it also reminds me to “stay with” whatever I feel passionate about and to try again and again to figure out what will bring the desired result. Doing so will bring success—and gladness!


©2010 by Johnnie Ann Gaskill.

Additional Note: As I look at this photo, I am reminded that the Creator has placed incredible beauty all around us. I pray that we will pay attention to it--and to all the intricate details contained therein--and, in doing so, that we will realize, as He does, that His work is "very good."