love thursday: so, about that photobomb

So yeah, remember about a month ago, I got mad about a Florida church?  And I asked you all to send me images and words of peace so I could send them on to the church, to remind them that love, not hate, always wins?

Well, you did.

You sent me a lot.

I mean, a lot.

To the tune of about several hundred, I would imagine.  Your images came from all over the world.  There were images of children, of seasides, of lakes, of rivers, of pets, of clouds and of flowers.  And with all of them came beautiful messages of peace:  quotes from the Bible, the Qur'an, the Torah; quotes from Buddha, Gandhi, Martin Luther King.  And of course, there were hundreds of original, heartfelt thoughts of love and fellowship.

As I went through all of the photos, I couldn't help being overwhelmed with emotion:  it's really something to see words after words after image after image expressing peace, even when facing blatant hatred.  I sincerely wish you could've all been with me as I went through them.  I felt ... hopeful.

Once I collected them all, I wrote a cover letter, so that our intent in sending these messages of peace had no risk of being misinterpreted.

And then Alex decorated the mailing box with hearts and other hopeful images.

So to all of you who sent me these lovely messages (as well as your personal notes), THANK YOU.  As you read this, our package of peace is winging its way to Gainesville.  I have no idea if our little photobomb will make any difference in the intent of this church to go through with its plans, but as one of you said in your note to me: "Even if it doesn't change the outcome, I know that participating at least changed me."

Amen.  Because, ultimately and forever, Love Always Wins.

Happy Love Thursday, everyone.  And again, thank you.

Images:  Photographed with my Nikon D300, 60mm micro lens.

Song:  Imagine, as performed by Eva Cassidy