Photos make great memories, yet sometimes we can become so involved in capturing the perfect shot that we overlook the actual view. This time of year seems conducive to taking memory photos of the burgeoning growth and beauty of God’s creation. Let us remember to also take time to bask in His natural gifts.
Eternal Perspectives by Sally Bair
Photo opportunities abound during this season
My daughter and granddaughter recently drove to Minneapolis to check out the house where I spent my first twelve years and to view nearby Minnehaha Falls. They gave me some photos of the famous falls, which I had walked behind on a skinny, slippery ledge as a youngster.
Photos make for great memories, whether on cell phones or in print. I’ve taken my share of them, especially during my numerous trips to Alaska and British Columbia. I even met up with a group of Japanese tourists one day when my family and I were carrying the four Malamute puppies we’d just purchased to take home with us. The tourists begged us to let them hold our pups so they could take snapshots for their own memories.
Meanwhile, nearly everything we saw during that specific Alaskan trip became a photo-op. I often found myself viewing Alaska through a camera lens. With a turn of the camera's zoom lens, the Dall sheep grazing on a mountainside half a mile away looked close enough to touch. The far-away glacier became as close as the starfish-littered beach at my feet.
On the other hand, the serious campers and hikers came face to face with Alaska's wildlife. They took their time getting to know nature in its truest, closest form. They experienced intimate closeness with the flora and fauna around them.
Casual glimpses of nature give us something to talk about, something to show in a photo album, but not much more. Casual glimpses of God don't offer much, either. When we know God only from the "lens" of a pulpit on a Sunday morning or from a book or from second-hand information, it brings little change in our lives. But spiritual camping involves seeking out the true aspects of the nature of God through serious, quiet, persistent Bible reading and prayer. Only when we seek a close, personal encounter with him, will we become changed, whole, and fulfilled. And then we will follow Him, with great joy, wherever He leads. Why should we settle for capturing His picture, His character, on one-dimensional film when we can know Him and enjoy Him multi-dimensionally—through all our senses?
John 10:14, 27 states: "I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep and My sheep know Me…My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me."
Lord, thank You for inviting us to know You personally and intimately. Forgive us when we've been satisfied with being mere spiritual tourists. Give us a strong desire to become participants in Your kingdom rather than spectators. In Jesus' name, amen.
Comments