I thought this was such a wonderful idea that I asked the deacon of my church if I could share it. She said, “of course!”
At each of our deacon meetings, we start with a devotional or simple prayer. She entwined the two by having us each choose an egg. Inside each egg was a delicious piece of chocolate or jelly beans and a tiny little scroll that she tied closed with a piece of the green grass.
On each of the small scrolls was a line of blessing that when read in any order created a beautiful prayer.
It didn’t matter if all the eggs were taken or only some. It didn’t matter who started or who ended. The prayer in the form of a blessing just continued to unfold.
As we enter into this Epiphany Season, we are beginning a series about seeing this in a new light: basically, considering alternative perspectives. As I’ve been rattling this theme around in my mind, I have felt compelled to put together a bulletin board using some of my photography in ways that make people think more deeply.
Now one bulletin board isn’t going to change the world, but in conjunction with the remainder of the series, I hope it may affect a few people. I’ve always been amazed at how sometimes old-school ways, like a bulletin board, can really help people connect with a message.
I actually enjoyed putting this particular board together. In fact, I have really come to enjoy photography. I don’t mean fancy photography that requires special lenses or careful development; I mean Contemplative Photography. Contemplative Photography invites me to commune with the sacred and to really pay deep attention to the world. I simply use the camera on my phone to capture places where I see God is still speaking. I have been doing this so often that I began to look for an outlet for some of my pictures.
One of the places you might see some of them is in the UpperRoom’s Sight Psalms. There is no financial reward for these submission, but I find that I get the reward of hopefully opening the world in a new way for others, and it causes me to reflect even more deeply.
Here is the link to the one that I most recently had published and below is a modified picture of it. Interestingly, these blackberries were picked from wild blackberry bushes fresh that day I photographed them. In fact, that is how the photo started. My husband picked one and said that they were delicious and so we decided to pick more. When I saw the lush abundance in my hand, I decided I needed to capture that to remember God’s abundant care for the world. I hadn’t planted these bushes. I hadn’t weeded this garden. I was simply enjoying the harvest on this particularly lovely day. For this, I needed to be grateful, and I suspect we have all had an occurrence like this.
Abundance:
God provides. Let us be thankful for the many ways we receive what we need.
The photography will not ever make it into the Louvre, but that is not where I hope it is displayed. I’d prefer that such pictures help people open their hearts.
Wandering and Wondering 