Today, one of our assignments was to pick photos (between 1 and 5 photos) from a large collection of really lovely and thoughtful examples and consider them in regards to our Image of God. I picked four:
A Piece of Highly Weathered Wood with a Piece of Paper (or Cloth) Nailed to It. A Hole is Torn in the Fabric the Shape of a Christian Cross. I picked this photo because the obviously Christian-cross-shaped hole reminded me of one of my favorite chapters in the Tao Teh Ching. That chapter discusses how the emptiness portion of common everyday items is the most important part. (i.e., The center of a wheel, the inside of a vase or cup, the windows and door of a house.) The "cross" in the photo isn't made of anything. It's the hole in the middle of the fabric. But yet it is clearly the most important aspect of the cloth. The part that isn't there...
Oh, and the cross-shaped hole allows the beauty of the weathered wood to show through. If the cross had been a drawing on the cloth rather than a hole, the beauty of the wood could not be seen.
A Magnificent Photo of a Hurricane Taken from Outer Space. The storm being pictured is obviously massive -- covering a large portion of Earth's surface. And it is easy to imagine the destruction being wreaked on the planet by the storm. But from outer space, the storm looks peaceful and gorgeous and aesthetically delightful. But in the center of the photo is the center of the storm. The "Eye" of the hurricane. The light shines down into the Eye at one edge, showing that the center of the storm is clear -- even as it it surrounded on all sides by heavy cloud cover.
The picture reminded me that, while we were sitting in comfort in the Franciscan Spiritual Center discussing great and mighty things, we were not, in fact, great and mighty things. Outside the building, where heavy rain was falling for the third consecutive day, the great and mighty things were occurring without any help from us.
So the picture was a reminder to me of exactly who was in charge of doing what in this here universe. A Truth that escapes us from time to time.
A Beautiful image of a High Bridge Crossing a River That Seemed to Be Running Quite Quickly. And There Were Pink Springtime Flowers Across the Top of the Image. The river in the photo looked to be too wide and too rapid to cross safely by swimming. So you could walk to the edge of the water on one side and find it impossible to get to the other side. Except for the existence of the bridge.
Now, you didn't have anything to do with the design of the bridge (which was elegant and beautiful) or the construction of the bridge or the maintenance of the bridge. But the bridge was there for you to cross the river easily and safely. At any time you wished. And the bridge didn't interfere with the river in any way. Each had its own province.
The lovely flowers across the top of the photo seemed to be blessing the bridge and the river and celebrating both of them.
My take on all this reflected a basic tenet of Christianity (and probably many other religions too!) that Help from the Almighty is available at any time to anyone. It isn't that you did anything special to deserve this -- and may in fact have done much evil in your life -- but the bridge to carry you safely is there for all.
A Small Child is Walking Towards a Large Body of Water as the Sun Begins to Set Over That Water. The Child's Right Hand is Being Held by a Tall Man, so that the Two of Them are Walking Together. The Man Allows the Child to Walk Slightly in Front of Him. The child could probably walk successfully by him/herself. But the guiding and supporting hand of the grown-up seems to be a welcome thing.
I placed myself in the image as being the child. And I can walk most anywhere I wished. But there are times and places where the hand of the Lord is deeply, thankfully taken. The hand was always there. All I had to do was reach for it. As I did during my cancer treatments...
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