What is my job as a blogger/columnist/photographer for Reflectionary.org and LookSeePray.com ?
Once a week or thereabouts I post a picture and comment on it; I try and point out that what we really “see” has a deeper significance and might prompt prayer- or even count as prayer.
How can I do that consistently? There are two parts to the answer. First, I must keep training my own eyes to see beyond the obvious. Then my mind and spirit have to draw on my experience and training as a pastor and Bible student. Does the picture remind me of a Scripture verse? Does the content of the photo start a train of thought about theology, morality, Creation, or the challenges facing Christian disciples? Sometimes it may be deeply personal, and then the article is like a “journal” of my own pilgrimage and difficulties because honesty matters- and I’m not perfect (yet).
Today I visited a wetland trust site near Arundel; I was hoping to spot kingfishers and dragonflies and perhaps take a stunning photo of these beauties. I saw one kingfisher, a streak of electric blue as it whizzed past- no picture. Too fast and too small. I saw loads of dragonflies- no picture, because they stayed out of range of my macro and telephoto lens. Some were also blue, I could tell that much.
Unexpectedly, the site was blessed with and abundance of wildflowers. So I took about 200 photos of those.
To be brutally honest, many of those are “nice-but-mildly boring” flower shots. Splendid in their own way, but not obviously shouting “Look at me! I’m deep and profound!”
Then I spotted an unusual detail. A “floaty seed” of thistle or more likely Rosebay Willowherb had become trapped on a reed-stem. Despite the strong breeze, it stayed put, with its fluffy-feathery arms entwined with the reed.
This is my job- to look hard enough to SEE what a casual glance would ignore. How many photographers took a picture of this today? I’m guessing, but I reckon it is only one. Here it is, shared with you! Isn’t the structure of the seed fascinating? Geometric precision, tiny lightweight strands of fluff that act as a natural paraglider. Yet it exists not for the flight, but to carry the seed. And the seed contains all the DNA necessary to grow a new plant, a perfect copy of the parent. Without the “feathery bits” the seed would fall to the ground and overcrowd the existing plant site. Seeds are to carry far away, spread the “good news” of viable DNA, and guarantee the survival of the species. That’s what a seed is for.
I spy with my little eye, a flyable seed… something beginning with hope.
John 3 v8 says “The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit of God.”
A wind-borne seed, a resting place, and the expectation of new life. Many years earlier, Isaiah the prophet proclaimed these wonderful words: “As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” – Isaiah 55 v10-11
Today I looked and saw an unexpected messenger that reminded me that God can’t be controlled by us- and that this God who has SPOKEN does not waste His Breath. The seed goes out, and God’s will is done. The Word speaks, and new life and new hope come into being.
I looked; I saw. Now my reflection on this becomes a prayer of thanksgiving and comfort. I hope it may also become yours.
The Reflectionary 