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A matter of perspective
I’ve become more and more interested in photography as of late! It’s been fun, walking around, shooting photos, pretending I know what I’m doing. I’ve scheduled classes for next semester, and among them is Digital Photography I. I’m really looking forward to it! I’m hoping that I can take photojournalism in the Fall of 2012, so then I can apply it to what I’m studying in a way that is a bit more specific. I’ve also gotten a few books on photography and photojournalism from our library on campus, the Otis Bowen library. Some of the pictures are phenomenal! In doing so, I’ve found a little real-life spiritual application, though!
And here it is: the beauty and good in a situation depends entirely on our perspective.
Take this photo for example:
It’s a photo of the slide, taken in Bethel’s intramural field. if I had simply taken the photograph of a slide from a different view, it may appear mundane, boring, and not-appealing. The slide might even be considered an ugly one. Yet with a little perspective, we can see that the picture draws you in. It’s more interesting than seeing the slide in a different way, and I even consider the picture beautiful, in its own way.
It’s the same way with our circumstances in life. Take James 1:2-4 for instance: “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (NIV, 1984).
It doesn’t take a whole lot to realize that the natural reaction to trials is not “pure joy.” But when you take on a perspective of viewing it through God’s lens, it begins to make sense. If we are facing trials for God’s purposes then we are not struggling in vain. All of the sudden, the trials aren’t just random suffering in a meaningless life, but a means to an end, that end being “developing perseverance,” and “being mature and complete.”
With a perspective that does not include God, suffering is terrible. With a perspective that does include God as the sovereign arbiter, being the one that orchestrates the situations surrounding our lives, suffering becomes beautiful. Suffering is the process of becoming more like Christ, and that’s a wonderful thing!
Here are a few more photos I’ve taken over the past week:
