A VESSEL: WHY I PHOTOGRAPH - WHY I WRITE
"...there is a calling for me to show what we won't see and what we have forsaken. This service that I perform is not for me, but for you..." "...I hope you listen and I hope you see..." Click to read
From April 5, 2015 - It has been asked why I write and fill my days taking pictures of the world in which I live. I will tell you. I write because words come to and through me. There have been times when I tried to write, but struggled, only to realize that my words were not what was to be written. When I write, I am a willing vessel, an instrument to convey what needs to be heard - not what I want to say, but what must be said. At best, I am a poor typist and editor who attempts to correct the mistakes of my hands.
I am not the author, but the pen.
I have spent countless hours taking photographs of the beauty in our world. Many, if not most of the pictures I take, are of the small, the tiny, the forgotten that we walk by everyday without notice. As when I write, I am called by an overwhelming voice to go someplace and capture what I and most never take the time to see. I have awoken from sleep being urged to go somewhere with my camera. When I arrive, I see what I never saw before, so I photograph the beauty or the struggle unfolding. In this, I have been enabled to listen when there is no voice, when the only sounds are whispers of God in the wind.
I want you to know, all that I am given can be experienced by you. It is however, your choice to quiet yourselves, slow down, for you will not hear God’s whispers over the chattering in your mind, or over the screams of the world. (Know this, you do not want God to shout. It will not be pleasant.)
Truly, there is a calling for me to show what you won't see, and what you have forsaken. This service I perform, is not for me, but for you; those who see what is painted, will hear what has been sung, or read what was written.
I hope you listen and I hope you see,
for the messages for you, did not come from me.
Being the good is not, nor will it ever be easy, but it is necessary if we are to be free. May this day show you a courage long forgotten, and may wisdom be imparted and accepted. May you be blessed with grace and civility as we are tested, and may you give yourself to actions, ideals and our spirit within.
"If your leaders say to you, 'Look, the (Father's) kingdom is in the sky,' then the birds of the sky will precede you. If they say to you, 'It is in the sea,' then the fish will precede you. Rather, the kingdom is within you and it is outside you."
~ Gospel of Thomas
Teachers
I have written about this subject, “Teachers” before, but I want to convey this perspective again. I have had many teachers throughout my life, as have you. What many will speak of, are the kind and understanding educators in their lives. However, and not to invalidate these souls, the best teachers are those, be they kind and benevolent, or those of…