Jesus in the middle

As a photographer I know the importance of focus. There are many things which can stand a simple snap of the shutter to get a reasonable likeness - but there are others which require a bit more effort - lots of zoom and perhaps even special lenses because they are so small - insects are a case in point - they are hard to get pictures of. I suspect many of us have had that experience with a point and shoot camera of seeing something small and snapping it and then being disappointed that it is so tiny we cannot even make it out in the final picture. Even with high resolution digital photography and the ability to zoom in after the fact with computer editing - there is no substitute for a picture which is taken well in the first place.

Going in small, then , is a challenge. This is true of our spiritual lives too. We are used to seeing God as something very big - something which we cannot grasp or really imagine - but what if we grab a tighter focus, what if we zoom in and really pay attention to the smallness of God - the God in the cracks of life - as well as that all-embracing God with whom we are more familiar.

Like a photographer approaching a subject we can approach our prayers lives and our interactions which God from different distances and perspectives - and it is often helpful to do so. We will find the same God at the center but with different insights and thoughts given to us as we explore.

Many times, with the camera, I take multiple shots of the same thing from different angles and distances - I always think to myself that I will be happy if I get one picture which jumps off the page at me no matter how many I take- and often it is the unexpected one - one which I thought I might try but did not expect to work. Sometimes I break the rules and push my focus and exposure off completely and am left with shadowy skeletons of the world - which can be astonishing in themselves.

This sense of adventure is one which we need to import into our spiritual lives. It is not all about change for changes sake but about realizing that the God who we hold as our center is both so much bigger and infinitely more precious than we often bother to consider. A God of eternity and the tiniest detail is hard for us to comprehend - certainly all at once.