"A picture is worth a thousand words?" Cape Town has taught me that a picture can start a 1000 word conversation with a stranger, initiate a friendship, break down barriers and capture glimpses of the moments we wish to treasure. It isn't the picture that I find valuable, but the idea of stopping time, freezing the moment, creating eternity.
It seems as though we love pictures because of our inate desire to eternalize momentary joy, love, happiness, excitement, etc. Unfortunately, when we look back at a picture, we only see a small glimpse of the moment we had. We miss out on the sounds, the context, the emotions, the realness...the true experience. I think natural beauty and God similarly relate. Beauty is a mere glimpse of who created this world. Snow-tipped mountain peaks, seemingly endless oceans, a new-born child, a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, an unlikely stranger lending a hand, the calmness of a sunset and the excitement of a marriage proposal are tiny glimpses of something more...something truer. Just as pictures miss out on the full experience, worldly beauty doesn't include the fullness of the God who created it...we're looking at a snapshot of something much more beautiful, much more satisfying, much more thirst-quenching.
I'll look back on the Capetonian pictures and remember meeting those strangers (Notizi and Palesa), Joburg Bar, show-repairman-(or woman)-Stanton, the knife point mugger, very late nights, Table Mountain, Uncle Thami, Food Inn 24/7, late night Internet Cafe hang out and falling asleep at 5 am...But it isn't these things that will bring me the truest joy....it's the newfound friendships with Notizi and Palesa that will last through fire, tsunami, earthquake, etc. when the pictures won't.
The moment is over, the picture has been taken...but the story isn't over, I have new friends, there is more to be written...
It seems as though we love pictures because of our inate desire to eternalize momentary joy, love, happiness, excitement, etc. Unfortunately, when we look back at a picture, we only see a small glimpse of the moment we had. We miss out on the sounds, the context, the emotions, the realness...the true experience. I think natural beauty and God similarly relate. Beauty is a mere glimpse of who created this world. Snow-tipped mountain peaks, seemingly endless oceans, a new-born child, a couple celebrating their 50th anniversary, an unlikely stranger lending a hand, the calmness of a sunset and the excitement of a marriage proposal are tiny glimpses of something more...something truer. Just as pictures miss out on the full experience, worldly beauty doesn't include the fullness of the God who created it...we're looking at a snapshot of something much more beautiful, much more satisfying, much more thirst-quenching.
I'll look back on the Capetonian pictures and remember meeting those strangers (Notizi and Palesa), Joburg Bar, show-repairman-(or woman)-Stanton, the knife point mugger, very late nights, Table Mountain, Uncle Thami, Food Inn 24/7, late night Internet Cafe hang out and falling asleep at 5 am...But it isn't these things that will bring me the truest joy....it's the newfound friendships with Notizi and Palesa that will last through fire, tsunami, earthquake, etc. when the pictures won't.
The moment is over, the picture has been taken...but the story isn't over, I have new friends, there is more to be written...
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