On the Development of Photos

I enjoy taking pictures when I can. I wouldn't describe myself as an avid photographer, but I like to take pictures of my surroundings. Some of my favorite subjects include: my cats, nature, people, etc. As you can see, I really don't care about the content of my photos. I just enjoy taking pictures of life around me.

What do I do with the pictures? Well, I'm glad you asked. Most of them end up in piles on my dresser. My camera is a film camera, albeit a pretty nice one, so whenever I finish a roll, I get it developed and the pictures start to pile up. I guess I should probably get some frames and do something with them, or at least put them in a photo album. Maybe later.

There is one thing, though, that really frustrates me with the whole photo development process. It seems like whenever I take a picture of any of my surroundings, I'm always disappointed by the resulting photo. It's not that the quality is bad (my camera takes wonderful pictures), nor is it because I take bad pictures (for the most part, I'd say I take some pretty decent photos). The disappointment revolves around the fact that I don't feel like the picture adequately portrays the scene that I tried to capture. I feel like the images don't give a full realization of the setting. For instance, my pictures of sunsets can only capture part of the horizon. I can't fit the entire sky into my picture, and that frustrates me. Or, if I want to accentuate the facial expression of a person of whom I'm taking a picture, I often have to leave out some of the surroundings I'd like to include in the picture. It really pains me.

I often feel the same way about God.

I feel like every time I try to describe him, I don't give him an adequate portrayal. I cannot fit his entire image into my vocabulary. Whenever I portray him, it's only in bits and pieces of his entirety. Our human nature and our limited minds cannot fully encapsulate the image that is God. We cannot fully see him or, much less, describe him. It is impossible. No matter how good my description may be, I'm always leaving something out.

Maybe I'm just a bad photographer. I don't know. Perhaps there is a remedy for this. Maybe I just need to take lessons or something. Maybe if i break down a buy a really expensive landscape lens, I can include more in my pictures. I don't know. But I have a feeling that I'll never be truly satisfied with any picture I produce because, no matter how good it may be, it is only a glimpse of the real thing. There is no substitute for experiencing what the photo portrays.

God is the same way. Here, today, we can only take snapshots of him, portraying glimpses of his splendor, greatness, and love. But one day, we will fully realize him. We will stand in front of him in awe, beholding him in all his glory.

And that will truly be an image bigger than any camera can capture.