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April
I am a great one for taking photographs wherever we
go on holiday. Hundreds and hundreds of snaps stacked on shelves
and stuffed in draws. Some indexed with dates and places, others
anonymous. Some faded through age, others dated embarrassingly by
clothing or style of hair. That moustache, those flares - oh dear,
what was I thinking?
Each image is there to remind me of a somewhere that I may never
travel to again, of a year I can never relive, of memories that
may be good or not. I look at some and they give me a warm feeling,
good times well spent in a time that brought much happiness. That
was the year I finally gave in to God; this one the year our first
child was born. Some leave me cold – the places are indistinct,
vintage uncertain. And there are others that give rise to mixed
emotions. The last holiday together with the kids before they went
their separate ways, the year the illness was diagnosed, difficulties
at work or school. The bullying that stopped me achieving my real
aim in life.
Photographs form part of our personal autobiography; they chronicle
our lives year by year as we grow up, go to school, university,
form relationships, move house, welcome new births and new love
and mourn the loss of loved ones. The good years, the bad years
- they are all there and each has had its profound or gentle influence
on the person I am today.
I am the sum total of all the infinite possibilities that control
our lives, some of which I have control over, others that have controlled
or consumed me. That I choose to chronicle each year with my camera
lens allows me to see (in some small way) from where I have come
on life’s journey and the direction that I have been led.
Capturing a part of every year on camera may seem only to be a record
of a visit to Rome, Paris or Washington DC but it's more than that
because it serves to remind us of a precious moment in our lives
- it’s a valuable chapter of our illustrated story.
Oh, and yes it’s also good to share the images of our holidays
with friends and family and remind us of time spent together in
what was hopefully a pleasant place.
Prayer: Father God, at times it seems that life itself is conspiring
against us. And yet we often gaze back in retrospect and see that
what seemed like obstacles and bad times have served to teach us
and mature us as individuals. Thank you that ultimately you want
nothing and promise nothing but the best for us. Help us to look
back and see you at work in the ordinary moments of life, moulding
us into the people you would have us be.
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