Statues Underground

I feel one of the attributes of true art, regardless of the medium, is to cause the one experiencing the art to feel something that speaks into an area of their life through experiencing the art, even if that was not what the artist felt in the moment. It is a gift that I do not feel is in me in the development of my photography. I think I am okay at helping viewers of my work see what I was experiencing or wanted them to experience in the moment I made the image, but great art goes beyond that.

The other day I was speaking with my son. We talked about lots of things as we often do. He was sharing how a musical artist he recently discovered really helped him in some areas. One song in particular resonated with him called “Above The Clouds Of Pompeii”  the group is called Bears Den. One line in this song says . . .

“You took me walking through the town

Showed me the statues underground

Said just don’t they look in peace

Sometimes I wish that was me”

Evan said “That’s how I feel sometimes dad, I just wish I could freeze a moment in time”

I am not sure if that was what writer Andrew Davie’s intention was in penning the line but WOW it really spoke to me accompanied with Evan’s added response to it.

That’s what grief, the deep loss of someone you love very much, feels like sometimes. You wish you could just freeze things, moments. Maybe a moment “we” experienced – or a special look – or perhaps a time when you both smiled! As you reflect on it you wish you could just stay right there!

You can’t as much as you wish you could!

I often use resources from a very innovative group of young people at the Bible Project . The group produces super creative resources to help people understand the Bible, one such product is a weekly guided devotion call “Reflections”. This weeks devotion gives us a way we can come close to “freezing” a moment in time, in the form of a poem from the book of Ecclesiastes chapter 4. It is well worth listening to “A handful of rest”.

In the poem the main speaker is called “Kohelet”, which is not his name but more about what he does. In this poem he shows three ways we can respond to life: 1) We can just check out 2) We can with both hands grab for and control everything without ever accomplishing that 3) We can live fully engaged in every moment. All kinds of moments: joyful moments, painful moments, unplanned moments, in them living full in that moment real rest is found.

There have been lots of moments with my wife, my son, and LaLa where I have fully lived in that moment, but I am sad to say there were too many when I did not. I wish I had understood that earlier in my life.

There is another line from the song mentioned above that haunts me:

“Don’t cry

Hold your head up high

She would want you to

She would want you to”.

I think Lauren would want me to hold my head up high, but honestly, sometimes I cry!

Please don’t give up the fight to get free from addiction. Please don’t give up the chance to stand with that one you love so much in their fight. They need you!

This weeks featured image is call “Life Behind Glass” by Brooke Shaden. Brooke is a great artist whose work resonates into peoples lives in ways different than what she was thinking of when she created her image.