The blessings of Kanuga, North Carolina ... days 1 & 2

I had said I'd post my bold each week on Friday, but this particular week is so rich in experience that I thought I'd share a mid week entry.

My reflections for this week come out of my experience at Kanuga Conference Centre in North Carolina where I have been attending a photography conference. I’ve met wonderful people; I've received insightful instruction; I've inspired in both my spirituality and my photography; the scenery is awesome; my spirit is being fed; my soul is being nurtured. With each photograph I am making, I try to capture something of what this week has meant to me and the beauty I have experienced within me.

I share these images and reflections with the hope that as I have been blessed by God, that you may also be blessed!

On our first day of the conference, our instructor asked us to take ½ an hour and wander not with our cameras, but simply with our eyes and our hearts open to the pictures that the camera of our souls might take. He said that these images would outlast any photographs we would make and mean all the more to us as a result. It was an interesting exercise to be attentive to the sights, sounds, feelings and emotions; to feel the breeze; to be aware of the brightness of the sun. He was right; without attending to or fiddling with the settings of my camera what struck me was awesome beauty that was so profoundly simple and straightforward. How often do we look around us to be aware of the pictures we don’t need a camera to take or a printer to print? They’re there; I want to be more attentive even when I don’t have my camera with me so that I can see and appreciate the mystery, wonder and amazement of all God has blessed me with.

Ruthanne Ward, the Assistant Curate who works with me at St. Mary’s, Richmond Hill gave me a book as I left on this time of Sabbath appropriately called “The Sabbath” written many years ago by Abraham Joshua Heschel. While I have been here at Kanuga, I read a portion of it each day; and I receive a nugget of wisdom that I then use to guide my experience of the day. On Monday, the quote that stuck me and stayed with me was: “Sabbath is about embracing the presence of an eternal moment.” I photographed that day with that quote in mind; I went out to embrace the presence of my eternal moment that God was revealing to me. That really excited me; my eternal moment!

I was struck by this crucifix just off one of the paths on the grounds. In particular, I was drawn into the look on Jesus’ face; His eyes looking at me; I could just about hear him saying “This is for you my child, this is for you.” Jesus died on that cross for each of us; so that we could have life in all of it’s fullness in a right and restored relationship with God; so that he could rise from the dead and leave an empty tomb behind so that we might have hope.

I was also drawn into Jesus’ hands and His feet; the nails piercing through them; the pain and agony that would have caused. This statue that has been worn down over time sends a timeless message of John 3 vv 16 & 17: God so loved the world that He gave His only Son that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.

This verse from the hymn “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” sums up my experience so well:

See from His head, His hands, His feet,

sorrow and love flow mingled down;

Did ere such love and sorrow meet,

nor thorns compose so rich a crown.

What a profound gift of God’s grace, love and mercy.

On Tuesday morning, the quote that I hung my day and experience of photographing on said: “Sabbath is about catching spectral glimpses of eternity.” That’s what I wanted today, to catch my glimpse of eternity; and to be sure I did in many moments, scenes and photographs I made.

During the first week of my Sabbath, by uncle who was my godfather died relatively suddenly. We gathered as his family to share our grief, to tell stories, to laugh and to cry as we commended him to God’s care and keeping. Yesterday I posted some of my photos on my Facebook page along with the comment that I felt a rich awareness of and closeness to God. My cousin commented back that the pictures were nice but she couldn’t feel particularly close to God. That’s understandable; grief can certainly cause that.

She was on my mind as I started out my day; I felt a sadness that she and others like her don’t feel close to God; and that so often it’s because of tragedy, death, illness or any other of the myriad of issues that confront us in our lives. I took this picture of the cross on the top of the chapel here at Kanuga for Debbie and others like her. For me it has a poignant message: the cross may be shrouded with things like branches that make it hard to see it; the cross may seem out of focus. However, the cross as a symbol of hope and promise is always there; whether we can see it through the branches or not; whether it’s in focus or not; it is always there!

Whatever we face in our lives, in time we will see again the reflection of the cross that does inspire us to faith, hope and trust in all that God promises us. This is an image of the cross which is across the lake from one of the outdoor chapels. I particularly like it’s reflection in the dark waters of the lake and the ripples too that add texture. The good news of the cross gets reflected back to us when we need it most. I pray for all those who need to see that reflection and experience the blessing of recognizing the hope that is God’s gift to each of us.