Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
    will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,
    my God, in whom I trust.” (Psalm 91)

• Note: the idea for my title came from a coffee mug!

I will not claim to be a “professional” photographer (although I have earned a little bit of money from my work). But I am someone who knows about story telling and understands how to capture the right image at the right time.

I mention this because people who invest in photographic equipment often tout the importance of clarity. Clarity is certainly something I value when trying to get a good photograph of my feathered friends, and I know exactly the lens I need/want the next time I have around $1,500 floating around with no apparent place to land.

Blurred at the edges:

But I have also discovered that, sometimes, a little blurriness here and there is not such a bad thing. I was reminded of this Friday evening, playing around with some low-light photography while walking Max.

This series of images is, essentially, the Moon with Venus. You can see by the shifts in clouds these were three separate photographs. I love the texture of the clouds, and there’s a quality to the graininess and the soft edges that reminds me of an impressionist painting.

And the power of the impressionist was in inviting the viewer to see beyond the limitations of the exact and to go beyond – both emotionally and spiritually.

This is one of the things I am enjoying so much about reading the Psalms. Many of the songs are impressionistic, with beautiful strong colors yet blurred edges, inviting us as readers to go beyond the words and into the heart of God.

I believe we can learn so much more about the God we love when – sometimes – we let the glory simply wash over us, without the need to define every detail and delineate every fine line.

I’d like to go back to the sunflower field and photograph some of the flowers in the same way. I am certainly going to do it the next time I am at the ocean or in the mountains.

And believe I am going to approach God this way more, at least that is my intention. Less caught up in the verbiage and the arguable points of the doctrine, and more immersed in the love, the light, the color, the peace, and the glory.

God from the palate of the Impressionist; Jesus expressed more in the practice of love than the clarity of creed; the Holy Spirit, experienced as an unstoppable wash of light and peace.

Always learning, always open to God’s love – DEREK

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