Ever been totally captivated by a photograph or image? Our friend Zeke, a Benedictine Oblate, writes about his own encounter with a photography that Sister Maxine took at a random garage sale. It's amazing where we find God's grace!
When I first saw this picture, this image stirred me, letting me know that there was something more to be discovered. For me, I instantly knew this image as a Lectio Divina image. Although I didn't have time to pray with the image when I first came upon it, I bookmarked it so I could return to it.
My schedule finally permitted me a chance to be more still and to enter into prayer through the image. As I prayed the image, I recognized myself in this snapshot of piles of stuffed animals that were now ready to be given away.
That is me! I have been there, done that – the holding on and stockpiling, always thinking that more would somehow satisfy. While I did not stockpile teddy bears, I lived the “I can’t seem to get enough” life and did not pause to consider that perhaps more of the same is not what I was really searching for, nor consider that perhaps more will not necessarily be any more fulfilling.
What I have learned over the course of my spiritual journey -- that is, my very life -- is that life is not about what or whom I am holding; rather it is about Who is holding me. This learning allowed me to stop stockpiling and shelve my previous “more is better” mentality.
What is your divine reading of this image? How have you prayed with an image that struck you?
Curious how to “how to pray or savor an image”? Here is an uncomplicated introduction by Father James Martin, SJ.
