Perfect Reflection, Perfect Calm

Perfect Reflection – Perfect Calm

Written somewhere is my definition of my photography hobby. I said I like to capture images of things others might overlook or ignore. It’s important to me because, as Paul wrote to the Roman believers, “For since the creation of the world His (God’s) invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead,” Romans 1:20 (NKJV).

Early upright piano, President McKinley Museum

In our travels, I will take snapshots of things created by men (architecture, pieces of art, old machines and tools, etc.) because they tell stories. They serve as a reflection of man’s creativity and appreciation of beauty and perfection in the same way the earth reflects God’s. However, my greatest joy in photography is capturing raw nature. My pictures then mirror or reflect, for a split second of time, God’s handiwork–an expression of His eternal being and nature.

Not all reflections are alike

Being fascinated by all of nature separates me from pro-photographers who specialize in specific subject matter, always attempting to improve on their last. Thus, I haven’t sharpened my skills to capture an image in any unique way. That skill is necessary in order to tell a story different from what others have told. Yes, photographers specialize like every other profession: portraits, weddings, still-life, nature. Within each of those are specialties making more subgroups. For example, nature photographers can specialize in wildlife, flowers, stars, landscape, and more.

Water’s Reflected Personality

Lately, I’ve been training my lens on water scenery. Water can show many traits, or as I like to think of them, personalities.

A couple of summers ago, my wife and I took our first trip to Niagara Falls. My excitement for the moment grew as we drew near, hearing the roar of the falls from a distance away. Plaques near the falls inform visitors that 36,000,000 gallons of water flow over and down every minute. I watched in awe, wondering where all the water came from and how it was sustained.

With my camera and lenses in hand, I set out to capture the many personalities I could see in the water. I hoped my snapshots of Horseshoe Falls caught the might and majesty of the river flowing down over the cliffs. I wanted to hear the roar as I later looked at the pictures. Nearby, I witnessed the grace and beauty of the Wedding Veil Falls. Walking alongside and up the river, I discovered smaller falls, flatter ones, that more resembled the flowing train of royalties’ robes.

I enjoyed capturing their images, but I’m sure they looked like every other tourist’s simple snapshots—poor reflections of God’s handiwork. Even so, I added them to my collection of water photos. Some of my favorite water photos have to do with image reflection. One image is a favorite, partly for the memories it stirs. My wife and I had taken a short cruise to the Bahamas. On the return voyage, as we stood on the stern of the ship, the moon was low on the horizon. The ship’s wake caused the moonlight to skip across the tops of the waves, dancing and spreading wider as it approached us.

Fallen log with reflection

I have tried, but have never reached my ideal of the perfect reflection. Capturing the perfect reflection requires the right lighting, focus, subject, and purpose. It requires very calm water, smooth as glass, which reflects the shoreline and beyond with almost no distortion. I have seen others’ prints that could be turned 180 degrees making it difficult for the viewer to know which is the real object and which is a reflection.

We also reflect

That got me thinking about the many verses in the Bible that exhort us to be more like Jesus—a better reflection. For example:

  • 1 John 2:6 “He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked,” (NKJV).
  • Matthew 5:48 “Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”
  • John 17:20-23 “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.

Jesus’ prayer catches my breath. Is it possible to have the same oneness Jesus had with the Father? I think on the one hand that this is Jesus, and he always gets what he prays for. Then I look at myself and ask how that could ever be. Two other exhortations Jesus spoke come to mind in answer. First, what’s impossible for man is possible for God (see Luke 18: 27). Second, Take my yoke upon you, and I will give you rest (see Matthew 11:29).

Perfecting our reflection

There it is…rest. Rest to me speaks of calm confidence and peace like the calm water that gives a perfect reflection of the genuine. Like the peace Jesus displayed in the lower part of the boat, asleep during the storm. The disciples—afraid of drowning—called out to him, incredulous that he could sleep in all that tossing and splashing. They didn’t have the same confidence that he possessed. Jesus knew the Father had said they were going to the other side of the lake, so there was no way they were going to drown. To give them that understanding, he told the storm to be calm. I wonder if the sea gave a perfect reflection of them at that moment.

We have a choice. We can go through our daily lives, frantically engaged in what’s happening around us. Or, we can be yoked with Jesus, calm, resting and reflecting Him—the one and only, the original, the one who made the way for us.

Charles Huff

Charles Huff is a Bible teacher, minister, speaker, husband, father and grandfather. He and his wife have held pastors seminars and taught in various churches, including remote mountain churches in the Philippines. His writing has appeared in www.christiandevotions.us, The Upper Room; articles in three anthologies: Gifts from Heaven: True Stories of Miraculous Answers to Prayer compiled by James Stuart Bell; Short and Sweet Too and Short and Sweet Takes a Fifth, both compiled by Susan Cheeves King.

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