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Bulletin 110 Date : 14th Sep 2007
Nothing to prove?

We have just returned from a brief holiday in Vienna visiting our son, Andrew who lives and works there. This visit, however was different because Andrew had entered me into the Vienna Fotomarathon along with himself and nearly 1,000 other budding and not so budding photographers. In the morning they give you a list of 24 themes and you have to go around Vienna taking one photo per theme in the order they appear on the list. After 12 hours you must submit your photos and the judges will decide the winners. As we walked into the Rathaus (Town Hall) courtyard at the start of the day, I was somewhat overawed whereas Andrew walked in with an air of confidence and the sense that he had nothing to prove.

You see, Andrew entered for the first time last year and came a majestic third – and that was using an analogue camera (the old style camera which uses films). People came up to him with reverence for his previous achievements and I looked on humbly. Most of the other leading photographers used digital cameras and the difference is simple. With a digital camera, you can immediately review your photo and if it is not exactly what you want, you can erase it and take it again, and again, and again! With analogue cameras, once you’ve clicked the button, you’re stuck with it and you can’t see what it looks like until a month later when your photos have been judged.

Life’s a bit like analogue photography. We say things and do things which may seem right at the time but may actually have caused problems for other people. A careless word or facial expression, a missed appointment or worse still, a deliberate act of anger. Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to erase these moments and do them over again properly? Some Christians spend some time before they go to sleep reviewing prayerfully the day they have just completed and asking God to prompt them if anything needs dealing with.

Fortunately, for the Christian, our analogue lives need not haunt us because of the mistakes we make. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness”. We can not only be forgiven, but we can know the perfecting power of God’s Spirit helping us to reach higher standards of christlikeness. For Andrew it was a case of striving for the best possible photos again this year. For me it was a case of trying to present something which wouldn’t have the judges howling with laughter. Andrew did have something to prove – that last year was not a flash in the pan. We too need to strive constantly for the highest standards. St. Paul admits that he had not reached perfection but says in Philippians 3:14, “I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus”.

I have included two of my entries in this bulletin. A month from now I will know what the judges thought of my work.