When We Walk on the Side Streets

I arrived at class last Wednesday eager to develop three rolls of film, taken at my Grandparents farm, for my final photography project. If you don’t know anything about developing film, its a timely process involving going into a pitch black closet, taking the film out of its canister, rolling it on a wheel, securing it in a light proof container, several steps of chemicals and drying before your negatives are ready for use. Yada Yada. Imagine my intense disappointment as I was to the last step, drying, when I pulled my film off of the wheel to discover... It was blank! What in the world happened?!?! I showed my teacher my blank film with knots in my stomach. An examination of my camera revealed the shutter had stopped working properly. Great. I now had the new task of taking three new rolls of film. Lovely.



I’ve absolutely loved my photography class this semester. I’ve spent many hours wandering Minneapolis, seeing areas of the city I’ve never seen before. I’ve captured some amazing shots and learned to love the print making process. I was deeply disappointed and discouraged over my blank film, over all the pictures that would have been, at having to come up with a new project and the time I would spend taking new pictures and developing film all over again. Why now at the end of the semester and for my final project did the shutter give out on me? At this point the last thing I wanted to do was take more pictures.

As I was taking pictures this weekend, I was struck by how much of the cities I am seeing that I’ve never seen before. I’ve taken pictures, downtown, uptown, all over town. Each time I go it’s a whole new adventure. I never know what I will find. Armed with three new rolls of film and a borrowed classmates camera I hit the city to take pictures of churches, the new subject for my final project. There is a church off of Highway 100 that I drive by often. It catches my eye because it has this awesome cross up the side of it. (I included a pic for you :)) So of course I had to go and snap some pictures of it. With ten pictures left to take on my last roll of film I parked in the church parking lot and walked up to the church building. I was surprised to find out it’s a Jewish Synagogue. Who knew? Not me. Seven plus years of living in the cities and I’ve never once gone and looked at this church. I’ve simply driven by a million times thinking “what a cool building.” I suppose I would have never known it was a synagogue if it hadn’t been for this class and stopping to take these pictures.

I began reflecting on how this all relates to time spent in God’s Word. Living in a city you get to know the city to a certain extent. However, if you really want to know the city you have to spend time in it and explore it. Just like God’s Word. If you really want to know God and His Word, you have to spend time with Him. You have to explore His Word, dig into it. You have to get off the highway and walk around on the side streets. You can see something in passing and think you know what it is, but you really only have the gist of it. Not that there is extreme signifigance in it being a synagogue, but more the fact that my perception of this building did not include all the facts. I think sometimes I treat God’s Word that way. I kind of pass on by, but I don’t explore. Too often I let myself be satisfied with a glimsp and a drive by. That is not enough!

Isaiah 55:11 says, "so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."  

God has SO much for us in His Word! How exciting and amazing is it that our Lord wants us to KNOW Him. How incredible that we have this book, this love letter written to us. How awe inspiring that He has purpose in His Word. There is so much to know about God. We will spend eternity getting to know Him. His Word is an abundant source of Him, of who He is and who we are in Him. To really know Him, we need to get into the Bible, not just read it, but dwell on it, meditate on it, explore it and spend time in it.