The 60-Second Sabbath

What I Love about America, #2

We're (almost) all immigrants!

Only 1%
of the American population
    is truly indigenous;
the other 99% of us
    are either recent immigrants
    or descended from immigrants.
My grandparents on one side
    came from the Netherlands,
and on the others side,
    Germany and England
    (though farther back).

If we're going to send everyone
    who isn't from here
back to where we came from,
    well, let's do it properly:

    Let's all get packing!

    (Given the choices for me,
    I hope I end up in England,
    since Tim's family is from Scotland,
    and it will be easier for us to visit.)

And, once all the Hispanic-Americans
    head back to Mexico, Central America and South America,
and all the African-Americans
    head back to Africa,
and the European-Americans
    head back to Europe,
and the Asian-Americans
    head back to Asia,
and the Arab-Americans
    head back to the Middle East,
then America will be back in the hands
    of it's rightful owners.
Finally.
Whew!

That should put at ease
    all those worried
that America is being taken over
    by foreigners.

Or...

We can acknowledge
    that we are all here by the grace of God.
We can walk and speak
    a lot more humbly,
and learn to get along
    because none of us (except the 1%)
really can claim this,
    the U.S.A.,
as anything more than our adopted home.

We are Adopted-Americans.

But really,
    in the deeper scheme of things,
we're immigrants in a far more profound sense:

    We are earth-immigrants,

each of us here on a very short visa
    that rarely lasts more than 100 years.
We are temporary visitors to our world
    called, in our brief time,
to take care of each other
    and for God's creation.

So, Yea immigrants!--

like you,

like me.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

What I Love about America, #1

I love that we are multilingual!

America does not have an "official language."

American English, of course,
is America's first "unofficial language,"
spoken by most of us
(though a second language
at home
for about 21%).

Spanish, then,
is America's second "unofficial language,"
spoken by about 37 million of us
(13% of Americans).

Spanish is a beautiful language.
I have attempted,
at least four times in my life
(with greater and lesser success)
to learn to speak Spanish.
The first time was living for a summer in Mexico
attending language school in the Yucatan
in preparation for an immersive missionary experience.
The other times were here at home
in community ed and on my own
with tapes and CDs and flash cards.
Spanish is inherently romantic and musical.
In a city like Denver,
it is spoken everywhere;
I never tire of hearing it...
and occasionally still trying to communicate with it.
Perhaps another retirement project...

I loved my visits to NYC
(frequently, for a while, thanks to my job),
and hearing,
as I walked down the street,
a world of language
in any given block--
Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Spanish, French, German--
and I'm sure another dozen 
I couldn't identify.
Most, I imagine,
being spoken by Americans from various backgrounds.
This is America speaking,
a magnificent symphony
of interwoven instruments.

Last week at Trader Joe's,
the sign on the counter
was written in English,
    then Spanish,
    then Russian,
    then (I think) Vietnamese.
This is us,
I thought.

And one of the reasons
I love my country.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

 

 

Flowtography

It happens most easily
when you stop thinking
about what you ought to photograph
    (that historic building,
    these people,
    that range of mountains)
and simply immerse yourself
in your surroundings.

In meditative photography,
the pictures seem to take themselves.
Another way to put it:
the subject makes itself known to you.
You remain silent (inside and out)
and it says,

    "Psst. Over here.
    See me.
    Experience me."

Think less about what you're doing
    (though please watch where you're walking),
nudge the ego out of the way
    (an obstacle to so much of life)
and photograph without the control
of the rational mind.

Photography that flows.

Flowtography.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Embrace the Experience

Many experiences
need not be anything more
than the experience.

See what you see;
breathe what you breathe;
touch what you touch;
feel what you feel;
hear what you hear;
sense what you sense.

Let the connection
between what you experience
    and your soul
be immediate and unmediated.

No need to analyze
    classify,
    categorize,
    structure;
let the experience
be complete unto itself.

In many cases
analysis pulls out out of and away from
    the experience.

In Western culture (vs. Eastern)
we're more likely to value critique
    over intuition. 

Don't let analysis
imprison experience.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

The Truth behind the Picture

There is no such thing
as an objective photograph.

Every picture conceals
far more than it reveals.

Every photograph
is commentary.

 

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

    

 

On Darkness

Dark times.

We all experience them--
    times of physical illness and pain,
    times of failure,
    times of abandonment and betrayal,
    times when we can't imagine a brighter future,
    times when our world turns inside out...

The darkness of the tomb
    (decay, despair, death)
can look and feel a lot like
the darkness of the womb
    (growth, renewal, pending liberation),
and it's easy to confuse the two.

Might the current darkness
be the prelude
to regeneration, rebirth, life?

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

 

 

A Prayer for the President (and, Really, for All of Us)

As of last Friday, we have a new president. For the 31% of us, the registered voters, who cast their votes for him, that's good news. For the other 69%, perhaps not so much. But wherever you stand politically, we all want leaders who are moral and mature, and a culture that respects human rights and dignity. We wish this not only for America's political leaders and its political future, but for anyone in positions of influence anywhere in the world. We wish it as well for ourselves.

With this in mind, and with a renewed personal commitment to pray for our nation and our world, I offer the following prayer, knowing I am praying as much for myself as I am for our new president, as much for my friends and family members as I am for the new administration. I do so from a Christian perspective, because that is my faith. 

Will you join me?

----

Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
    Triune God who is like a Mother to us all,

We pray today for our nation,
    our new president,
    and our new administration.
We pray for all leaders in America,
    and all leaders around the world,
    leaders of all nations and all cultures.
We pray for the citizens of all nations,
    our friends and families,
    and those some would convince us are enemies.
We pray for ourselves.

May we know compassion as the highest good;
    may we understand that,
    as God is most essentially love,
    so we must love.

May we recognize that this is not simply religious gloss,
    but the reality at the core of creation,
    and commit ourselves to embodying that love
        in our political lives
        and our private lives.

May we speak honest words
    without the intent to hurt.
May we leave behind insults and name-calling.
May we never bully;
    grant us strength to confront and counsel
    the bullies among us.

May we understand
    that our anger comes from fear,
    and take the time,
        thoughtfully and prayerfully,
    to identify and articulate those fears,
    letting reasonable responses
        and committed work for change
    replace our reactionary anger.

May we work for the good of everyone,
    recognizing that all people,
    whether American or not,
    whether like us or not,
are created in God's image,
are loved by God,
are a part of God's plan for the world.

May we not lose sight
    of the world's suffering,
and may we be courageous enough
    to acknowledge the role we play--
        intentionally or unintentionally--
    in contributing to that suffering.

May we not lose sight
    of creation's suffering,
and may we be courageous enough
    to acknowledge the role we play--
        intentionally or unintentionally--
in contributing to that suffering.

May we always strive to listen before speaking,
    pause before responding,
    breathe before posting to social media and emailing.
May we always ask,
    "Is this coming from a place of fear
    or of love?"
and,
    "Is this necessary?
    Is it helpful?
    Is it kind?"

May we follow
    the true Prince of Peace,
not false princes of violence.
May we embrace the certainty
    that only love casts out fear,
    only love casts out hate,
    only love builds bridges,
    only love tears down walls.

May we be open to change,
    to transformation,
    to redemption;
may we humbly acknowledge
    that no matter how strong our opinions
    we may be wrong.

May we protect those
    who struggle to protect themselves;
may we give voice to those
    who have no voice;
and for the lonely, ostracized, weak and vulnerable,
    may we be the hands and feet,
        voice and touch
    of Jesus.

In short,
we pray that the president
    and all world leaders,
that Americans
    and the peoples of all nations,
that all of us
reflect the spirit of Christ.
now and forever,

Amen.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

        
    

The Call to Our Higher Selves

Be nice.

Be civil,
    kind,
    respectful.

Listen.

Be truthful,
    direct.

Own your opinions,
    your issues,
    your vision.

Work for change;
do not hurt others in the process.

You don't need to be understood,
    liked,
    heard.
It would be nice,
but you'll survive.

Be who you truly are,
    which means:

Be nice.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

 

The Purpose of Photography

We use photography in so many ways--

To document our lives, for example,
to help us remember,
to capture and hold on to life,
    quickly passing.
Photography freezes moments
and allows us, if only in part,
    to relive what has passed,
    to return and re-feel.
Look back through you photo albums
    (or your social media posts)--
your past lives there.

We use photography
to connect with and preserve beauty,
to share that beauty with others,
to experience wonder and awe.
Recall how many times you've tried
    to capture a sunset, a flower, a waterfall...
    and how, when you return to the image,
    you still feel that sense of amazement.

We use photography
to expose and combat injustice,
to reveal what others try to hide,
and by revealing,
    to help,
    to serve,
    to save.
Think of the times your eyes have been opened,
    your heart torn,
by images of suffering,
and you've responded,
    "No, this must not happen!"

We use photography
to enter into and better understand
the experience of others,
to learn about other peoples and cultures,
    others way of being in the world.
We use photography to broaden who we are,
    to educate,
    to reform.

    (Photography isn't alone here;
    all art can hold our history,
        expose evil,
        promote peace,
        teach,
        lead us somewhere new.)

But there's something else
photography can do for us.
Photography can also provide
    a means of meditation and reflection,
    a form of prayer,
    a key to imagination,
    a doorway into stillness, depth and meaning.

Photography can invite us
    to slow down and notice,
    to heighten awareness,
    to see the extraordinary
        in the ordinary.

In short,
photography can be contemplation,
a spiritual discipline
motivated by the desire,
not to produce something,
but to be something,
    to be in process,
    open and present,
    open to be refreshed,
    open to insight.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.

Meditative Photography

Meditation means reduction.

Less is more,
    which sounds paradoxical,
but the something "more"
is something of value--
    insight, for example,
    or meaning,
    or heartfelt peace.

Less leads to awareness,
    experience,
not thought or analysis,
but a direct knowing
beneath and beyond words.

In meditation,
we intentionally sit in silence,
allowing the mind to clear,
    the input to cease,
    the chatter to stop.
Doing so opens space,
space in which to allow something more essential,
    more authentic
to emerge,
which may not be something
we're even conscious of.
It happens at a deeper level.

Meditative photography aims to do the same,
to make space for our creativity to be released,
without the filters and censor of the mind,
without the interference of thought.
As with other art forms,
this can usher us into that space of flow,
where time and place recede into the background
and, instead, we are fully
    present
    in
    the
    moment,
fully ourselves,
fully engaged with our subject,
with our feelings.

Reduction in photography
means narrowing the focus,
    stripping away the nonessential,
    seeing only what leads, moves, calls to us.

It may mean clearing out space around you-- 
    physical and mental--
simplifying, de-cluttering,
and letting the lens be your eye.

It may mean moving in close
so only a single object, color, texture,
    curve, shade, angle
(or a combination of two or three of these)
fills your vision.

Or it may mean backing off,
taking in something broader and more complicated,
    encompassing a broader scape,
but merging the elements into something more basic.

Meditative photography,
like meditation,
invites you to experience
only what's needed.

Text and image © 2017 by Dirk deVries. All rights reserved.
Visit PhotosByDirk.com for fine-art photography.
Visit The60SecondSabbath.com, where spirit and image merge.