For the past year and a half, a certain friend of mine has been especially near and dear to my heart. His keen eyesight, his handsome dark looks–I’ve gotta say, I’m pretty superficial when it comes to him. I loved him from the moment he entered my life, but I feel like I never paid him proper homage. So without further ado, I want to introduce you all to my friend, my baby, Randolph.
Ok, before I go any further, I do want to make a little disclaimer and say I do not worship Randolph nor do I feel He is some divine creation. That would be an outrageous claim for any material possession, not just this one–though I must note, it’s quite apparent those who invented Randolph were of divine creation (thanks big guy!).
With that note, let me continue. Randolph and I have had a very special relationship in our time together. As silly as it sounds, he helped ground me and helped me to see the beauty of this world. After all, how can I not see the beauty when I look at this?
You see, Randolph tells it as it is. He can’t lie. It’s simply not programmed into him. He takes what I tell him to. I can’t tell you how many times I would look at something thinking it wasn’t even close to being photo worthy and then it came back beautiful. I was looking at it through my eyes–eyes that are tainted by this world, eyes that are subjected to the work of the evil one. You see, I may have to battle negativity at times to see the beauty in this world but Randolph? He doesn’t. Like I said, he just sees it as is.
I said earlier that I’ve never paid proper homage to my beloved friend Randolph and the reason I say that is because for too long, I’ve refused to accept the truth he speaks into my life. Randolph has shown me time and time again the beauty of this world but he’s also shown me time and time again that God has given me a passion, as well as a talent, for photography. There’s a difference between boasting, humility, and flat out ignorance. To recognize that God has given me a talent is not boasting. To continually deny He has, is being ignorant of the matter. I thought I was being humble every time I simply said, “Oh, it’s not that good,” or “Thanks, but it’s nothing special,” when someone would compliment one of my pictures but what I’m realizing is, it’s an insult to the Lord to not acknowledge this gift. Now, in saying that, one should also be careful not to boast and become prideful. But I will say, today, when I opened the email declaring I was chosen to move onto the next round of the AIM Photo Contest, I was shocked beyond belief. I sat frozen at the computer for awhile, convinced it could not be true. I felt honored to be chosen and as I sat there and once again looked at my entry, I realized, “It is good.” And as I realized that, I could feel the warmth of God’s smile upon me.
God doesn’t want us to be ashamed for the things we’re good at. He wouldn’t give us passions and talents otherwise. Just remember to glorify Him through it all. As long as you do remember who it’s for and where that talent came from, you really can’t go wrong.
And just as one last side note, I want to congratulate all the others who had photos chosen to move on in the contest. I don’t even know that you read my blog but just know that if you stumble across this, that I was very moved by each and every one of those photos. You all have raw passion and talent that was truly captivating and made me feel like I was there. I feel honored to have my photo among yours and wish you all the best of luck in the contest, as well as in your further endeavors.
