Photography as Spiritual Practice
Ripples from Below the Surface
Guest Writer: Eve Turek
“Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”—Matthew 11:28-30, NRSV.
Recently I wrote about photographing ripples moving on the surface of otherwise still water and the outward actions that cause them—the tossing of a pebble, the paddling or stalking of a bird, the falling of a leaf.
These ripples are different. These appeared spontaneously from a source underneath the water’s surface that I could never see or identify. I’ve watched turtles emerge from resting in the mud, their breathing sending air bubbles as a clue to their whereabouts before their heads broke the surface. These ripples were nothing like that. Instead, they’d appear first in one place and then another, sometimes careening into one another as they did here, casting a beautiful pattern from some interior depth.
These rippling circles remind me to pay attention to what lurks below the surface of my outward appearance. Indeed, my inner attitude will reveal itself. Honestly, this is one of my worst fears, that in an unguarded moment of fatigue or frustration, I will snap under pressure and be less loving than I long to be. Or to use the language of the theater, that I will “break character.” Instead, these ripples showed beauty and symmetry in their movement, no matter their size. I imagine them as loving words, as small acts of kindness, like paying attention to another’s story even when I am weary, or offering genuine, enthusiastic congratulations on another’s success or good fortune or offering yet another intercessory prayer for mercy on another’s behalf.
Recently I penned this short chorus. I sing it to remind myself that my heart is vulnerable to pressure. I am to seek the graces of patience and love and gentleness, especially at those times, so that what ripples up and out can show forth God’s love in a more significant and broader measure than I can manage on my own.
The only road that I want to take is the High Road.
Today the choice I need to make is for a light load.
I just want to be the one You say I am.
I just want to love as best I can.
Eve Turek