Maker in the Made

Last spring I was deep in the mountains of Alberta. Sitting by the North Saskatchewan River one evening I was watching the fading light of the sun paint golden hues on the snow-capped peaks. My camera was on its tripod and I fought the urge to photograph every waking second. For someone who loves nature photography Banff National Park is almost too thrilling to bear. The lone parkway that winds through this extraordinary mountain range is like driving through a world of never ending postcards. The river below where I sat flowed quietly on into the distance and shimmered in the furthest valley. I could see for miles and miles and wild, rugged mountain slopes towered about me on every side, the scope of it all impossible to absorb.

One of the appeals of photography can be the thrill of the chase. There’s  something akin to hunting in it, as one stalks your subject, pursuing that perfect shot at that perfect moment. Photographers work and strive and wait and search to encase all the best elements of a scene within the confines of their frame. The objective is to pluck that incredible split second out of time and preserve it forever. The goal is the perfect capture.

So, as I sat there looking out at this enormous, imposing landscape, I faced a crisis. Despite its beauty. Despite its proximity. I knew I couldn’t capture this place. Not really. I could not capture its vastness or the reality of its beauty. I could not capture its detail and depth and ever changing mystery. I couldn’t truly comprehend what I was seeing, to say nothing of fitting it all in my frame.  I felt in a new, tangible, inescapable way that I could not win here. I could not master this scene. I could not encapsulate it or encase it or adequately convey it to others. It was too big for me. Too great. Too glorious.

And so, I suppose as countless wanderers before me, I was struck by how great the world is. And therefore how much greater must the one who made it be.

An expert can recognize a photographer’s work just by its style. And they can learn something about the heart and mind of the artist by noting the angles, textures, colours, lighting, focus. We can learn about the maker in what they have made.  And that is one of the true privileges of the Christian life. We have been given the gift of faith in the Gospel, the still-unfolding story of God revealed in the person of Christ Jesus. And though we still see through a glass dimly, or perhaps a narrow camera lens, we now know the artist, the author of the world. In the light of his Word we know to look and the beginnings of what to look for. And the more we observe His signature, His style, His perspectives and textures and colours, the more He reveals to us His heart and mind and glory.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities–his eternal power and divine nature–have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20

As I sat there with my camera by the North Saskatchewan River I found that the mountains are big. The world is a big and mighty place. I could not capture it. At best I could only touch and reflect tiny bits of it. And there I saw and felt in my spirit my Maker’s signature. Because this mighty world was made. And, in the light of the Gospel, I know who made it. Not a distant, unknown entity. But our greatest suitor; one who knew us and loved us before the foundations of the world and made Himself nothing to rescue us and restore us and make us new. My great Lord and King, my Abba Father and elder Brother, my greatest Love, my Rock and my Redeemer, in whom I live and move and have my being made the world. And just as the world is mighty, He therefore is that much mightier. Just as I could not capture the beauty and glory of those mountains, his beauty and glory are without measure. And in the vast universe and the deep seas and marvelous creatures and ordered cells and a parent’s love for their child we can glimpse even more of His qualities.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Psalm 19:1

So, the next time we photograph a green valley or watch a shooting star or stare into an enemy’s eyes we can look for the signature of our loving Maker there and see more of who He is. For He made all things. Without Him was not any thing made that was made. He was and is always with us. And He can show us more of Himself in the most surprising ways and surprising places. If only we know to look and have eyes to see.