A friend of mine is very much a photography fanatic. Fortunately he is also a fantastic photographer so his mania has an excellent and productive outlet. One of his recent purchases is what is known as a box camera. A box camera is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a large wooden box. There are a number of advantages to this machine, chiefly the fact that it takes much larger film than normal which means it can produce very high quality prints. For those of you unfamiliar with old-school film and prints, think of it as doubling the resolution of the best digital camera you can buy.
The quality of this machine isn’t what I want to talk about however. What I want to share is my curiosity over its name: box camera. This is what is known as being redundant, or saying the same thing twice. Why is this so? Well, ‘camera’ is a latin word that means ‘room’ or ‘box.’ So, my friend actually bought himself a box box. Of course, the word ‘camera’ has taken on its own meaning in English, so there’s nothing funny about saying one owns a box camera. When you have extra knowledge about some things however, there is an opportunity for a bit of a giggle, or at least a wry smile.
The words ‘faith’ and ‘religion’ have taken a bit of a beating lately. Many folks in modern society relate those terms to narrow-mindedness, hatred, extremism and even terrorism. Religion is thought of as something for the weak-minded or for those who are so spiritually minded as to be no earthly good. Faith, meanwhile, is considered unnecessary in the light of scientific certainty for many people so they relegate it to the back burner of their consciousness.
As an insider in matters of faith and religion I have a deeper and broader understanding of both the words and their reality. They are more than just crutches for the weak or fantasy worlds for the ignorant; they are a vital (and I mean that literally, as in living) part of our existence because we are more than physical beings explained away by science. We are primarily Spiritual beings, created by a God of Spirit, endowed with life by that same God and completed only when our souls are in perfect union with our creator God.
One of the key virtues of an old school camera is its ability to keep light out. Darkness is the order of the day, except for that moment when the photographer lets in a brief, selected and controlled bit of light to create the desired image. For matters of faith and religion the exact opposite is true: light is the order of the day. Only when we are fully exposed to their truths can we understand our own wonderful, spiritual, God-created selves. We need to step out of the darkness and into the light. I invite you to let God brighten your day and shine in your lives today and forever more.
The quality of this machine isn’t what I want to talk about however. What I want to share is my curiosity over its name: box camera. This is what is known as being redundant, or saying the same thing twice. Why is this so? Well, ‘camera’ is a latin word that means ‘room’ or ‘box.’ So, my friend actually bought himself a box box. Of course, the word ‘camera’ has taken on its own meaning in English, so there’s nothing funny about saying one owns a box camera. When you have extra knowledge about some things however, there is an opportunity for a bit of a giggle, or at least a wry smile.
The words ‘faith’ and ‘religion’ have taken a bit of a beating lately. Many folks in modern society relate those terms to narrow-mindedness, hatred, extremism and even terrorism. Religion is thought of as something for the weak-minded or for those who are so spiritually minded as to be no earthly good. Faith, meanwhile, is considered unnecessary in the light of scientific certainty for many people so they relegate it to the back burner of their consciousness.
As an insider in matters of faith and religion I have a deeper and broader understanding of both the words and their reality. They are more than just crutches for the weak or fantasy worlds for the ignorant; they are a vital (and I mean that literally, as in living) part of our existence because we are more than physical beings explained away by science. We are primarily Spiritual beings, created by a God of Spirit, endowed with life by that same God and completed only when our souls are in perfect union with our creator God.
One of the key virtues of an old school camera is its ability to keep light out. Darkness is the order of the day, except for that moment when the photographer lets in a brief, selected and controlled bit of light to create the desired image. For matters of faith and religion the exact opposite is true: light is the order of the day. Only when we are fully exposed to their truths can we understand our own wonderful, spiritual, God-created selves. We need to step out of the darkness and into the light. I invite you to let God brighten your day and shine in your lives today and forever more.
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