Stay This Moment, Pt. 2: Seeing God in the moments of our lives.

"Photography, alone of the arts, seems perfected to serve the desire humans have for a moment - this very moment - to stay." - Sam Abell

It's been said that we don't actually see the present. By the time our brains process the information that comes into our eyes, even as fast as that is, we're actually in a sense 'living' in the past.

In photography there is the concept of the "decisive moment". The crash of a wave, the moment the sun peaks out from behind a cloud, when an eagle strikes its prey out of the water, the catch that leads to a touchdown, the kiss on a wedding day ; these are decisive moments that photographers look for. And yet, they're fleeting. Blink, and they're gone.

The peak colors for most sunrise and sunset skies only last for a few moments. I've seen some skies where the colors come and leave within just a minute or two. A photographer can hike far into the backcountry, camp for multiple days, find and compose a scene, and only have two minutes to make a photograph. This is the fleeting reality of the craft.

But this concept of the shortness of a moment isn't limited to photography. It's simply a reality of life.

Solomon wrote a lot on this topic in the book of Ecclesiastes. In fact, much of Scripture speaks to the vapor-like nature of life. In Psalm 90:12, the writer asks God: "So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom."

In fact, much of Scripture speaks to the vapor-like nature of life.

Time truly is escaping us, and recognizing that is wise. This should have the effect of causing us to cherish moments all the more, knowing that in truth, they will be gone before we know it.

Yet, if you're anything like me, you have plenty of wasted time, moments that came and went without a second thought, times where you've shrugged someone off because you simply couldn't be bothered. Oh my, I do that all the time.

I don't recommend thinking on all the wasted time and getting down on yourself, but simply and prayerfully let it motivate us to recognize that life is fleeting. Seeing that life itself is a gift of God, how will we use it?

Back in 2016, I had the great opportunity and privilege of going on a big out west trip with my parents. We visited many places, but this particular story was on the first day we were at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming.

It had rained the entire day, everything was blanketed in grey, and it was just a dismal time to photograph a place I had never been before. Very unsure of myself, I talked to a friend of mine back home, and they encouraged me to go back into the park for sunset, maybe something would happen. So me and my dad drove in to where the Madison and Firehole rivers meet. I spent some time shooting around there, but as the sun lowered, me and my dad would chase it westward, stopping at overlooks, chasing the light. He drove, I'd give directions.

We probably hit every overlook and area we could on the way west until we ended up at this spot on a corner in the Madison river.

I'm not going to say anything really about the photograph itself. But I do want to focus on the moment itself. It remains one of my favorite times with my dad. And though it was fleeting, both the sky, the photo, and the time with family, it still lingers in my mind 9 years later. I'm thankful God gave us that.

Anyway, time flies as they say. The photographer tries to slow it down, attempting to distill a thousand words down into a single image. But, ultimately, to no avail. I'm not naive enough to think that my images will last forever.

... time flies as they say. The photographer tries to slow it down, attempting to distill a thousand words down into a single image. But, ultimately, to no avail.

But what of the moments lived in light of eternity, storing up treasures in heaven rather than earth? What we do with those fleeting moments, what we do in light of the reality that we are but dust, here today and gone tomorrow; it matters.

If I'm honest, I believe those types of moments are what really matter. Talking about the things of God with others, time in prayer, talking about the gospel with someone, those are the things that reach into eternity. But I do think even times like that with my dad matter deeply. We're only given so much time here.

How many of these points in time have I missed over the years; missed because I was reaching for moments that were wrong yet still fleeting?

If only I had more passion for those things beforehand, instead of just being thankful that they ever happened at all - after the fact. May we all be more kingdom-minded.

So again I ask, seeing that life itself is a gift of God, what will we do with it?