Pictures of Joy

I caught the end of a movie as I was flipping through channels. The credits started and the accompanying music was acoustic guitar. For a brief moment, I felt lighter. The music made me pause and for a brief moment I felt free, or more accurately, above the present circumstances of life. By free I do not mean escape. I actually mean free from, or above anxiety or weariness while still being in the midst of the present circumstances. It was a moment of joy and as soon as I recognized it for what it was, it was gone. C.S. Lewis wrote a book about this called Surprised by Joy and describes similar experiences. Sadly, these movie credits reminded me that I had been neglecting joy in my life lately. Joy can come unexpectedly, but God gives us gifts and talents that can bring that joy in doses that are somewhat more predictable. I have found that I can take a decent photograph from time to time. I’m by no means as talented as some photographers I have met. I have simply discovered that with a camera I can see something, a moment, and capture that moment. I can freeze it and keep it. It can be a smile on Macayla’s face or the sun light illuminating Jennifer’s hair just right. It may be Jacob in the middle of something important to him and all the while he is unaware he’s being photographed. It may be drops of water on a leaf that sparkle like diamonds in the morning sun. It may be a landscape or a sleeping child but it can be a moment of joy and with a camera I can capture it. But I agree with C.S. Lewis. Joy is a surprise and it only lasts in doses that are a moment in length. Once the moment passes, you can never quite experience it with the same intensity as the first time. The actual experience of Joy is always in the present. But that is what makes it so reflective of eternity.
We are limited because we are caught in time. Eternity, as far as I can tell, does not mean a timeline we will move along forever. We are not simply dots on that line and everything before us on that line is the future and everything behind us is the past. I believe that what God means by eternal is a full consummation of all time into the Present. I believe that the present more than the future or past is most like eternity. I think that is why a surprising moment of Joy is only a moment. In a fallen world like ours that is so trampled by the unchangeableness of our past and the uncertainty of our future, the present is where joy is experienced. It is the present joy that points us toward God and our eternal purpose in Him. But it is that present joy that can break the chains of the past and bring certainty to our future. That is why it is important that we all discover those gifts and talents that God gave us. That is why it is important that we live our lives doing what He has called us to do. For it is through those things that God helps us experience joy and draw closer to Him as well as become the person we were created to be. That is what photographs can help me remember. Looking at a photograph may not have the same intensity of joy as the moment I actually took the picture, but it can still remind me of the joy of that moment. I can capture those little moments of eternity and they remind me of the freedom I have in Him. Not freedom from my circumstances, but freedom in my circumstances.