WE GIVE THANKS: PHOTOGRAPHY AS A SPIRITUAL PRACTICE
Ever since we met in college, my friend Claire has been a major force in my life, always supporting me, knowing me, challenging me, loving me. She lives in Chicago and, while we lost touch for long periods of time, we have always reconnected as if no time at all had passed.
Recently, Claire insisted that I join her in a new adventure: taking a “Photography as a Spiritual Practice,” online course presented by her friend Eileen, a retired professor of Liturgy, Arts, and Communications.
I am so grateful I did.
In the session just completed, we searched, we saw and we photographed something familiar or foreign, extraordinary or ordinary, something at home or in the neighborhood – anything that reminded us of a blessing in our lives. And we wrote an accompanying meditation to share.
I’ve often felt overwhelmed in these past months by pandemic pandemonium and election anxiety. I so appreciate Claire and this new group of friends for sharing their deeply personal insights.
I am thankful to have discovered “centering photography” as a new way of seeing the world and practicing gratitude, as an intentional prayer of thanksgiving that has helped me cope and deepened my faith during troubled times.
