Framing and Focusing Take One

We swim in a sea of images today. 

Consider that...

It is estimated we spend ten hours each day staring at screens; whether it is our smartphones, computers, or television sets.

Or three hundred hours of videos are uploaded to YouTube every minute each day.  That means, just now while you are reading these words, three hundred hours of new videos were posted.  Suddenly, I feel so behind.

Or 269 billion emails are sent every day.  But I am pretty sure that estimate is low because I get that many from Amazon just in the morning.

Or Nielsen reports that the average person spends seventy-seven days each year watching television.

It is tempting to go Google all the information above to verify the truthfulness for yourself.  Go ahead, I'll wait while you do your research because I've got a few videos on YouTube to watch.

It is no wonder there are moments when the saturated synapses of our brains feel like they are crying out or short circuiting from overload.

Now consider this, of the countless pixels we stare at each day, what really sticks and stays with us?  If you close your eyes right now, what images from the past few days start to play back mentally in your imagination?   Maybe it is a lunch you shared with a friend recently.  Can you still see what she was wearing?  Perhaps you can smell the onions from your meal or taste the tart dressing dancing on the lettuce greens on your salad.

Now let's go one step further, in the video replay in your mind, can you still see a picture of what your waiter or waitress looked like?  Can you see his/her name badge?  Do you smell what your friend had for lunch?  Or recall the couple who were sitting a few tables away from you?  You know the one who was swirling his straw in his iced tea while his companion stared at her smartphone checking emails while they waited for their food.

The world is alive and in living color, but we miss so much of it in the blur of our everyday living.

I don't say this to cause guilt to rain down on you, or to have you hang your head, or even become defensive.  Perhaps, you are thinking, that I am suggesting we should all stop staring at our mobile devices (which would be highly ironic since I am posting this to my blog).  Your mind starts to gather evidence that the world is better today because of our screens.  We can access needed information in the blink of an eye or navigate to our destination without getting lost. After all, remember when you had to...gulp...call someone on the phone!  Remember when you called home because you wanted to know if you needed a gallon of milk, no one was home and you had to leave a message!  Just think about how many gallons of milk were needlessly purchased because we did not have instant and immediate text messaging!

I get it.

I am not trying to suggest or say we should all toss and throw out our screens, move to Montana, and live off the gird.

It snows in Montana and it's cold there right now.

Rather, what I am trying to suggest is that in a world where living color is constantly and continually unfolding before our very eyes, perhaps we could benefit from a practice of paying attention.  We might want to open our eyes, not just to glance but to gaze, not just to peak but to peer and even ponder, and to slow down so we might savor what we are perceiving.

The invitation this Advent is to frame and focus.

Framing is lingering on what we are seeing.  Framing can be a faithful prayer practice, especially in our world today.  We also need to acknowledge that when we frame something, there is always the danger that on the edge of the frame there is something that might be missed ~ or someone might be left out.  We need intentionally to notice not only what is in the center, but what is on the fringe, the fray, and just out of sight.

The invitation in the coming 39 days is to put a frame and focus on your life, especially during Advent.  This season is about preparing our hearts to welcome the One who is life.  We welcome the One who came to show us life.  We welcome the One who helps us frame and focus on God's presence woven into every scene around us and within us.

But for today, in the midst of the hustle and bustle, I want to encourage you to begin practicing this prayerful way of being.  When you move about the world can you notice, gaze, linger with new eyes to see beneath what is on the surface?  Will you try to slow down just a bit, view what you are seeing with a soft focus, or pay attention to where you are looking, especially attending to what is on the periphery?  Will you take a few moments when shopping to sit down, not only to watch the people with your eyes, but also with your imaginations?  You might ask yourself, "What is his story?  The one with a huge smile on his face holding the bulging box containing the new toy?" Or, "What is her story?  The one with slouching shoulders and longing dancing in her eyes?"

You might even dare talk to the person!

To put a frame and focus on life in the coming days is one way we can prepare for Christ's birth.  Christ came into our world in the flesh, in a body, to experience and encounter all that is around us.  He came seeing and receiving those who had been placed not just in the center, but also on the fringe and even pushed out of the frame completely!  Christ came and still comes into our world today.

The sacred shows up disguised as your life.

May you and I be open to seeing and sensing the traces of grace that are dancing all around us in such a time as this.

Grace and peace ~~