My understanding of Religious Art

      Over the last few years I found myself learning more and more of my faith...yet with each lesson I realized my understanding of faith is barely out of its infancy.  I can grasp a concept, but to know the precise details will escape me for many years to come.  I am not worried though, it just means each day I can explore a little more.  I also take heed of St Thomas Aquinas vision...what we understand and can percieve here can do no justice to what the reality of what the Divine Law really is.

    So if we can only see a glimpse of heaven in anything we think or create, I think religious art should reflect that.  Eastern Rite Catholic churches have incredible icons which follow this very basic premise.  What we see is not to be hyper realistic, but rather a starting point to enter the mystery presented.  From this entry point in meditation, you can explore the rest of the story and its application in your life and its journey towards heaven.

    Take this photo for example.  A hyper realistic photo here would draw no interest.  It was washed out, a simple statue in front of a church.  There was however much more to its story if you cared to look for it.  In the editing I found the amazing light and shadow contrast.  I vignetted the photo to draw the eyes into my message, I knew the subject matter was an angel or a messenger of God and it just fit.  I removed some color to make it timeless, since angels are timeless creatures.  The contrast of the man made wall and green plants made me think of the leading Rosary mystery of that Friday...Mary why do you look here in a tomb for the living?

    The scene before me became the pathway to a deeper meditation on something far bigger than I will ever be able to comprehend on earth through the creation of and review of Catholic religious art.  One added bonus in all of this was I needed to quiet my mind to the world's distractions to see this.  In the silence, is where God can speak to our souls, and where we need to spend some of our time each day.  So I got my silence, my thought and my created art.

    This is what making and viewing Catholic religious art should do for you...at least from my little spot on this earth.

-ehw

Sunrise with the Lord

    Back in June I was able to get up to the mountains of North Georgia.  It was hot, but a good time to explore a little of more of the state.  One opportunity I received was the gift of an early rising to meet the sun.  Watching the earth go from black through its purples, reds, orange and full daylight was a simple pleasure. What a gift from God!!

-ehw

How Did I Ever Mess up my Hair?

    Then my daughter Kellie says, "My hair is messy!" The Daddy replies, "Well you were having fun twirling your dress!"  Kellie then screaches with a belly laugh happy as can be because this is what she remembered:

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The Twirl in a dress!

    Thank you Aunt Jane for all your work!  A dress for my doll and I and purse to boot!  Some really nice other outfits as well!  Annalise (the doll) is now in her pajamas enjoying a short summers nap with Kellie.   These are some great moments to remember.  It is what being a family photographer is all about.

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Generation to Generation Toys

    If you ever get a chance to look at a list of the top ten toys history ever created...you will not find last year's Christmas craze on them.   You will instead find toy cars, soldiers, trains and digging supplies for boys.  For girls I am sure you will find dolls, stuffies and all their accessories.  I know there are exceptions out there, but the reality is you will not find many!  This is what kids play with!

    So here we have Uncle Micheal's trucks out back one more time.  At home we have the matchbox and airplane toys from both myself and my brother...and even my uncle (or my kids Great Uncle).  These toy trucks and planes are universal hits.   When built American tough, like a child, they will last generations.

    It got me to wondering...if toys go from generation to generation why don't we look closer at lessons from the past.  I'm sure what God said 5,000 years ago or 2000 years ago really still has some staying power.  It might help us in our present circumstances!

-ehw

Believe in the Unicorn

         With the news from Dallas and Tennessee today, one could rightly believe the world is up in flames.  The world is changing and there would appear to be no hope....but this is what Uncle Screwtape would have us all believe.  There is hope...more hope than we can imagine if we still believe unicorns can walk amongst us!

    I am being  a bit silly, but it is true.  Amongst all the terrors of the world, we have plenty of signs of natural law bringing joy and hope to people.  How can I say this?  Do you love your child?  Do you sacrifice your personal conveniences to help your spouse when they have a bad day?  Do you pray and give alms to the poor in some way?  Does any one of these items fail to let grace and mercy through you to others?  

   Amongst pain we see now, and know that is coming, we can still bring Christ's gospel through us in word and deed to the world.  It is this grace, flowing through us to others, which will provide the world the renewed church.  One which will conquer the evil at some point, and let God's plan unfold in ways new and unexpected to us mere mortal men.

   Oh..and the Unicorn water cannon my daughter has in her hand packs a heavy stream pounding. It made me believe in its power a few times in our water wars last night!

-ehw

Fleet Feet Bubbles

    The magic of bubble or two in the life of a child is indescribable.  A bubble is a one of a kind creation with a fleeting lease on life which can captivate a child's imagination.  One set of magic bubbles like this will propel a child to make many more bubbles to see it if the magic will come again.  I guess it would not hurt us adults to have our own fleet feet bubbles to call our own!

-ehw

Photo Essay: Will You Pray for Me?

        Contrary to most descriptions, a Roman scourging was a vicious affair.  It usually killed a person at forty lashes or greater because of blood loss from exposed internal organs.  The entire purpose of a public lashing is to scare away people from either supporting the victim's cause or preventing certain crimes.   It should come as no surprise there were very few of Jesus public supporters and apostles at the foot of his cross when he died.    That was the entire idea behind a cruxifixction.

    So approaching the Shrine, on the southern portico we have this cross at the end.  With a single kneeler just begging you to come and pray with and for our Lord in his suffering.  A suffering which continues today in this world.  Jesus' persecution continues today with attacks on the people of his church around the world.  Jesus' church on this earth needs our prayers as much now as ever!

    So the lonely kneeler begs the question from Jesus: Will you pray for me?

-ehw

Everything New is Really Old

    This weekend my wife and I had our first excursion weekend in four year...with only one child in tow.  One topic which we discussed in our adult discussion time was how nothing new is really new.  The reality is every "new" idea is really a permutation on an old idea.  Most "new" ideas are actually as old as the pyramid.  The difference is the new idea is written in English and using a computer instead of papyrus paper.  This photo is just an example of the what I mean. 

    Photographer Scott Bourne loved to preach that no one did anything new in photography (See our discussion was not even new, it was just new to us).  It was just someone found they liked a style they stumbled across and started claiming it was new for marketing.  Meanwhile the photographer was ignorant of the technique of style's history in the photographic art world.  For instance I could say of the photo above: "I really like the deep contrasty colors I put in this photo, it will be my new style for an album!"  Someone like Scott or my friend Skip Cohen would then tell me..."Dude we called that style Velvia film and left it at that."  

    So history is good for something no matter what you do for a living.  It will help you not be a fool in front of your elders, and prevent you from being pompous before your peers and youth.

-ehw

Open to Grace: Two Fruits of Classical Catholic Education

    Today our little Catholic Hybrid School will graduate our senior class.  Through family friendships and school events, I watched two of them grow into peaceful and God Fearing young adults.  These two also became my very first senior photo clients!  

    Neil is a quiet young man of deep thought (like some of my best high school friends).  He will go out west to college, and will begin the study of media production from a Catholic perspective at John Paul the Great Catholic University.  This is a great fit for him.  

    In our school I observed how he is a quiet, humble leader of the younger students.  Many boys looked to him, literally looked directly at him, before doing almost anything to observe the example he would set.  His example became their course of action.  He respectfully fulfilled his duties to the school and family very well.  His quiet leadership leaves a void for the school population, which will be noticeable until another boy fills his vacated role.

    Mikayla is a lovely young woman, of sincere virtue.  She lets God's grace work through her life to help others.  She will enter studies at Aquinas College in Nashville this fall.  She will be more than a normal student though, as she continues her discernment of vocation with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia, a teaching order of nuns.  

    Again a great fit for this woman's character.  In our school, and with her family, she is a guidon for a prayerful life. You can see it when she enters a room.  Small children hold her hand, and admire her.  Her baby sister simply adores her.  She also walks with a grace beyond her years.  When she enters chapel with her matillia, she peacefully focuses herself and those around her on the mass and prayer.  She is no wallflower though.  She demands unimproved family campsites, and can rough it with the best of them.

   I hope I captured a bit of the reflected glory of God these two bring to the world.  I enjoyed watching as my children gravitated to them at school and band over the last two years.  I knew their example would be good ones, and not misguide my children on their own path to adulthood.  I continue to learn a great deal from their parents as well, since they are good examples of parenting in a stormy world.

    Mikayla and Neil:  May God's grace continue to fall on you, and your souls never let your eyes wonder off the prize of heaven.  You've started the race for the prize well, and may the finish be even more virtuous in God's eyes as you change the world for His Glory.  Amen!

-ehw

Dallas, Texas and Thankful Prayers

    On a short visit to Dallas, Texas and it is already a good adventure!

    On the trip to the hotel I learned it was near no traveller destinations, unless you consider the red light theater and Bombshells Restaurant (with a less than stellar Google rating).  Then to make things more exciting the taxi blew a tire on the highway!  Luckily we were able to cruise to a stop at the exit where the hotel was located.  Just under a half a mile walk with roller bags through tall grass on an access road and I was there!  I must say my driver was very courteous and concerned, although I was more concerned about him!  I even walked back to check on him after I dropped off my bags.

    Walking around town was interesting.  I saw seven different patrol units from various local law enforcement agencies.  I think the razor wire around a hotel, fenced in compounds near the hotel,  and cars coming together for short visits with people popping in and out of windows was what detectives call a "clue" the red light theater was not the only thing exciting around here for them.

    It was a mile walk to IHOP, and I was a little sad when I got there since of course my world favorite pancakes were not on my available eating list.  It was very crowded, and the crew was working their tails off.  Service came with a smile.  On the way home, belly full I got a little creative with my photos.  When I arrived home I realized most of them were going to end up black and white since I had a high and bright sun.  I'll share some tonight.  

    The purpose of this is to say I had some real thankfulness when I said my Divine Mercy Chaplet and Rosary last night.  I was thinking this type of day was why our forefathers would build devotional sites halfway between towns in old Europe.   Evil and nastiness is a part or our world.  Recognizing the good people we meet on our travels inside these crazy evil clouds, lets us remember our job is to Capture His Glory in our hearts through them each and every moment of the day.  For this I was thankful, and we all should be when we see people living virtue powered by God's grace.

-ehw

Christmas Magic

    This morning was the first day our tree was up...we follow the old tradition of decorating at the last minute...and out of her room like busy bee on a mission sprang child number four.  Kellie ran to the kitchen, grabbed the stool, and without a skip of the beat sat before the well lit tree (thanks to Kevin lighting it before she got up). "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells..." and the partially remembered songs flowed through the house punctuated by "Kalen sing...Kev Kev sing....Baby Jesus!"

    This is the Christmas Magic we long for in our memory of ages past.  It was the time giants roamed the earth. Mom made magic cookies.  Hugs felt heaven sent.   In these memories, even Dad smiled as we enjoyed another magic tree tree lighting and train run.  This is the memory we wish every child could have, and we could share.  Experiencing it in our children makes our hearts warm and pulse quicken in joyous anticipation of seeing what St Nicholas left once again...

    As parents we too often miss these moments.  Just minutes after I snapped this golden memory, I found myself assaulted by four excited children and one just wanting a diaper change.  The noise became defining...well for our house anyway...and I lost all sense of the magic moment.  I lost it until I developed my "negative."  When the image appeared, I felt the magic arise in my heart once again.

    Our childhood faith filled Christmas Magic images are glimpses of the promises in heaven.  Like the Star of Bethlehem, these moments can lead you to the home Christ prepared for us all.  This Christmas I pray you will find your moments, keep them close to your heart, and let them lead you home.

-ehw

A Lesson in Forgiveness for Thanksgiving

    A few weeks ago a most incredible person told me a story, a story of forgiveness which humbled me.  The story goes something like this...

    Years ago this person suffered a great injustice at the hands of another.  Bonds of trust broke, and a relationship broke into pieces.  The breakup effected more than the two inside the relationship.  The shattered relationship hurt many others, and still does to this day.  Defenses went up to prevent additional pain, but the grace of forgiveness remained open to the offender.  Not only does forgiveness flow, the offender gets prayers and encouragement to return to the church and obtain salvation from the victim!  

    I suffered a few injustices in my life, and I will admit my pride gets the best of me from time to time when the wound resurfaces.  When I asked the person, their response was "To hold on to the anger and hate is to condemn your own soul to Hell.  We can only move forward to Christ when we release the hate and let it fade away.  We can only achieve heaven when we wish for those who harmed to repent and join us again on the path to heaven."

    I prayed about this on a few nights since I heard this sermon of word and deed.  I realized how much more I need to grow as a person to reach this type of holiness...and I hope I can imitate their example with a few more years of practice.  Until then, I'll also pray this incredible person continues to show people like me the true path of Christ in this fallen world.

-ehw

P.S. The photo is of Kellie at the Antiedam Battlefield Museum.  It was a wonderful moment to watch her enjoy flowers, amidst the stories of war.  It reminded me of the decades it took to heal the wounds from the Civil War, and the lesson above being the path towards reconciliation.

The Prayerbook made for you!

   Do you need someone to pray with you?  For you?  The prayerbook above is meant for you! 

    How did this happen?  (This is the hardest post I've composed over the last four years!)

    In 2014, after much introspection, I realized a need for more consistent personal prayer in my life.  Prayer with God needs to happen in good times, meditative times, times of discernment as well as times of need.  A year ago I failed in most of those areas by being hit or miss.  On cue, God sent my son to me with a book about St. Dominic and the rosary.  A year of growth started in earnest as I devoured the book.  As I wrapped up the first year of work, I noted progress in many areas and several continued shortfalls.

    Prayer from others literally kept me upright following our two 2014 miscarriages.  Since then I made it a point to let others in need know I will pray for them as well.  The opportunity to pray with others had two incredibly powerful moments this past year.  One with close friends as we prayed over their sick child in the ICU.  The other was with a co-worker recovering from a heart attack in a different ICU.  In the second case it was special as we prayed with his wife and another friend from work.  

    I know God was listening, and I am grateful he supported full recovery for both requests.  I don't want to sound crazy, but God's grace was so present in each moment I was shaking afterwards.  The realization God was amongst us in those moments, tending to his children, left me feeling rather meek.

     This year I wanted to be more consistent in fulfilling prayer requests as they came in.  So I picked up a spiritual diary to catalog the requests over the next year.

    I publicly announced this year's prayer campaign on St Dominic's feast day at John Paul's baptism. Current requests recorded so far include needs of friends for their parents, the manager of a transmission repair center fighting liver and pancreatic cancer, young men discerning their future vocation, our school's success at its mission, a friend's child with the same risks my wife had in pregnancy, a young priest at his parish, a new widow and her family, and two co-workers with heart ailments to mention just a few.   I also have some for people who never asked, but just have an obvious need for someone to requests God's intercession on their behalf.

    Each night I review the prayer requests, hold it close, and pray for those inside.

    Prayer is the only thing I can do for most people I know in need.  I have no worldly riches, and little spare time in my days to travel and be with the many I know in need. 

    So you can see, this prayerbook is for you.  Please help me direct my prayers to God to help you, and I what I pray will be our collective journey to sainthood in the Kingdom of God.

-ehw

P.S.  Reply to the post, shoot me an email or better yet give me a call!  I'll add you to the prayer rolls!

God's Viewpoint:"My Way Not Yours"

    On Monday, Father Tran provided a wonderful homily at the Regina Caeli Academy's opening day mass.  One very important thought Father wanted us to take home is a key step all of us need to take when building a relationship with Christ and the body of Christ.  It focused on reorienting our discussion reference points while talking with God.

    Most of us, myself as a sinner included, begin our discussions with God saying, "I am in need...I wish...I.....I....I...I"  Father challenged us to recognize this type of thought and language implies the little partner in the relationship, or the child, is telling God to look at the world through our eyes.  When you ponder the statement, you quickly realize the insanity of our normal position.  We mortals, of limited senses and knowledge, tell the almighty and all knowing to work towards our designs.

    After thinking through this situation for but a minute or two, most rational people will recognize we should really be walking a mile in God's shoes before we talk to the Almighty.  Rather than asking the Lord to make straight the crooked path ahead to ease our burden, maybe we need to ask the Lord for strength to correct the mistakes we made while making the crooked path ahead the day before!

    When we shift the thought process from our perspective to God's perspective, we can more readily accept the wisdom of God.  This will mean more time walking with him, and less time arguing with our own selfishness.  Just maybe that will lead us better on the path of salvation.  The very path he called us to from the moment he formed us in our mother's womb..  

-ehw

Go and Baptize...John Paul

    Matthew 28:19:

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit."

    Today we fulfill our first of many parental tasks as Catholic parents, the baptism of our son John Paul.  The family gown gets one more run into the church, and we will celebrate the moment our son is washed clean in the water of life.  There are few moments as special to me as the first sacrament of a child's life, and the solemn promise a parent makes to provide a Catholic home.  These two thoughts humble me.  I would be overwhelmed if I did not know, the grace John Paul receives today is the same grace which sustains all of Christians when we submit our will to God's.

-ehw

Child, Hear your Father's Instruction

Proverbs Chapter 4

THE TEACHER AS MODEL DISCIPLE

1  Hear, O children, a father’s instruction, be attentive, that you may gain understanding!

2  Yes, excellent advice I give you; my teaching do not forsake.

3  When I was my father’s child,  tender, the darling of my mother,

4  He taught me and said to me: “Let your heart hold fast my words: keep my commands, and live!

5  Get wisdom, get understanding!  Do not forget or turn aside from the words of my mouth.

6  Do not forsake her, and she will preserve you;  love her, and she will safeguard you;

7  The beginning of wisdom is: get wisdom; whatever else you get, get understanding.

8  Extol her, and she will exalt you; she will bring you honors if you embrace her;

9 She will put on your head a graceful diadem; a glorious crown will she bestow on you.”

The New American Bible for Catholics, Proverbs Chapter 4

-ehw

Trouble in River City!

    Our school put on one of my two favorite musicals this year....Musicman!  If there ever was a show I'd want to be the male lead in, it would be this one!  The directors did a great job with the kids on this production.  Having been in plays in high school, and our class production at West Point for 100th Night, I am ever in awe with how much work everyone puts into making such a fantastic night.

    The teachers and cast turned an old stage into a place of magic for this old soul for just a little while.

    For right now I can say I have three of my children who performed on stage for the first time tonight.  My daughter did her favorite thing...sing and dance.  One special music teacher has my big girl singing with confidence for the first time in her life, and it is a blessing from heaven to see her smile when she sings!  One teacher let my daughter dance, and taught her to act.  Another teacher took my sons...one who did not act and one who is a natural...and brought out something special in each for a night they are taking into next year in the lower school play.

    More later...late night is just about done.  I just got all the photos ready to push out to parents from both upper and lower school performances.  Only a couple hours of work...learning a lot of tricks and techniques building my style and processing plans.  It really is my only contribution to the work the teachers and kids put into it.  I hope they like the album and can just sit back and enjoy their hard work with these memories I give them tonight.

-ehw

Faces of Joy

    Seeing the joy on so many young faces this weekend at first communion was a great experience.  This is actually one of the best parts of parenthood.  Helping your child experience these good steps towards adulthood should fill you with joy as well.  Helping our children to know and love the Lord is a challenge, and of the greatest importance to parents for our own eternal salvation.  So let us pray we do our evangelization joyfully, and the children respond in kind as they continue their rites of initiation!

   -ehw 

Revisiting a shot...and Christ's example today

    Two nights ago I read a very short essay on photography.  The author (Scott Bourne) exhorted readers to revisit a site time and time again.  To shoot the scene from above, below, left, right, with new settings and depth....all because in photography we try to capture three dimensions in a two dimensional frame.  When you also consider we artists may try to communicate a sense of the environment and emotion in those same two dimensions I think you can agree the task of making art communicate is actually harder than it looks.

    So that is why I again visited a familiar subject.  The cross in our sanctuary at St. Thomas Aquinas Church here in Alpharetta, Georgia.  I've heard a few sermons about Christ's victory on the cross recently, and it made me think in new ways about those hours when he sacrificed himself for us.   Then last week I read about using flash with grid to isolate a subject in broad daylight.  Well I had no flash, but I could play with my exposure meter just enough to get me on my way to the same effect.  So in the silence of the church I was able conceive in my mind a vision of a piece of art I wanted to share.

    I wanted to convey the feeling the devil wanted Christ, and you and I, to feel when crucified or targeted by his dark friends.  I wanted to convey the sense of darkness surrounding Christ on the cross.  While I conveyed that, I also wanted to give us viewers a sense of hope.  I did that by making sure the inner light of the word made flesh shone out above the darkness.  I thought this might show how he gives hope to the world in our darkest moments.

    See I could also see, in the back of my mind, the terrible atrocities being committed against Christians in the Middle East.  Boys and girls my son' Kevin's s age are being tortured, and murdered, under the crucifixes of their churches because their hearts stand with God.  As a father and shepherd, my heart and gut is wrenched thinking of what happened to them.  I fear what could happen to my sweet children, if spiritual and martial defenses weaken in the slightest degree. The darkness is my fear revealed.

     I can also see the light.  Those young innocents and martyrs also demonstrate complete faith in Christ's word.  They literally display the faith of a child in the face of men with weapons and fully developed strength.  Those children are the light of Christ on the cross, hands outspread, using their final acts of faith to call me to greater unity with God in my daily lives.

     I have so much more I need to learn and do to live the life God intended for me.  It makes me wonder who and where my next lesson will arise from.

-ehw