Earlier in the year I was given an opportunity to attend a ‘contemplative photographic retreat’ at Launde abbey. Contemplation is the action of looking thoughtfully at something for a long time and is often linked to the act of thinking about spiritual things.
As a part of the retreat, we were encouraged to not take photographs on automatic. Therefore, I tried to take pictures with the automatic switched off and to be honest I failed. I created dreadful photographs. I became totally frustrated on every level, not getting the shutter speed right or the wrong ISO, which is a camera setting that determines your camera’s sensitivity to light. After a short time, I asked someone to help me and then went back to the walled garden, to use the parts of camera I had taken for granted. On going back into the walled garden, I realised I had missed the lovely hanging rose just above the door due to my exasperation earlier.
Three of the photographs are below. The first one is quite self-explanatory, the sign on the door to the walled garden says, ‘please close the gate’. The second photograph behind the door is a clematis climbing up the wall and in the third picture you might just be able to see the rose in full bloom that I had missed my first time in the garden.
In the last couple of months when I have been preaching in the worshipping communities, I have been inviting us to be creative and practicing the presence of God, and to consider contemplation for ourselves.
I have also suggested that the congregation to look at the photographs I have taken, contemplating and encouraging people to be in the moment as we can so often miss the simple things, that bring us joy,
when we get distracted by all the interruptions in our lives. I am certainly still a work in progress, and it has been helpful to look at some questions from Father Richard Rhor and Dallas Willard. Father Richard Rhor and Dallas Willard are Christian thinkers, often cited together in discussions of spiritual formation and contemplative Christianity, with both emphasizing experiencing God’s presence and pursuing a deeper, more transformed life beyond superficial faith.
Father Richard Rohr describes prayer as a practice of being present before the mystery of God and talks about, and asks, what is the purpose of the church? What are we here to do? According to Dallas Willard:
‘The aim of the church in all its functions is to make disciples – that is, to bring people to the point where they naturally do the things Jesus said to do. The Great Commission is still the mission statement of the church: ‘Teach them to do everything I have commanded you.’
Finally, it is my prayer as we draw closer towards 2026, we might close doors behind us and become less frustrated or distracted and spend time being contemplative and experiencing God’s presence.
Blessings from Rev Ian Forsyth
