AT this very moment, there are more selfies being taken than cameramen or professional photographers taking pictures! Two months ago, while walking down the streets of New York I found selfie sticks being sold for less than five dollars! But along with progress comes danger.
There have been hundreds of cases of selfie accidents: Terrible accidents as the person taking a selfie can’t see what is behind, whether precipice, gorge or valley! Can’t see what’s coming from the side, maybe an approaching train, maybe a killer wave! The selfie taker is so intent on taking his own picture he notices nothing else! I thought about this today:
I realised to the selfie photographer the only object he can see is within the camera frame, or since it is most often a phone, within his phone screen! Anything outside the frame remains unseen to him.
His whole concentration is the way he looks, his smile, his or her hair in place, lipstick not smudged, eyes twinkling, and maybe the mountain or sea as a background! All else ceases to be of interest!
Even the sound of a train horn, the impending doom of a cliff edge do not register to his senses because they do not appear on his little screen! His frame is the event! The next moment the train can crush him, the cliff edge can make him or her plunge down to their death, but for that moment they do not see this or even know it can happen! Who sees the big picture?
Someone who is looking at the selfie taker and also looking at the danger around him. Sometimes they shout, they warn the selfie taker, but quite often when the taker of the picture is alone, he is crushed or falls to his death.
How like prayer this is! We pray for something looking only at the immediate need, which is us! We pray for wealth, but God sees the big picture and sees how we are not yet ready for wealth as that wealth could destroy us or our relationship with others or with God and so doesn’t give it to us immediately.
We pray for relief from a pain, but God knows that the pain is caused by some bigger problem and the same pain we want healing for, could be a symptom telling you that you need to exercise or need a full check-up, and doesn’t take it away till the bigger picture happens of a probe or medical investigation.
We are all selfie takers, just looking into the frame, God answers prayer, seeing the big picture..!
