Is the child experiencing any form of the Kingdom of God, or will she soon? Is any form of the gospel operative or operating here?
I am interested to know your first intuition on the spiritual state of this little girl at the moment of time that the photo was taken. Then I would like to know your thoughts after you spend some quality time confronting the reality of this photo.
Assume she has salvation through Jesus, so her issue is not needing salvation. To me, the concept of "Life" is a pivotal thing in this picture. Unless you have the right picture of Life, you cannot understand the Paradox that is hidden here.
What do you see? (Did I just give away the secret?)
When I first encountered this photo, I nearly gagged. I feel very differently about it now.
The photo does not impact me... too many doubts to give it credence or maybe my heart is hardened, but the non-professional homeless person does impact me.
ReplyDeleteKnowledge creates doubt:
telephoto lens gives no depth perspective
photoshop
that is another country
me being amused by the situation of one mission trip's "deplorable" conditions because they had a multi bedroom house, but no indoor plumbing. The mission trip I was on the people had 3 4x8 sheets of plywood for walls. The upgraded model had two sheets for a 4x8x4 living space.
What did Jesus mean by "The poor you will always have with you"?
Is Satan winning with this child in the overall grand scheme of the Kingdom? What is God's view of the situation? What was God's view when armies fell before the Jewish people? There was death there and usually a miraculas death of the other side because the Jews were always out numbered.
Psalm 78:33-35 (New International Version)
33 So he ended their days in futility
and their years in terror.
34 Whenever God slew them, they would seek him;
they eagerly turned to him again.
35 They remembered that God was their Rock,
that God Most High was their Redeemer
If I were to find the key or definition to the Kingdom, could I change the photo?
ReplyDeleteHow much of the second to second part of life is God controlling? Is God's will being carried out?
the photo is no different than one I saw of remaining part of a man's leg that was eaten by a bear... Sometimes our dominion does not save us and the animals win
Dang. Just lost half hour typing, so this roud is not going to be as well done...
ReplyDeleteThe question and picture are meant to be allegorical. Not about "bad stuff that happens so we can blame God". The outcome on the physical plane is irrelevant to me also.
That photo won the Pulitzer for Journalism in 1994. It is on a blog that allows comments. Many many Sheeple there. Many angry at God. Many mad at the photographer. All irrelevant.
What got me is that I somehow identified with this child's suffering on a spiritual level and saw it as a way of Seeking the Kingdom.
How?
The ego is dead. It is surrendered completely. That means that she has risen above her carnal nature in that moment. She is closer to God than either of us are. Literally minutes, probably. Complete surrender at the feet of Mercy. Is not that what Jesus called for in your initial scripture citation to leave family and livelihood? Leave it all. Make it all nothing.
Is that not what this girl is experiencing? To her, there is nothing but herself and her God. All else is superfluous.
Do we need to be ground into this sort of pulp to "really" get it? Based on my personal behavior, sometimes I think so.
Mind you, I am not talking about suffering for the sake of salvation. That is grace. But grace does not make it easy to hook into the kingdom once salvation is assured. In fact, it makes the way very difficult. That is my point.
So in a paradoxical way, this is a picture of grace in action. The situation is enabling experience of the Kingdom. Who ever said the Kingdom is only "good times feel good stuff"? Lotsa martyrs think otherwise.
I do not know about this. I just know that my suffering plays a very beneficial role in my development spiritually. I found this picture to be a very powerful demonstration of that - albeit with an assumption that the child knows Jesus. But, it is at least as possible that she does as it is that she does not.
So, my bottom line from the picture is that the Kingdom is accessible at all times. Even times like these. Depends on your ego, your awareness, your surrender, and your willingness.