Seeking a better perspective

A dozen years ago I saw a film that was life changing for my photography. Fly Away Home was the story of father and daughter who drew closer together as they attempted, and succeeded in teaching some geese to migrate by following their ultralight airplanes south. The aerial footage was spectacular and it gave me a deep hunger to spread my wings and shoot from up there, 500 feet above the earth. A dozen years have past and this new perspective changed me as a visual artist. Seeing things from a fresh perspective often leads to wonderful images. I’ve illustrated this entry with some of the images that have resulted from that new photographic perspective. I’m sure you knew, and were expecting that this was about a lot more than photographs, and you would be right.

Perspective: 2 a particular attitude
toward or way of regarding some-
thing; a point of view : most guidebook
history is written from the editor’s perspective.
a true understanding of the relative
importance of things; a sense of
proportion : we must keep a sense of
perspective about what he’s done.

What a deep concept, “a true under-
standing of the relative importance
of things.”

How often we find ourselves in
trouble because we’ve lost the
relative importance of things. When
I was a young man, I wanted so
badly to be a “successful” photo-
grapher. The problem was my
definition of success at the time was
flawed. I thought success was to
have such undeniable talent that
it would lead to fame and fortune.
Forty years later I know that joy
and peace do not come from
fame and fortune. All you have
to do is read the daily newspaper
to see how many “quote, successful
people” have lives that are a mess.
Peace comes from real security
and joy comes from the genuine
knowledge that you are unconditionally loved and accepted. The world cannot give you either of those. Only your Heavenly Father knows your needs, your insecurities, and can give you the solution to all that is going on in your life; His love and forgiveness. When I’m up in my ultralight, floating above the world, I get the detached perspective of God, looking down and seeing things more clearly. When you fly above the earth, you can clearly see the perspective of how one geographic feature relates to another, distance is compacted, and the relative nature of space is much easier to perceive. I’m sure God’s vision of our lives goes far wider and deeper than my superficial “observation” from an airplane, but my temporary broadened vision gives me a little perspective into His vision of us. His vision is all encompassing, and fully understanding.

Is your vision of your life limited, do you fear what is coming next? Do you feel boxed into a life that seems to offer no alternatives? My friend, you are in need of a fresh perspective. It’s time to go flying with God. He wants you to strap in, and let your spirit soar with Him. The same feeling that I feel of freedom and release when my wheels leave the ground can be felt deep in your spirit when you let go of this life and all it’s cares, and place them in your loving Heavenly Father’s hands. Let Him open up your eyes and heart to His glorious perspective. I promise, it’s a thrill like you’ve never experienced……..

I wish you gentle tail winds & His love,

the pilgrim

*Photo Note: Images taken with Nikon D3 and D700 bodies, 24-70 AF-S f 2.8 lens.