Photography really is a way of seeing, of possibilities."Spiritual growth may be seen as slowly deepening belief, or the steady erosion of our hypocrisy. Layers of pretense and self deceit peel away to expose our fear. What is revealed is the limit of our belief, its edges. A good deal of our suffering is that raw exposure of our doubt, our unbelief, to the light of the Risen Christ. It stings, smarts. We think we are dying, losing everything.
…And here we might look to Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter, ‘who for the joy that awaited him, endured the cross, despising the shame…’ (Hebrews 12: 1-2) We do not have to love our suffering; we just have to bear it. We take up our crosses. We consciously receive the pain that comes our way, not for the pain we must endure, but for the joy that awaits. In this way we become martyrs, not in self abasing, whining, self-righteous martyrdom, but in the original sense of the word. Martyr in Greek means witness, one who has seen God and is willing to testify by one’s life that God lives – even in the midst of death and evil and defeat.”
- Excerpted from Loretta Ross’ thought-provoking blog*I stumbled upon (what became) the title of this post on one of my trawls through the blogosphere. The blog didn't make the cut, but the phrase was a keeper!
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