My 2 cents about Christianity and Night Photography

I just read Sean Read's latest post (see side bar, Dangerous Wonder) and started to post my comment, all of a sudden my comment started getting longer and longer. I guess that's what happens when you haven't blogged in a while. So I picked up my comment and decided to post it on my page for all to see, and to keep from posting a way to long comment on Sean's blog. So I would encourage you to read Sean's post before reading mine, it might make more sense.

Sean,

Good topic, I am have been doing the same investigation recently. I have been rereading Acts this past week with a critical eye to the look and attributes of the early church. I am coming to the conclusion that I have been asking slightly the wrong question about church and christianity. I have changed my focus from asking "What is the Church and Christianity?" to "What does the church do?" Christianity and the church is a movement, it's fluid, it's evolving, it's organic, and it is not built within the constraints of our limited human knowledge and wisdom. It was created by the author of all who calls Himself "I am". It is beautifully simple and elegantly complex, all in the same breath. Little kids can understand it completely in a moment, while the most intelligent can be baffled for a lifetime. I feel sometimes we spend to much time trying to define this thing called Christianity and the Church. It reminds me of the time I wanted to take a picture of the night sky, the stars were perfect that night, sky was clear, the moon just a sliver, and a constant array of shooting stars created a mind blowing tapestry. I spent so much time trying to get the aperture and shutter speed just right, hoping to capture the majestic essence of what I was seeing. The problem was, when I got the pictures developed they looked nothing like that amazing sky, didn't even come close to doing it any kind of justice. If I would have showed anyone the picture they would have had very little idea of what I was trying to portray. You see that sky was dynamic, it had movement and depth that couldn't be contained (at least by my camera). The best thing would have been to not waste my time with my stupid little camera but to grab a blanket and lay out under that night sky and just bask in its mystery, in all its entirety. Instead of trying to show a picture to someone and describe what I saw, I need to bring that person out the very next night, and have them lay next to me, staring at the reality of that same night sky. I feel in the past I have put too much undo pressure on my self when it comes to trying to figure out God, Christianity and how to have non-believers understand it all. I think I often doubt God, and his power, and His glory, all that truly makes the blind see. You see all I am called to do is lay the blanket out, and ask a friend to lay beside me and look at that indescribable night sky. I think that's the definition of revival.