Pictures populate social media the day after Christmas. On my wall, I see nothing but beautiful and colorful pictures of people laughing in a group shot, eating scrumptious food, opening expensive gifts, and basking in activities worth freezing in photos.
The adage, "A picture is worth a thousand words" is true in every shot. One does not have to use words to explain the meaning of the celebration.
Before taking pictures, we put on make-up, comb our hair, wear our best clothes, arrange the food and the decor—all art directed to elicit oohs and aahs from the beholder.
But what those pictures (at least those uploaded to the Net) do not convey are the stories behind them, or what happened before and after they were taken. Those are actually worth more than a thousand words.
Our own photos on Christmas eve (below), for instance, which were taken by son #1 and uploaded to His FB wall, went through some (okay, lotsa) art-direction. The layout of the table, the décor in the background, the angle of the camera, yadda-yadda-yadda—these took more time than the picture-taking itself.
This is not to say that picture-taking is a sham. All I mean is that pictures really do paint a thousand words, but the scenes behind them paint volumes more.
Try looking at your photos many years later. The unpainted words come flashing back—from each of our own perception of the experience. There is no single story in a picture, but there are memories (good or bad) worth going back to, because they are a part of what we have become today.
While we’re at it, I’ll peek at my old albums of Christmases past with our three young sons. I want to give thanks to the Lord once again for those pictures He painted with grace.
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