Chances

I love taking pictures of the emerging bands of New York’s Lower East Side.  There is something magical about the process.  In some ways, it is a photographer’s nightmare.  Yet the setting is, for me, an extraordinary opportunity.  The lighting is poor.  The ability to move about is limited.  The likelihood of getting a great position for a good shot is at best luck.  Nothing is set for a great photograph, yet in the midst of it all great shots can be found. 
 
It may seem odd, but taking chances, going for the shot, can bring great rewards.  The opportunities you think can and should work, often do not.  The unusual, iffy, maybe kind of shots do not always come out as you intended, yet in the middle of it all is a rare gem.  I look back and find myself caught in a single moment in time.  The clarity, emotion, and presence found in the picture can be very real.  Yet it only happens because someone took a chance.
 
Many things in life need someone taking a chance in order for someone to experience and remember.  We should take the warnings seriously.  Reward does not always follow those who take risk.  Things do not always work out.  Bad things in spite of the good things people do.  Yet, unless one takes the risk, there is no reward.
 
We hold a great treasure within our grasp.  “‘You are my witnesses.’  God's Decree.  ‘You're my handpicked servant so that you'll come to know and trust me, understand both that I am and who I am.  Previous to me there was no such thing as a god, nor will there be after me.’”  (Isaiah 43.10)  We can know.  We can experience.  We can share.
 
Everything is possible, yet it requires risk.  We must risk in order for compassion to find its birth.  We must risk in order for mercy to wraps its arms around someone hurting.  We must risk so hope can live.
 
Your choice and mine will write today.  It is time to risk all for Love.