I’m sure the camera does lie ...
The expression used to be, ‘the camera never lies’. I know
that isn’t true anymore, what with Photoshop and airbrushing and so on.
I just got my picture taken in one of those photo booths
where you get four printed out for official use in passports or documents. I
wish the camera had lied, just a little bit! I look as old as the hills. Sorely in need of airbrushing.
Part of the trouble with those official pictures is the
requirement that you keep a straight face. I look like I’ve been in a police
cell. I don’t understand the reasoning. My default reaction to meeting someone,
for instance at a security barrier in an airport, or getting on a bus, is to
smile. If the official is comparing the living and breathing me to this grumpy
old lady in the picture, I hope that they have trouble seeing it’s the same
woman.
I am so grateful that God looks at what’s on the inside
rather than at my outward appearances. As youth fades and the years take their
toll, I am praying that the inner me is looking increasingly beautiful! I know
that doesn’t happen automatically; grumpy old men and women are a dime a dozen.
I’m determining that that is not going to be me. I am going
to make every effort to stay as close to God as I can, so that the core of my
being reflects something precious made by God, even as gravity pulls me down. I
want a radiant inner life to reflect God to the world, however I appear
physically.
By the grace of God, I will manage it, but not by my own
efforts. That’s for sure.
