On Thursday, a few of us went to see an exhibit by the World Press. It’s all pictures from 2009 and it was held in the Oude Kerk, which is one of the 4 oldest churches in the middle of Amsterdam near the red light district. We had to get to the church in a round about way because I refuse to go into the red light district. The photos were amazing and all very different, but all of them really made you think. The first groups of photos that you saw were of war and devastation happening all over the world; and after seeing those first few groups of photos, all I could do was sit and write. Here are my thoughts of the pictures and the church and just really what I had to get down on paper at that very moment:
“As I stand and walk around a 500 year old church, with horrific photos of all the devastation in the world, I can’t help but just look at the church. With the beautiful stained glass and the giant organ, the beautiful chandeliers and all the pulpits. There are holes everywhere on the ground where pews once stood and people are buried underneath, and I can’t help but think “Where’s God?” A church, a beautiful church, on the very edge of the red light district, and I think “Where’s God?” Or maybe the better question is “Where is man?”, “Where are we?” To have such a wonderful and beautiful place to worship God and instead, we turn it into a museum. The pictures in here are horrific and they make my stomach turn and I think, “Where are we?” Pictures of children dying and prostitution and I think, “Where are we?” Where are we, that we have so willingly turned our backs on a God who loves us and wants to take care of us and all we have to do is let Him. It’s not even a difficult choice or a hard task. Are we really sacrificing so much of this world to choose to be a Christian and let God take over? Is it really that difficult to give ourselves to Him? We would rather have this world of heartache and pain, of misery and deceit, because we can’t make the simple choice to follow Him.”
That was just the jumble of thoughts that was going through my head as I was looking at all the pictures of war and people dying. I just think, that if we could (as a whole world) just give ourselves to God and let Him actually lead, guide, and direct us, then how much more enjoyable would this life be.
Here is the link to the World Press and you can go look at some of the images yourself. Some of them are pretty and fun, but some will turn your stomach inside out. http://www.worldpressphoto.org/
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