Is God Merely in the Bokeh?

One of the things I find most fascinating about photography is bokeh.

Bo-what? Bokeh.

Bokeh /bōˈkā/ is “the visual quality of the out-of-focus areas of a photographic image, especially as rendered by a particular lens”.

Have you ever seen a portrait where the background is blurred beautifully and the only thing in focus is the subject? Well that background blur is bokeh. Photographers often use this technique because they want viewers to focus on their subject. They want the subject — be it a beautiful bride or a child playing in a grassy field — to be the main focus of the picture.

Mind you, it takes skill and the correct type of equipment to create a beautiful background blur. This is the main reason why I sometimes haul my heavy Canon SLR instead of the iPhone. Aside from taking good low-light pictures, an SLR makes it easier to create images with excellent bokeh.

When I think about bokeh, I sometimes think about what the Lord said in Matthew 6: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?”

This sounds all good. But doesn’t this go a little bit overboard? Even the birds in the sky has to scavenge for food. If they fail to do this, well, they die.

But Matthew 6 further says, “seek first the kingdom (of God) and his righteousness”. Please note that our Lord didn’t say “seek only” or “seek alone”. He said seek first.

As Christians, we can and should tend to our needs. In order to do this, we need to spend a significant time making a living. But, no matter how busy we are, God should always be in the picture. In fact, He should always be the main subject of the picture. Often, He is not even in the photograph.

As we go through our day, try to imagine that you are a photographer taking a picture of your life. Then imagine that God, along the many other aspects of your life, is in the viewfinder. Your hand is on the focus ring of the lens. Will God be the main subject of your picture or will he merely be in the bokeh?