Loving the Ordinary
“God has made everything beautiful in its time.” Ecclesiastes 3:11
Recently I saw a saying posted on Facebook that went along with my last blog, “Removing the Blinders.” The saying was “Anyone can love a rose, but it takes a lot to love a leaf. It’s ordinary to love the beautiful, but it’s beautiful to love the ordinary.” The source of these words is unknown but they certainly convey a truth that is worthy of our consideration. We do, in fact, often overlook the ordinary for the beautiful. That does not mean, however, that there is not much to love and appreciate in the ordinary.
The saying quoted above spoke to me because I am one who tends to focus on the beautiful, especially when it comes to my nature photography. I have a propensity to take pictures of those things that are beautiful and extraordinary. These are the things that thrill and move my soul. They also tend to be the things that editors buy. For both reasons I rarely photograph that which is not widely considered beautiful.
My close friend and co-writer, Rob Sheppard, takes a different approach. When we are out photographing together it seems we seldom take pictures of the same things. He is quite content to photograph what most people would consider ordinary things. I remember once being with him at Mono Lake in California. Neither of us had been there before. I spent the biggest part of my time photographing the lovely tufa that emerge from the lake. The scenery at this location is spectacular! I’m not sure Rob, on the other hand, ever photographed the lake or tufa. He spent the biggest part of his time photographing a tiny wildflower that he found nearby. I couldn’t imagine how anyone could choose a small wildflower to photograph over the vast beauty of the lake, tufa and surrounding mountains.
You’d have to check with Rob to get the final answer on why he did this but I do believe that it is related to the saying quoted above. Anyone can love a rose or Mono Lake but it takes a lot, someone special, to love a leaf or tiny flower. There are countless photographers like me who love the beautiful; to do so is quite ordinary. There is a scarcity of those like Rob who have learned to love the ordinary and that makes such people extraordinary. There is something truly beautiful about people like that. Perhaps one day I can become one of their tribe.
My personal theology leads me to believe that God loves ordinary people as much as God loves those the world deems “beautiful” people. It also leads me to affirm the goodness of all of Creation, not just the beautiful parts. I am convinced that the ordinary—both people and the various aspects of Creation—deserve more of our attention. In fact, I suspect if we were more spiritually mature we would realize, to quote a well-known Ray Stevens song, that “everything is beautiful in its own way.” To see the beautiful in the ordinary is to see with the eyes of God and that is a beautiful thing indeed. It is my hope that more of us can come to view the world and others with the eyes of God. Wouldn’t that be lovely?
–Chuck
The top two images I took in my yard while living in Middlesboro, KY–a sassafras tree and a common box turtle. I took the bottom two images at Mono Lake. I call the last image “Rob at Mono Lake not photographing Mono Lake.”