Refocusing My Lens

I remember the moment very specifically…

It was late morning on September 18th, 2024, my 51st birthday, when I received a chain of texts from a friend complaining about someone and their spouse. I didn’t reply at first, because as I looked down at the text string on my phone it was like God was grabbing me by both ears to shake my head and said, “Wake up!”

I started to think to myself, “All this device in my hand has been good for is tying me into the negative in the world through both my friends and strangers on social media. This constant barrage of Debbie Downers and strangers bleeding out about the negative in their lives has been poorly affecting my view of the world and the people in it.”

It was time, as my mother used to say, “to start cutting the fat.”

Over the next month I began to truly reconsider how this small little device in my hand had been filling my mind and soul with negative via social media. Even the “funny” MEMEs I laughed at were soaked in cruelty and negativity about others. Is this where God wanted me to be? How was I best serving Him with my mind full of hate and disdain?

Then when I was out in the forest, where I used to commune with God, I found myself skipping our long talks to focus on producing “content” for videos in hopes people would watch them. How far had my lens come out of focus? Sure I had claimed that I was shooting the videos for Him to bring people into His artistry, but didn’t my photos already do that? I had lost my way.

As I examined myself, through my 105mm (photographic humor there), I noticed how self-centered, selfish, and full of disdain for others I had become. I was only focused on my feelings and not serving God in the way that He commanded. He and Jesus both wanted me to be graceful, kind, loving, and above all other things faithful. Again, my lens had become seriously out of focus.

With that said, I have decided to toss away making the REELs of my adventures for TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and whatever other social media platform may appear in the future, and instead start focusing on the moment that I am in with God. That is where He saved me so many times before, that is where I found peace in my heart, that is where I learned how to be a better person, someone I was proud of.

So if you have been enjoying my REELs, I appreciate you, but this will be the last.

Yes, I will continue to post photos of God’s artistry in hopes that they bring you peace and joy through Him. However, this is where I grab the focal ring on my lens and dial it back on God.

Have a blessed day.