Vive la Différence!

Earlier today a friend of mine, Craig Dunham, pointed me to a fascinating display of photos from the Prints and Photographs Division of the Library of Congress. The Denver Post’s photo blog recently ran this compilation of color photographs taken between 1939-1943.

I was especially interested in the photo posted here, which was taken by Jack Delano in September, 1941 at the Vermont state fair in Rutland, Vermont. My interest in this photo goes beyond its artistry to the fact that my great-grandparents owned a farm in Rutland County that my father visited many times as a child.

Personal interests aside, what I found striking in all the photos was how vivid the colors were. It occurred to me that part of the reason for this is that we (at least those of us under a certain age) tend to think of these times as having occurred in varying shades of gray. Our only exposure to them is in old black and white photos and film. I remember the experience as a child of seeing an old baseball uniform at the Hall of Fame and being initially surprised. All of the sudden I realized that teams had colors in their uniforms back then…it wasn’t always the gray team against the white team!

Similarly, this is what makes it so important that we constantly be reminded of our sin. Nobody enjoys this, but without it, we will tend to think of ourselves as basically good people who stand in need of nothing more than a little tweaking; people who deserve some kind of reward for the way we’ve lived our lives. But when we realize the fact that we are sinners, unable to please God by our own abilities, rebels who deserve his righteous judgment, then the death of Christ on our behalf becomes far more beautiful yet. Just as it is the contrast with our expectations that makes the old photos so wonderful as art, so it is the contrast with what we deserve that makes the grace of God so vivid in its beauty.