Aperture

I realized something in the darkroom. The beauty, the maturity of a photograph in the developing process depends on light at each step.

The camera must have the optimal aperture setting much like our minds. The shutter speed is how quickly we react to the light: quickly in bright circumstances in obedience, or slowly in th elow light of anger and/or malice towards us. The film setting, the film speed, is how sensitive our hearts are to the light that comes in.

Then, even after the exposure, the negative must be exposed to more light to make a positive image. First, a full open aperture on the enlarger to get the focus right, making the details come through sharply, then a dimmer setting to allow the print to bask in a continual, but not overbearing light stream, which matures the precious silver. Dip the paper, our hearts, into the developer, which is the discipleship of an older believer or spiritual mentor, bringing the exposed surface to fullness. The fixer, the chemical which solidifies the print is the Holy Spirit, preventing the image from darkening once it's been removed from the developer.

Now it's ready to be hung on the gallery of a wedding feast. A portrait of the future.