Share a few recent shots from your camera roll, no context needed.
The prompt invites us to share photographs, yet I pause to ask: what could a few shots truly offer?
A camera captures life—nature’s and humanity’s. It is an indispensable tool for enjoying a well-earned living, mending broken relationships, and recording evidential proof alike.
A picture is worth a thousand words—yet the same words mean differently to different readers. A photograph of a sunset may unearth a thousand sentimental memories from its viewers; the scenery is not personal property, but its description is.
Our eyes see nature direct; our living is the first-person scene; our mouth sings before a podcast does. Before a camera or video recorder does its job, we do ours first—to preserve nature, to create content that is true, valuable, and memorable.
Before the digital age, the camera was an honest, direct tool reflecting truth. Today Photoshop twists real images—edited, retouched, flattened—blurring the truth. But who makes it lie?
Just weeks ago, a friend sent me via WhatsApp a photograph of old acquaintances—among them a lady whose face looked heavily photoshopped, turning a mid-70s woman into the look of 40. Time makes us old; Photoshop is this woman’s shield. Yet beneath it lies perhaps a graver issue—the eroding of traditional values under the roaring current of digitisation.
What matters most is the fading of traditional wisdom. Years ago, I first heard it from an elegant, beautiful, and respected English lady in her sixties: “We grow old gracefully.” That reflected her true beauty—the one in the heart, not in the eyes. Yet technology is a powerful temptation that has discarded many traditional beliefs and values in the constant race for the flesh.
Inevitably, Father Time catches up to everyone. But Photoshop is no true shield against ageing—your heart is. As Scripture says: Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23). I see many in my generation dyeing their grey hair back to black; some have even advised me to follow suit. But I often wonder whether their advice is a gesture of kindness, or a silent protest against a non-Photoshop mirror reflecting their discomfort with ageing faces.
I once believed grey hair is the hallmark of success. Today, I lift my eyes higher to reach the crown of glory (Proverbs 16:31)—that is my belief, and that is what I hold steadfastly; not shots from my camera roll, whether edited or unedited.
As I ponder further, my meditation gives birth to the poem below. May it shed light on your own reflection on what truly matters in life.
——
“Adornment? Cultivation?”
White hair—a crown of wisdom?
To dislike white hair is only human;
To seek not wisdom is likewise the norm.
Rather chase good looks than seek a clear spirit—
The masses’ demand.
Artificial appearance is “adornment”;
With money, cosmetic surgery; without, Photoshop—
Rich or poor, each has their way.
A clear heart and lofty spirit is “cultivation”;
Ask not of wealth, ask not of poverty—only ask the heart.
How lamentable—dyeing away the white hair, yet not washing away the shame within.
How joyous—keeping the white hair, counting wondrous grace day after day.
