There’s my son.  It’s Good Friday, and so this morning I have been thinking about GoodFriday sort of things—the cross, Jesus, God giving up his Son, the fulfillment and end of the sacrificial system of the Old Testament that Hebrews speaks of—those things.  As I continued on that line of thinking, I began to realize the craziness of the cross, and the significance hit home in a way that it never has in my whole life:

Look at my son.  Do you know what I would never do?  Give him up.  For anything.  Ever.  EVER!

EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER EVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVEREVER !

Our minds can’t imagine this kind of sacrifice.  As an ok father, I have enough love for my son that the loss would cause me unimaginable pain, and I could never love you enough to loose him for you.  And yet God, a perfect father, did this.  Could you imagine how much that must have hurt. The Brian McLarens of the world who just dismiss the majesty of this act as “cosmic child abuse” miss that.  They miss, and don’t understand, the perfection of God, the Trinity, His love and Justice, the infinite ugliness of sin, and that Jesus, as God, was willingly taking on his own wrath.  God felt both pains: the loss of a son and the bearing of all human sin. My Lord and my God, we can not even begin to fathom the depth and richness of your love seen in the cross.

This is the centerpiece of our faith, the centerpiece of the Bible, and the centerpiece of time and eternity—that God became nothing, so that he could give us everything, by giving us himself.  The cross is offensive, foolish weakness, but to those who are being saved by it, it is life and power (1Cor. 1:18).  Happy Good Friday.

My son turned four a month ago so these are a little late.  But here are some shots of him at his birthday.  Better late than never.

My brother, Josiah James Meeker, and his band rocked Club Retro last night.  Usually he’s not even in town because he’s awfully rockstar like that, but fortunately enough for the Sacramento area he graced us with a presence.  Good Times.  Above.  Foreground.  My good buddy, Brian Helvick.  Rockin-it.  Good stuff buddy.  They all make my heart warm.  Do you know that feeling—Heart warmth?  I hope so.

Here are a few of images from Dan and Erin Cordova’s wedding—the first wedding pics that I have shot with my new Camera; no more borrowing from friends, yes!  But, Celestial’s images will be up soon, and they will tell the real story.

One of the things that I love about the art of photography is that it gives the artist such an ability to celebrate life in very concrete ways.  The most likely result of a photograph is that something tangible and real is captured, something beautiful, something painful, something sad, something surprising—something real.

Weddings have become one of my favorite things to photograph because it something concrete that celebrates the beauty of love, even though society has an extremely different view of it.  Societies idea is that somehow marriage is a restriction on true love; certainly this is how it is portrayed in our entertainment.  In This Momentary Marriage, Piper says, “How much more will the magnificence of marriage in the mind of God seem unintelligible in a modern Western culture, where the main idol is self; and its main doctrine is autonomy; and its central act of worship is being entertained; and its three main shrines are the television, the Internet, and the cinema; and its most sacred genuflection is the uninhibited act of sexual intercourse.”  But, the truth of marriage is such a beautiful thing that reflects the very nature of God.

When I get to photograph a wedding, I am reminded about the truth of the gospel.  On a couples wedding day, they are usually the happiest they have ever been—at least, by the time they get to the altar together, they are; relief from the stress in the moments prior adds to their joy.  Because of the gospel, we work hard to make ourselves ready for Christ—rather, the Spirit works hard in us—yet we are moved forward by love from, and love for, Jesus, because of the cross—he gave everything for us; we responds by making ourselves ready for him.   It is because of this that our stresses, the stresses that the bride and groom feel before they are united, are made light as we keep the marriage moment in mind.

And as we prepare for the day that we will be fully united to Christ, we prepare for a day that is infinitely better than a wedding day.  Again, Piper says about the transition from marital bliss to the eternal marriage of the lamb, “Nothing is lost.  The music of every pleasure is transposed to an infinitely higher key.”  Every moment in this life looks toward that moment when all will be made right, as we are united with Christ.

Here’s one last quote from Piper—get the book: “The greatness and glory of marriage is beyond our ability to think or feel without divine revelation and without the illumining and awakening work of the Holy Spirit.  The world cannot know what marriage is without learning it from God.  The natural man does not have the capacities to see or receive or feel the wonder of what God has designed for marriage to be.”

So there it is.  That’s why I love shooting weddings. That day is a small picture of gospel hope. Do you see marriage like that?  Perhaps you have a negative view of marriage and have personal experience to prove it—fair enough.  Do share.

Family Fun-4.jpg, originally uploaded by Elijah Stephen.

Celest and I are teens again. That includes taking cute-silly-fun photos. I’m thinking about getting braces. Does anybody else have an irrepressible desire to TP something?

She’s lovely
More today than those we’ve past
She’s lovely
Of all our love right now is most
She’s lovely
Reflection shows my love in yours
Forevermore from sea to shore
From dawn to day we stand as one
And all in sum it’s clear:
She’s lovely

Thanks for being by my side my love.

Everyday is better than the last.

I Love you so much.

Love, your husband-