On the Sunday closest to Epiphany, the church I serve drew ‘star words.’ These are face down and my ‘rule’ for them and myself is if you really don’t like your word after a week, you can come back and draw a new one.

My word this year is magnify. From the Oxford Dictionary: 1. make (something) appear larger than it is, especially with a lens or microscope. “the camera’s zoom mode can magnify a certain area if required” and 2. archaic extol; glorify. “praise the Lord and magnify Him.”

Many of you know that I love macro photography, zooming in, magnifying something, so that the tiniest details become visible. In life and in ministry, things, both good and bad get magnified, actually most of the time, the bad things get magnified, taken out of proportion, and that becomes the story. I want to tell and live a different story, the kind that I discover with my camera, the kind that unveils beauty close up in almost all circumstances.

This year, while remaining attentive to what is going on in the world, I am also going to magnify the good and beautiful things I encounter, and not just with my camera.

That’s my window on God’s world.