Because memory plays such an important role in defining who we are as people, humans have always had the desire to capture their existence with something more tangible than their own memory. We want something in the world that will preserve those memories beyond our own lives. Our early ancestors painted pictures on cave walls. Their goal was not to commemorate themselves so much as to honor the animals that sustained their existence. But as human civilization evolved, our artistic focus turned inward. No longer were we simply satisfied with reflecting the beauty of the external world. We wanted to document ourselves. We wanted to leave behind some trace that we existed. We wanted people to know long after we are gone – I was here.

“It was as if time stopped when this man caught my eye. We were surrounded by chaos, yet he looked so peaceful, so quiet, and so wise.” – Ellen Brault

Over thousands of years, our ability to capture and reflect the human form advanced dramatically. Initially, the human hand could only reproduce the most basic features of the human body. But before long, artists were able to recreate the most minute features of human expression with incredible detail. Of course, artists could not generate these representations in real time. If one desired to commemorate an actual event, the artist would have to recreate the moment out of his own imagination or, in rare instances, from the descriptions of those who were present. Either way, the artist was never going to capture the event as it actually occurred. The artist’s rendition of the moment would always and forever be an interpretation.

But this all changed in 1816 when the Frenchman, Joseph Niépce, created the first partial photographic plate, an effort that took nearly 8 hours of exposure time. Niépce continued experimenting to refine his process, creating the earliest known photograph in 1826 called View from the Window at Le Gras. Before long, Niépce’s research led others to discover methods that reduced exposure time to less than a minute. Then in 1851, the Englishman, William Talbot, attached a page of the London Times newspaper to a wheel. As the wheel rotated, Talbot opened the shutter of the camera for about 1/2000th of a second. When Talbot examined the negative, he could read the text of the newspaper, producing the first true snapshot. Talbot proved that, under the right conditions, a camera could literally capture life as it happened. For the first time in human history, the events that comprise our lives could be recorded in real time.

In this way, the photograph is an absolutely amazing invention. When the shutter clicks, we have captured a fragment of time. We have frozen this singular moment of our lives and, like our memories, those photos represent these small pieces of who we are as people. Since the advent of photography, we have taken more than 12.4 trillion pictures, with 15 percent of those photos being taken in the last year alone. We live in a time where humans have achieved something that was merely a dream for our ancestors. And yet, even though we can capture every single moment of our lives as it happens, we are still no better off than they were.

“This picture was taken in 1945, when I was in the Army Air Corps. The airplane was a Douglas DC-4 Transport. As we were preparing to land at Cairo, I saw the pyramids come into view…” – Harry Gilling

The immortality of life offered by the photograph is nothing more than an illusion. We assume that by documenting our lives through photography, our memories will have more permanence than if those moment are simply stored in our minds. But this is not true. Even though some photographs speak for themselves, more often than not, what makes a photograph special are the details not captured within the frame. The feelings, the thoughts, the history that came before that moment. Without those points of reference, a photograph loses much of its meaning.

Here we see a man and woman standing together. Like many pictures, it is very plain; very ordinary. And yet, with the addition of a few small details, this seemingly innocuous photo becomes quite remarkable. The man in this picture is named Dario and the woman is named Gladys. When Gladys originally met Dario, he could not walk because he lost his leg in a motorcycle accident. As an occupational therapist, Gladys was responsible for helping him acquire a prosthesis. When she returned to the Dominican Republic the following year, Dario surprised Gladys by walking on two legs.

You see, no matter how many tangible reminders you have of your life, those mementos mean nothing without your perspective to help fill in the gaps. Indeed, every human being lives a truly unique life because no one can the see the world in exactly the same way as you. We can be present at the exact same moment and come away with totally different understandings of what took place.

This photo was taken looking down off the starboard side of the HMS Queen Mary on September 15^th, 1963. The people photographed are the family and friends of Harold Stern. They are watching as he leaves for Europe, having won a Fulbright scholarship. Though they are experiencing the same moment, they are seeing it through very different eyes. Harold’s father, a working class man from the Bronx, watches his beloved son with a tentative eye, hoping for his safe return; while Harold, on the other side of the photograph, sets sail to take hold of his life-long dream to see the world.

And yet, even though you and I can never truly see the world in quite the same way, even though our experiences of life are distinctly different from one another, we are all connected to each other by a singular moment in history. I was born on November 19^th, 1979. That is 1,979 years after the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. My birth, like everyone else in the modern world, is defined by this one man. No matter what contributions I make to society, my place in history is not my own, but is always tethered to the life of this poor Jewish peasant.

“Time goes so quickly. Life is constantly changing. But these surroundings remain faithfully timeless and unchanged. They envelop us, sooth us, and remain constant, a true gift.” – Liza Churchill

Did Jesus know that every date on our calendar would be defined by his presence in our world? Did he have any clue that every pivotal moment in our lives from the moment we fall in love, to the moment we graduate from school, to the moment we witness the breath of our first child, to the moment we die would always reflect back to him?

Whether we like or not, Jesus’ life is inextricably linked to our lives and the beauty of this connection is not so much found in the religion that was built around him, but in the fact that his experiences were very much the same as our own. Like you, he was born into this world with his mother holding him close. Like you, he grew into a child who was continually amazed by the wonder of the world around him. Like you, he marveled at the splendor of a flower, the ripples of a mushroom, the eloquence of the sun’s rays peeking through the trees. Like you, he developed close bonds of friendship with his brothers and sisters. Like you, he longed to fall in love, hoping to be with someone with whom he could share the rest of his life. Like you, he mourned when those who he loved most left this world.

But most importantly, like you, he wanted his life to matter. He wanted to know that someone cared about his presence and would miss him when he was gone. He wanted to know that he contributed something of worth to someone else’s memories; that without him, their lives would never have been the same. Is this not what we all want for ourselves? Indeed, this is why Jesus is the perfect way for us to demarcate our time on this earth, because his life helps us to understand how we can make a mark on this world that truly matters.

Jesus teaches us that, even though we are all very different, there is something inside of us that is very much the same. There is something that unites every human on this planet and makes us one with each other. Jesus tells us that if we look past the physical body, if we peer deep inside the heart and search the soul, it is there we will find a spark of the divine.

Jesus teaches us to value this spark because it is the source of everything meaningful in this world; it is the source of our love for one another. And if we are so bold as to embrace that love, if we are willing to nurture it and help it grow, then our love will become a force for astonishing change that will be remembered for generations to come.

“I see God in almost every picture I take, and, for the most part, that is why I take the picture in the first place.” – Joan Morrone

Ever since Jesus planted this seed some 2000 years ago, humanity has slowly been edging closer to a world defined by the unity of love rather than the division of hate. But with every step forward, our progress is crippled by our inability to see God in the hearts of those who are different from ourselves. Indeed, being able to see God in the people around us is the key to creating the world that Jesus envisioned and perhaps one of the greatest tools we have ever possessed towards that end is the photograph.

You see, when we look at a photograph, when we freeze a moment in time and are able to examine it, to scrutinize all the features we missed when we were right there in the moment, the presence of God will very often become apparent to us. We can find God hiding in the details, in the places where we didn’t think anything was present. We can see God reflected in the individual characters and objects that comprise this snapshot in time. And this is why the advent of the photograph is so revolutionary. It is not just that we can capture life as it happens, but in a very real way, we can capture God’s presence in our lives.

In this way, every photograph you view has the potential to open your heart to see that divine spark that would otherwise be hidden. Every photograph is an opportunity to appreciate the humanity of someone you had previously dismissed. Every photograph is a possibility to welcome another stranger into your family. Through discovering God in photography, we can redefine what it means to be a family. No longer is our family simply defined by blood, but rather, by the presence of God in our hearts.

So the next time you see a photograph of a stranger, may you not only notice the features that are so very different from yourself, but also the features that make you so much the same. May you recognize that same divine spark that gives you the capacity to love illuminated in them; and may you find God hiding in the details, calling out to you, imploring you to welcome this stranger as a member of your own family.

Photographs are a beautiful miracle, may we always appreciate how fortunate we are to be remembered through them.