Friday, April 4

by Barbara Ann Zizzi
"Peace Through A Camera Lens"

I received my first camera at the age of eight. Little did I realize then what that gift would allow me to discover. At first, my photos were of haphazard subject matter, and more often than not, most were out of focus. After a few college photography courses, countless boxes overflowing with developed photographs and years of trial and error, I learned how to capture a moment in time which might have otherwise gone unnoticed. It is through the medium of photography that I feel most comfortable expressing myself. By capturing images of everyday occurrences, I not only discover the beauty and peace in the world around me but also experience it.

Last summer I had the privilege of traveling to Kenya with fellow Covenant and THAD church members to offer a hand in friendship and to work alongside our friends from Nairobi and Renguti. We were blessed to break bread and worship together. We laughed, cried, and celebrated together. They had much to teach me about living, loving, overcoming and celebrating. They had much to teach me about faith.  And when we left, I carried their images in my mind and their stories in my heart.

So, when invited to share a story of peace, my mind automatically recalled images from that trip to Kenya.  Literally thousands of images … all taken while I looked through a camera lens … peaceful images that have developed even more beautifully in my mind since my return.

Here are just a few of those images…
  • The rosy glow of the sun rising on a day full of promise and new beginnings
  • A tenderly cradled sleeping child in the arms of a Covenant member at New Life Homes
  • A tattered and treasured textbook laid open on a worn wooden desk
  • Students’ hands eagerly raised  in the air, all hoping to be called upon to answer the teacher’s question
  • Happy and laughing faces of children at play on a knee-high grassy playground
  • A single delicate flower growing toward the heavens despite having sprouted in the compacted, nutrient-void soil of the Mathare slum
  • A gathered community of faith lifting their voices in joyous song in a language other than my own
  • The face of a Kenyan child with eyes tightly closed and hands clasped in prayer
  • The wisdom and beauty shining forth from the face of a beloved grandmother
  • A vibrant rainbow in the darkened sky after a torrential thunderstorm
  • The brilliance of a setting sun sinking silently on the horizon of the Masai Mara
  • Twinkling stars revealing the vastness of the heavens on a clear summer night
Prayer:  Gracious and loving God, thank you for the peacefulness that you bring to our everyday lives. Help us to discover that peace in unexpected places and carry those images with us during this Lenten season.  Amen.









Lift in prayer today
Covenant Church’s children and youth