by Rev Douglas Brauner

The power of forgiveness.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve been spending time taking pictures at Sondermann Park in Colorado Springs. I’m getting tired of the crowds at the Garden of the Gods and Red Rocks open space. I’ve been to Ute Valley Park, and Black Forest Regional Park, too many times. I love the cottonwood trees that canopy the stream that meanders through the heart Sondermann.

This is the first picture that I took when I entered the park carrying a Bronica SQ-A, loaded with Ilford Delta 100 film. You are very careful about your composition and exposure when you can only capture twelve pictures. I set up my camera, took a meter reading of my composition, and pressed the shutter.

This picture is a mistake.

The composition was correct, my shutter speed was correct, but I had forgotten to adjust my aperture. This picture was drastically underexposed. However, film is forgiving. Although the exposure was a mistake, the picture was okay.

Isaiah thought he would die when he saw the Lord high and lifted up. He knew that he had sinned against the holy and righteous God. He knew that like all the Israelites his lips were unclean.

“Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. He touched my lips with it and said, ‘See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.'”
Isaiah 6:6-7 New Living Bible

My heart sank when I recognized my mistake, yet I was relieved when I saw the result. Isn’t that the way we feel when we know that we’ve sinned against God?

Our lips, and our lives, have been cleansed by the coal of God’s love because Jesus died for us. Like the coal that touched Isaiah, Jesus’ blood has touched us.

Because of the grace of Ilford Delta 100, I now look at this picture differently. Because of God’s mercy for us in Jesus, may we look at our lives differently.

Copyright Holy Cross Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado