Ordinary BenchMarks - A Sample of My Upcoming Book

Plus the beauty of our neighbors' tree

As Thanksgiving weekend is wrapping up, I had to wake up stupid early this morning to take our daughter to the airport. As I walked out to the car at about 4am, I saw that our neighbors’ gingko tree decided that overnight was the time for it to drop virtually all its leaves. A few years ago, it did this in the middle of the day and it was this amazing moment of thousands of tiny yellow leaves falling like rain. It was stunning. This year, the tree decided it was time was while the world slept. My first glimpse of the leaves were of them illuminated by our Christmas lights along our garden fence. Later in the morning, it was time for Scout to get a portrait time in them and to see them in full daylight.

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Ordinary BenchMarks

Over the last few weeks, I have been sharing about the book that has finally started to come together for me. I’ve been noodling on this for several years now and thought that it would be a more “traditional” book reflecting on the intersection of photography with faith and contemplative practice. I had written several sections of it and was looking forward to using my sabbatical time this Fall to have some focused time to make progress on it. Well, that didn’t happen until I read a simple line from Anne Lamott’s most recent book where she shared these two gems in the opening chapter.

My husband said something a few years ago that I often quote: Eighty percent of everything that is true and beautiful can be experienced on any ten-minute walk…When we are paying attention, we see how much holds us invisibly. Love is a bench.¹

When I read that, something clicked into place. I realized that what was stirring for me was not only reflections like I shared above but also a realization of why I had been photographing the 7:45am benches all year. As I sat down to work with this, the muse began to speak (or maybe I was finally listening) and it began to flow. Over the weeks that followed, I ended up writing reflections for each of the bench images to that point (and still working on them now as they occur) along with introductions each month that are similar to what I had been thinking the book was going to be in the first place.

So, it is a different reflection/devotional book. Each month begins with an introduction that shares some aspects of my practice of contemplative photography with “daily” reflections to follow. I say “daily” because the days are not consistent. They are reflections for the days that I photographed the bench. There are times when there are a bunch of reflections in a month and months where there are only a few. Some are consecutive days while others are more spread out. Some of the photographs are drab and grey while others are colorful and vibrant. But they are all the same bench at (roughly) the same time - 7:45am.

I wrestled with the irregularity of this but it is in the spirit of what I feel I have been led to share here.

My practice of contemplative photography is ultimately about finding meaning in the everyday. It is about finding meaning in a cold grey morning just as much as finding meaning in a sky lit up by a vibrant rainbow of colors. It is about finding meaning on the days I was excited to be out there and on the days where it was the last place I wanted to be. It is about finding meaning when life was moving along well and times when I was at the bench with deep sorrows in my heart. It is about finding meaning in how all of this intersects with the music, movies, and books that have meant a great deal to me as well as my own personal reflections. It is finding meaning in the Scriptures that have spoken to me through my life but also in the ways that I have found deep meaning and truth beyond those Scriptures.

I am so excited to put this out to the world and I wanted to share a sample of a few parts of it so far. Full disclosure - there are some parts of the linked sample below that are still “in progress.” One section is simply pages from a word document because some images still need to be inserted. Reference endnotes are also in process of being made consistent. So you’ll see some things that aren’t what they’ll be in their final form. But I wanted to give a taste of what I feel I have been led to share. I also wanted to note that many of the reflections will have additional multimedia components to them - links/QRs to videos, music, etc. As my dear friend Lisa would say, “it’s all in there.”

Ordinary BenchMarks will be available by the end of the year in a self-published form likely through Amazon Direct Publishing. You’ll be able to order a full-color print copy as well as an e-book version. I do not yet know the price as that will be determined once we finalize the number of pages.

You can download the sample by clicking the link.. It includes several introductions as well as several reflection pages.

Ordinary BenchMarks Sample

I also need to thank my amazing friend and co-worker, Michele Wright, for her stunning layout work that she has done. While the photography and writing is me, the beauty of the layout is ALL Michele. So thank you Michele!

Thanks for taking a look!

Calendars Update

Just a quick reminder that calendars (Doggo Devotions and The Wide View) are both on sale and ready to ship. The BenchMarks calendar (using some of the same images you’ll see in the book) will be ready to ship sometime in early December. I still need to get a December photo in there, which could come as soon as tomorrow! Here is the order link.

Imago Scriptura Calendars

Grace, Peace, Love, and Joy,
Ed

PS - A big thank you to all the new subscribers (free and paid) that I have received the last few weeks. I am humbled time and again that people have found connection and meaning in what I share here. Welcome and thank you!

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1. Lamott, Anne. Somehow: Thoughts on Love (pp. 1 & 6). Penguin Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.