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| Chester Higgins, Master Photographer |
I don’t believe God calls us once but rather God
progressively reveals God’s will for our life over our life span. There is an initial call and then God builds
on that call. Early in life I was called
to be a preacher / pastor / community activist and I pursued that call with all
of my passion. I availed myself of the
training needed to be a great pastor. Eventually I would hear God calling me to the academy and I went on to prepare myself for that work. Let me say here, this is part of the journey. When we are called we have a responsibility
to develop the gift to facilitate the call.
What I am saying is that to be faithful demands hard work and
intentional development of the thing God has put in you so that you will excel
in that thing and therewith give glory to God.
If I had any success in life I attribute it to following the
call God has placed on my life and then working very hard to develop myself in
that area. People ask me, “Why are you
back in school?” I am back in school
because as God has progressively revealed God’s call on my life I realize that
as much as I am a professor, preacher, activist and multi-media story teller,
God has called me at this stage in my life to work on my craft as a
photographer.
At the core of my multi-media story telling is my
photography. While I have been to tons
of workshops and traveled the world making pictures I felt called to be
formally trained. To be formally trained
has been expensive in many ways but well worth it. I am much better at my craft than I was a
year ago. This has been hard work but I
am firm believer that if you are not willing to work hard you will not fulfill
your potential or be faithful to the God who has called you.
This brings me to Chester Higgins and his book Echo of
the Spirit: A Photographers Journey in this book Mr. Higgins talks about
his call to be a photographer. He was
trying to figure out what it was God was calling him to and he was sure it
wasn’t the traditional pulpit. Through a
serious spiritual quest he heard the voice of God and in following God’s call
he became one of the greatest photographers of our time. I have been encouraged by his story because
his story spoke to my story and confirmed my theological assumption about how
God calls us and develops us over time.
I encourage you to watch the video below as Mr. Higgins shares his
story. I also encourage you to read his
book, Echo of the Spirit.
What is God calling you to at this point in your
journey? What is next for you? How are you preparing for what is next? What type of training or education will you
need to be faithful to what God is calling you to be and do? Are you willing to pay the price to faithful?
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