{"id":19,"date":"2011-07-08T12:24:40","date_gmt":"2011-07-08T16:24:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apertureoflight\/?p=19"},"modified":"2011-07-08T12:26:24","modified_gmt":"2011-07-08T16:26:24","slug":"wild-at-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apertureoflight\/2011\/07\/wild-at-heart.html","title":{"rendered":"Wild At Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I have been working on a photography project exploring spiritual places. \u00a0My questions for people are, &#8220;where is it that you feel most strongly connected with God or how is it that God uses your gifts to His glory?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>At first this may be something that a person really has to contemplate. \u00a0We all have a place or an activity that we do where we feel most spiritually connected. \u00a0For me that is photography. \u00a0Sometimes I go on &#8220;photo shoots for God&#8221; where I take my camera and let God lead me to what to shoot. \u00a0Most often it is something in nature that catches my eye and reflects God&#8217;s beauty. \u00a0Recently He has been using my photography to help others discover things about themselves.<\/p>\n<p>Here is one of the photos from this series of a friend of mine. \u00a0His spiritual place is in nature. \u00a0He also tells a little bit as to why:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apertureoflight\/files\/2011\/07\/Matt.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-20\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/272\/2011\/07\/Matt-700x1024.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"717\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There is something transcendent about being in the wild. It is more than merely scaling over rock and stone or plunging through rivers and streams. There is a sentiment in mankind that longs to be free of the artificial self, this false person-hood that has usurped and dethroned the natural, free soul that God created within mankind. Though it is indeed wild, this natural self is one of innocence and natural beauty. It is the essence of what life was truly meant to be. And yet we build our own constructs, forsaking that for which we were created and designed. In these ways, we forget our ancient bonds to the deeper life. One of struggle and danger contrasted with insurmountable wonder, beauty and excitement. We long to regain that connection and yet, are terrified by the thought of it. Towering mountains, rolling waterfalls, fragrant pines and spacious skies all speak of this wildness. They remind me of who I am. They remind me that this innocence was never truly lost, only misplaced. It waits patiently at the foot of every hill, in the mist of every cascade and in the quiet splendor of every forest\u2026 waiting to be found again.&#8221; -Matt<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Recently I have been working on a photography project exploring spiritual places. \u00a0My questions for people are, &#8220;where is it that you feel most strongly connected with God or how is it that God uses your gifts to His glory?&#8221; At first this may be something that a person really has to contemplate. \u00a0We all&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":431,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Wild At Heart - Aperture of Light<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wild At Heart - Aperture of Light\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently I have been working on a photography project exploring spiritual places. \u00a0My questions for people are, &#8220;where is it that you feel most strongly connected with God or how is it that God uses your gifts to His glory?&#8221; At first this may be something that a person really has to contemplate. \u00a0We all&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/apertureoflight\/2011\/07\/wild-at-heart.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Aperture of Light\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-07-08T16:24:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2011-07-08T16:26:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/apertureoflight\/files\/2011\/07\/Matt-700x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cmartin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Wild At Heart - Aperture of Light","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Wild At Heart - Aperture of Light","og_description":"Recently I have been working on a photography project exploring spiritual places. \u00a0My questions for people are, &#8220;where is it that you feel most strongly connected with God or how is it that God uses your gifts to His glory?&#8221; 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