Journal of Sacred Work

Days 264-268 – Not in Picture…

Michael-Collins-the-astronaut-who-took-this-photo-is-the-only-human-alive-or-dead-that-isnt-in-the-frame-of-this-picture-1969 - Buzzlamp   Even if you have seen it before stay with this astonishing picture. It takes more than a glance to absorb two subtle & fascinating facts. If you were born on or before July 21, 1969 you are included in this image.

   Sun trims the surface of the newly visited moon. The satellite in the foreground holds Buzz Aldrin & Neil Armstrong.  In the distance our orb with it seven billion inhabitants spins at a thousand miles an hour. Sitting in a separate space capsule is the photographer, Astronaut Michael Collins.

   Have you thought yet of what that means? Here is the second fact: Collins is the only person, living or dead, who is not in this photograph.

   After reflecting on this news for awhile I thought of all those group yearbook photos that list absentees as "not in picture." I knew one shy kid who hid in the boy's room on photo day & loved being listed as absent.

   But, no one on that July day in 1969 could escape the frame of this image.

   Challenges arrive each day. You have met many of them with joy, purpose & passion. Often, out of fear or laziness or simply because we have other challenges in mind we duck the choice to embrace Opportunity. 

   For how much of life have you & I been "not in picture?" 

-Erie Chapman

   

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4 responses to “Days 264-268 – Not in Picture…”

  1. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    This is a brilliant essay, Erie. Honestly, I could not have grasped this extraordinary realization had you not shared your thoughts. I appreciate the acknowledgement that we are something far greater than we recognize. To think that we are turning a thousand miles an hour is truly difficult to comprehend. Then you startle us again…Collins is not in the photo. Yet he is connected to the miraculous experience in his bearing witness to the infinite space within and around him.
    Next, you take us back to earth from the collective to the individual. You remind us that too often we shrink back from life; seeking but not finding truth. Yet, it all points to surrendering to that which we run from; our fears which we can learn to face with gentleness and a fervent prayer that we are willing to see differently.
    And when I see the goodness in you I find it in myself.
    Thank you, Erie for the way in which you offer us another way of seeing.

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  2. JVD Avatar
    JVD

    Not in the picture but in the moment. Michael Collins was just doing what all fathers seem to have done while their children were growing up, taking a picture of them. There were a lot more pictures of me, my siblings and my mom at events than there were of my dad. Somebody had to take the pictures. As I grew older I started to take the pictures and dad was at the events but I was missing. Then came my kids and it started all over again. So I suggest that Michael Collins was just one of the greatest fathers ever by not being in the picture, but capturing the moment for all us kids.
    FYI, Michael Collins was born on October 31st, as was one of his daughters. I hear some great people were born on Halloween. I know, I married one!

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  3. erie Avatar
    erie

    Another stunning set of observations, J. Do I conclude from your closing sentence that you married Michael Collins daughter or were you just referencing the 31st? Here’s another one for you. My birthday is also October 31.
    I love your perspective on Collins doing “what all fathers seem to have don” in being the family photographer and thus excluded. As a lifelong serious photographer (I have my own photography gallery) I have been startled at how the vast majority of people forget who took the pictures in the scrapbook or on the wall. POV is always important. In this case with Collins, it is “earth-shaking.”

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  4. erie Avatar
    erie

    Thank you, Liz. First, I did not come up with the notion that Collins was the only person in the world, dead or alive, who was not in this photo. I came upon the photo and that accompanying insight. But, I appreciate all of your observations including our tendency to fear being all the way in “the picture.” You have been heroic in this regard with your life-career of caring for patients and co-workers – and for doing the same with family and friends!

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