Photo Albums

by Bob Setzer, Jr.
On my study shelves, there are six church directories from Macon’s First Baptist Church. The earliest hails from the mid-80s and features pictures of secretaries with typewriters at their elbows (and not a computer monitor in sight), shots of elegantly dressed ladies stepping out of boat-sized sedans, and photos of ministers sporting bushy mustaches and “preacher hair” even more pronounced than my own!

But aside from the humor in looking back and seeing how times and styles have changed, those church directories are a precious archive of dear saints, many of whom are now gone, who have journeyed with Jesus in the company of God’s people at the top of Poplar. These are the faces, the memories, and the snapshots of grace that tell us something of who we are by telling us something of who we were.

Likewise, in my home and office, there are a succession church family portraits that chronicle the story of the Setzer clan. The first is a black-and-white photograph featuring a spiffy-looking kid with a crew cut and skinny tie flanked by two lovely sisters. An earnest-looking dad and smiling mom, bursting with pride, stand behind their brood. A later portrait shows Bambi and me in all our technicolor splendor, huddled up close as young love birds do. Still later, a bespectacled seven-year-old Whitney makes her debut in the pics. Since my family was and is  deeply invested in the life of a local community of faith, these portraits were all taken “at church.” K-Mart or a studio of more expensive and refined tastes, never had a shot at us. Pun intended.

I realize that in these days of camera phones and cheap digital cameras, everyone and his cousin fancies him or herself a photographer. But have you noticed how many of those digital shots end up stored on a computer where, unless someone studiously organizes and manages them, they disappear into cyberspace and are soon forgotten? By contrast, a professionally rendered 8x10 glossy (free to those who participate in our church directory) is much more likely to end up framed and hung on the wall or perched on a desk.
   
Thirty years from now when I’m rocking on the porch of the retirement home, I will long to remember the “good ‘ole days” at First Baptist from the year of our Lord, 2011. Perhaps my trembling, arthritic fingers will not be able to manage whatever electronic gadget is the display device of the moment. Or maybe I’ll lack the technological savvy to pull up digital images from the long ago and far away. But I will still be able to pull a printed church directory off the shelf, thumb through its pages, and remember with gratitude and joy the dear saints with whom I journeyed with Jesus.

Please make sure your picture is in our upcoming church family directory so when that day comes, I’ll be looking at you.