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A spiritual comment and prayer to start the day with Ennette C Lainchbury

Good Morning Everyone,

So one of the weirdest traumas I’ve had to process from my parents’ rocky relationship is the loss of my childhood photo albums. My dad insists my mother took them and burnt them in a fit of rage, my mother wholeheartedly denies the accusations and maintains that my father did it. All I know is that I loved flipping through those albums, a collection of memories and stories I was too young to remember yet here was evidence that they did happen.

An entire childhood of firsts and highlights and happy moments captured and kept safe for me. In lieu of my childhood photos, I make do with family get-togethers. When we’re all together I always make us relive and share stories again and again and sometimes in the retelling, new different stories are unearthed, like finding an old photo tucked away in between photo album sleeves.

And this had made me realise, more than the pictures, we’re one another’s memory keepers. Whilst I love sharing stories in this way, this bizarre childhood experience is probably also why I love taking photos, capturing moments that can be relived decades to come. So today, take the photo! It doesn’t have to be perfect. You don’t have to post it, just keep it as evidence of a life well lived.

Lord, thank you for our phones and the chance to take photos. Thank you for all that those photos represent: lives littered with good things that are so easy to forget about. May the photos we take be a reminder of good times. And when things are harder and the days a bit colder, may we look at these photos and feel our spirits buoyed by the memory of all the love and joy we have had the privilege of experiencing. May these good memories serve as a reminder of your goodness to us.

Amen