Obstacles are, at best, not fun and, at worst, detrimental to our progress. I’m reminded of the classic Dr. Seuss book “The
Zax”. In short, there was a North going Zax and a South going Zax and it just
so happened that in the Prairie of Prax they met on the same path and came to a
standstill. So, after years of traveling in their respective directions they met
with an obstacle and suddenly the Zax' were without trax in the Prairie of Prax.
What did they do, you ask? Nothing. They did absolutely
nothing to conquer the obstacle in front of them.
They refused to budge from the path on which they wanted to go and they
went NO-where, for years and years and yes, you guessed it, years. They stood still for so long that an entire
Metropolis was built around them and the highway was bridged right over top of
their heads.
So, what does this story teach us? Well, in my mind, there
are two different lessons to be learned; one from our stubborn title characters
and one from the Metropolis and highway builders. The Zax teach us that if we do nothing about
the obstacle in our path, be it because of stubborn pride, fear or whatever
reason we might conjure up to justify our motionless approach, then we will not
progress in our journey. The builders however, teach us that when we encounter
an obstacle in our path and we find a way around, over or under it, we will be
amazed at what we can accomplish in our travels.
Now, while I am a country girl and do not advocate for the
building of Metropolis’ and highways as a rule, I do see the genius in that
aspect of the story. As a photographer of nature, I encounter obstacles in my
efforts to capture the exact capture I am seeking. Everything from the
tyme of day to the weather of the day, the height of the object I’m after and
the briar patch in front of it can add frustrating obstacles to my process.
One rainy, Spring day – rainy days tend to, as a rule, be
great obstacles for a nature photographer – I was working in my office, which
is a self-standing structure near my home, and decided I needed a break. I
walked up the path to the front porch which is closed in by lattice on the far
end. Now, one thing I do like about
rainy days is seeing raindrops on flowers. Well has it happened, the roses on
the other side of the porch’s lattice were in beautiful bloom and yes,
delightfully decorated by raindrops…and yes, I did sing a bit of that song from
The Sound of Music.
Naturally, I got my camera and went down into the yard to
take pictures of the roses.
–
Insert obstacles here –
No matter what I did I just couldn’t seem to capture the
essence I was after. Finally, I decided to settle for the shots I had and
went back up to the porch to go inside and get a glass of sweet tea. As I
opened the door to go in, I took one more look at the roses through the lattice
and that’s when I saw it; the shot I was after.
Excited, I got my camera back out and went to get the capture.
–
Insert obstacles here –
No matter what I did or how I contorted my body or attempted
to manipulate my lens, I simply could not get the angle I needed on the
shot. Frustrated, I took a few more pictures
and then, begrudgingly, gave up on the idea.
So, how is this a lesson in overcoming obstacles, when
clearly I didn’t? Well, that came later
when I looked at my pictures and saw something I didn’t expect. In frustration,
I took some pictures of the roses and included the main obstacle in my path;
the lattice. As it happened, that which I deemed a formidable foe turned out to
be a unique aspect that gave my picture more depth in both view and meaning.
In the long run, I started out as a Zax, refusing to budge
from the view I wanted, but eventually I built a Metropolis as I looked at the
picture that God gave me and realized that He allows obstacles in the path of
life to frame the beauty of life and that sometymes the best way to overcome an
obstacle is to include it in the journey.
