Picture = 1000 Words

The adage that a picture is worth a thousand words seemed to reveal itself completely to me as I prepare for next Friday's Friday Morning Devotional. I chose the book "The Return of the Prodigal Son" by Henri Nouwin which is his spiritual journey written through his love of Rembrandt's depiction of the Parable in Luke 15.

Storytelling is extremely powerful and Rembrandt's last oil canvass (1669) collapses the 533 words into an intimate scene with warm red and golden yellow colors among the mysterious dark and light contrasts of setting for the "cast". Even a person, like me, with little appreciation for art, is drawn to this picture.

How challenging it is to take a story and collapse it's time, the players, the message and outcome into one "snapshot" or still. It's like picking one photograph to tell the entire story about your vacation experience. Or one frame of a video in place of the whole movie.

Laconic Storytelling - just create a picture.