I had a nice email last month from a chap producing videos for a church in Illinois called The Chapel.
He'd seen a photo I snatched of a ventilation shaft in Preston Brook Tunnel and asked if he could use it in a video for the church with the theme of 'Hope'. Of course I said yes.
He spotted the original photo on my post 'Brook Bond', dating back to early 2008.
While going through Preston Brook tunnel that year, when looking up the ventilation shafts I was reminded of the 'roving sniper sights' in the opening to James Bond films and wanted to catch the effect.
I think it works pretty well, too. Notice the grill at the top of the shaft, serving as the 'crosshairs' of the sight.
However, The Chapel wanted to evoke a less profane image, showing, perhaps, 'the light at the end of the tunnel', and conveying an image of a state of grace and hope, so the grill doesn't show.
And while I don't want to feel too much sinful pride, I think their use of the image works pretty well too!
The image prefaces a talk/sermon by pastor Jeff Griffin on the theme of HOPE:
Our world is filled with hardships and disappointments. It is very easy for these discouraging realities to pull us down emotionally.
In this series, we will discover how to have hope and joy in the midst of very dark circumstances - how to focus on the beautiful reality of God as opposed to the dark reality of our circumstances.
I've got a soft spot for anything with the theme of hope. For, without hope we have nothing, but with hope we still have everything. It's the most important thing in life. One of my favourite tombstone inscriptions is on the grave of William Beckford in Lansdown, near Bath. It says "Enjoying humbly the most precious gift of heaven - Hope'.
(Not everyone likes hope. There's a scene in the film Clockwork, written by Michael Frayn, where someone tells the lead character not to despair. He says "It's not the despair. I can take the despair. It's the hope I can't stand. ")
This is not the first time one of my pictures has been in a church-themed setting. A couple of years back, the image 'Curious cows' ended up in a stained glass window in a church in New England.
Now, I wonder if I can find an image the canal-travelling Boater's Christian Fellowship can use?
Great photo. How nice that he discovered you on the net and will be using your picture to inspire hope.
Posted by: Narrowboat Wife | Monday, 11 July 2011 at 11:23 AM