Eyes of the Heart

This is not a book about photographic technique: rather, it is about cultivating photography as a spiritual practice. Adapting the monastic practice of lectio divina (sacred reading) into a form of visio divina (sacred seeing), spiritual director and Benedictine oblate Christine Valters Paintner invites readers to a new way of viewing the world through the lens of a camera. Drawing on the Christian tradition of the spiritual senses, Paintner guides readers through six themes connecting the medium of photography with the Christian spiritual life. Each theme provides a photographic journey in which the reader does not simply take images, but receives images. Readers are prompted to engage what St. Paul describes as the eyes of the heart (Eph 1:18) and understand how through photography, they can see the world around them more deeply and discover anew their own spiritual capacity. Creative exercises offer both novice and accomplished photographers rich reflection. Photos by the author are included.

Sorin Books, 2013, ISBN 978-1933495545, 192pp.