David Bahn – Reflections

I am a member of the Northwest Houston Photo Club, and the default chaplain for the group. At our Christmas party each year I offer a prayer before the meal. This year, as in the past several years, I wrote out a poem/prayer. It is a bit light and somewhat whimsical, but I make it a point to pray in Jesus’ name in the end. In addition this year I sang a song that mentions some of our photographic pursuits as a prelude to the prayer. So I offer both as a holiday gift of sorts. There are two “camps” of photographers in our club: those who shoot Canon (like I do) and those who shoot Nikon (slightly more than half of our members do). There are a few who shoot Pentax, Sony, or Olympus as well. The reference to Nikonians and Canonites is my good natured way of recognizing that.

O Come All Ye…! (Tune: O Come All Ye Faithful)

O Come, all ye Nikonians
Joyful and triumphant!
O come, ye, O come ye to Bear and Pam’s
Come and behold this
Feast so generously spread
O come let us eat fine food!
O come let us drink rich drink!
O come let us be merry: It’s NWHPC Christmas Party Time!

Sing choirs of Canonites
Sing in exultation!
O sing all photographers gathered here.
This is our party
Time of celebration
We’ll have awards aplenty
We’ll see our photos brightly
Thanks to Alan’s urging, they’ll be on the screen.

Yea folks it’s time now
Time to eat our dinner
Just one thing remains for us to do
Our resident chaplain
Must pray for our dinner
He’ll bless the food before us
We’ll dive in and devour it
We happy, we blessed members and guests of NWHPC!
Prayer

O God I pray
For this wonderful group of friends
Who gather again as this year ends
Whether Nikonian, Pentaxian, or Canonite
Though we do each have our own favorite
We wish each other Yule cheer
And offer our well-wishes dear.

We have people with different affinity
With religions and traditions aplenty
We’re OK with Miksang or Stieglitz,
Or, Adams or Salgado, or even no Glitz
There’s some who love flowers and others who love birds
And some even take pictures of things almost weird.

Thank you, God, for the food and for the chatter
For the drink and the dessert – calories on this night don’t matter!
Suffice it now to say,
Thanks for your grace sent our way
In your Son whose birth marks this season
And who gives us every good reason
To celebrate, feast, and rejoice
In whose name I lift up my voice,
And those who wish may join me to say
Without malice or reproach on this day
Our heart-felt thanks once again,
Ending this prayer in Jesus’ name…
Amen.