My wife and I recently went on vacation, and as is our habit we brought along a camera and several rolls of film. Upon our return my wife began proudly showing off our latest set of vacation photos, and then each day she’d relate her coworkers’ reactions to me. After a few days of this I noticed a recurring theme in her friends’ reactions. Invariably, people would say, “Wow, your husband must have a really nice camera!”
Even though people liked my photos, I was disappointed. I wanted them to acknowledge what a good photographer I am, not what a good camera I have.
After a week of this I ranted to my wife: “Why do people do this? Nobody looks at a painting and says, ‘Nice brushes!’ Nobody looks at a skyscraper and says, ‘Nice drafting table!’ Nobody looks at a sculpture and says, ‘Nice chisel!’ What’s wrong with these people?”
It felt good to get that off my chest. Until my wife reminded me, “So, how often do you look at creation and say, ‘Nice work, God’?”