I went to the FOAM this morning.  Museums have become my places to think and pray and journal... kind of the urban equivalent of the vast nature preserves and cornfields that I used to frequent for such purposes back in rural Ohio.  Amsterdam's musuems of photography -- the FOAM and the Huis Marseilles, in particular -- are some of my favorites.  The images from far-flung corners of the planet help me to attain a sense of escape from my day-to-day issues in Amsterdam -- while somehow still allowing me to simultaneously engage with bigger issues in the world.  Escape and engage.  Escape and engage.  It's a meaningful paradox and a healthy discipline.  Well-considered and well-executed photography helps to put me and God and others into perspective.  I feel a sense of my smallness.  And I feel compelled to repeat Jesus' prayer for God's Kingdom to come to earth, as it is in heaven.

Today I was particularly impacted by the photography of James Nachtwey.  The above image, taken in the Sudan during the famine of 1993, is a powerful example of his work.  The exhibit at the FOAM covers his eyewitness "Testimony" of global conflicts in Bosnia, Indonesia, Iraq, and Somalia -- among other locations.  I was especially gripped by the pictures from the famine in Africa and the orphanages in Romania from the early 1990s... Truly unforgettable...

In this same vein, there's an annual exhibition that's currently in Amsterdam called the World Press Photo Contest.  Every year, I look forward to the advent of this international photo-journalism exhibition, typically hosted in the massive chambers of the Oude Kerk.

If you have the opportunity, I would strongly recommend a visit to these exhibitions.