The Photograph Left Out

The school garden club finished its raised bed on a bright Friday afternoon. Leila had painted the sign, and she was pleased with the green letters. When the teacher asked for a photograph, Leila hurried to stand beside it.

Her friend Hannah had spent most of the afternoon mixing compost and carrying heavy bags with the grown-ups. Her sleeves were dirty, and she was still at the far end of the bed when the photograph was taken. Leila could see only the edge of Hannah's shoe in the picture.

At home, Leila chose the photograph for the club's display board. She wrote a caption about the new garden and almost added that she had designed the sign. Then she remembered the bags of compost. Without Hannah and the others, the sign would have stood beside an empty box.

On Monday Leila asked the teacher if they could add another photograph. The teacher suggested that Leila write a short account of how the bed was built. Leila spoke to each club member and learned about work she had not noticed. One child had measured the wood. Another had collected the seed packets. Hannah had helped plan where the tallest plants should go.

The finished display included names beside the different jobs. Leila's sign still appeared clearly, but it no longer looked as though the garden had grown from one person's idea. Hannah smiled when she saw the whole group represented.

Leila enjoyed the display more after making it truthful. She did not need to hide her own work in order to honor someone else's. She needed to remember that her part belonged inside a much larger effort.

Humility makes room for other people in the story we tell about success. Scripture warns against the pride that wants all eyes turned toward us. The next time Leila held a camera, she looked beyond the person nearest the sign. She wanted the photograph, and her own heart, to have room for the people whose quiet work made the day possible.