It was sometime around 1980 on a Monday during a season when I was serving as the worship leader in a large church. I decided to begin work on a song I could sing as our congregation received communion the following Sunday. I grabbed my guitar and found myself quickly settling into a simple chord progression I was fingerpicking. Then, without any forethought, my mind became fixed on the idea of a photograph. It was almost as though I could see it in my hand. And although the picture was not clear, I knew I was meant to understand that it captured something of the image of God. And that led to a cascade of thoughts connecting the dots between the act of receiving communion and the words of Jesus to his disciples on the night of his betrayal when he said, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

Photograph

Words & music by Randy Boldt

The stain of fallen teardrops
On the photograph he gave me
Is now a part of the precious memory
Though I know it’s only paper
The image thereupon
Is what makes it so special to me

Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph
Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph

The worn and tattered edges
Here within my grasp
Remind me of the price that was paid
With the breaking of his body
The shedding of his blood
This portrait of love was made

Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph
Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph

Very soon I’ll see him for he’s coming again
That will be the hour, the precious moment when
I trade in all my memories to see him face to face
And the stain of fallen teardrops, his glory will erase

Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph
Photograph, photograph
Bread and wine is my Father’s photograph