Subscribe Love

Picturing Grace

by | Dec 5, 2024 | Opinion

Columnist John Moore grew up seeing a special painting on his grandmother’s wall. At least, he thought it was a painting.

When I was a child, there was a painting that hung on my grandmother’s kitchen wall. It portrayed a man who was praying over a meal of bread and what appeared to be a bowl of soup. Near the man was a book, which I always assumed was a Bible, and a pair of spectacles.

From my earliest recollections until my dad’s mother passed, I remember looking at this painting while we ate in her home and wondering many things. Who was the man in the painting? Was he a real man or did he originate in the artist’s imagination? How old was the painting?

I never asked my grandmother about the image. Honestly, it never occurred to me that one day it would matter much. But something happened recently that changed that.

Several months ago, I expressed on my Facebook page that the painting meant a lot to me. I don’t recall if someone had posted a photo of it or how I came to make the comment, but my aunt saw my post and messaged me.

She owns a resale shop in my hometown of Ashdown, Arkansas, and said that she could get me a copy of it. She also had shared family meals in the same kitchen and remembered the photo.

After my aunt acquired a framed copy for me and my mom picked it up and delivered it during a recent visit, I did some homework on the painting.

I was surprised by what I learned.

The painting isn’t a painting. It is a photograph.

The Bible isn’t a Bible. It is a dictionary.

There’s more.

Here’s how the story goes:

Somewhere between 1918 and 1920, the photo was taken in a studio in Bovey, Minnesota, by a man named Eric Enstrom. The date the photo was actually captured varies because Enstrom’s daughter, who was born in 1917, claimed that she remembered it being taken.

Regardless of the date discrepancy, we do know that the man in the photo was named Charles Wilden. According to a number of online sources, Wilden was a Swedish immigrant who lived in Grand Rapids, Minnesota, a city located about eight miles from Bovey. He made his living as a peddler. According to one account, Wilden stopped by Enstrom’s studio to sell shoe scrapers and was convinced to pose for a photo.

Enstrom placed the dictionary, food, silverware, and the eyeglasses on the table and had Wilden bow his head in prayer. He then took the photo.

Enstrom said that when he developed the picture, he knew he had something special.

An excerpt from the website gracebyenstrom.com: “There was something about the old gentleman’s face that immediately impressed me. I saw that he had a kind face… there weren’t any harsh lines in it,” Enstrom said in recalling the visit of Charles Wilden to his studio.

It happened that Enstrom was preparing a portfolio of pictures to take with him to a convention of the Minnesota Photographer’s Association. “I wanted to take a picture that would show people that even though they had to do without many things because of the war (WWI) they still had much to be thankful for,” Enstom said.

According the site, Enstrom said he felt the photo seemed to be saying, “This man doesn’t have much of earthly goods, but he has more than most people because he has a thankful heart.”

The US had just reluctantly entered World War I, and understandably, everyone was worried and fearful.

At first, Enstrom made one print at a time and put them in the window of his photo studio. The copies sold quickly. He made more. Many more.

Enstrom’s daughter would later hand color copies of the photo, which is the version that most of us recognize today. Soon, that version would be seen, loved, and sold throughout the world.

In 1926, Enstrom paid Wilden for all rights to the photo. One online entry mentions that after that contractual agreement, Wilden was not seen again.

A modest salesman from a small Minnesota town likely lived the remainder of his days feeling that his life had been of minimal importance. Yet, nothing could be further from the truth.

Charles Wilden attained an immorality that few ever do. But, it isn’t his name that is immortal. It is his brief action in front of a camera that God used to send a message of faith for generations to come.

A message of faith that resonated with millions, including my grandmother, and later mine, that was conveyed to me through a copy of a powerful photo that hung on her kitchen wall.

A photo that I now own. A photo titled, “Grace.”

Enjoying this column? Want to read more like this? Support your local community newspaper subscribe to The Princeton Herald today!

By John Moore | thecountrywriter.com

Subscribe Love

0 Comments

American Heart Association 300x250

Related News

A hare much

A hare much

Columnist John Moore recalls the friends of his youth, including Harvey The Rabbit. Photo: John Moore I never had more than one at a time, but I had stuffed animals.  Don’t all kids have a security blanket when they’re young? At first, I had a monkey who had a...

read more
President and accounted for

President and accounted for

Columnist John Moore rode the Washington, DC, subway to see the presidential inauguration. Pictured left to right are Moore, Rhonda Anderson, and Kristi Antonick. Photo: John Moore Most of us can cite a handful of times when we knew that we were witnessing history....

read more
Someone’s watching

Someone’s watching

While some in society have stopped wearing watches, columnist John Moore isn’t one of them. Courtesy John Moore I noticed his Watch immediately. I usually notice watches immediately. But his was especially noticeable. It was a Rolex. I don’t own a Rolex, but one day I...

read more
Agencies, universities seek $24.6 billion in new funding

Agencies, universities seek $24.6 billion in new funding

The Texas Senate’s chief budget writer said state agencies and higher education institutions have requested nearly $25 billion in funding as the legislative session gets underway. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, told The Dallas Morning News that the requests for...

read more
The perplexity of dreams

The perplexity of dreams

I’m fairly certain my dreams have a drug dealer. What is it with dreams? Sleep is supposed to be an 8-hour window (mine’s never that long) when we rest, regenerate, and arise feeling as refreshed as the person in the Folger’s commercial who throws back the covers and...

read more
Social Security Matters

Social Security Matters

Ask Rusty – Can my wife claim her SS now and get half my SS benefit later?   Dear Rusty: My wife will reach her full Social Security benefit at 66.5 years of age which is just under 2 years away for her now. If she were to begin to get her monthly check now (i.e....

read more
Social Security Matters

Social Security Matters

Ask Rusty – Have I saved social security money by claiming at 62? Dear Rusty: I had to start collecting Social Security at 62, and I am 75 now. I believe that in the last 13 years I have saved Social Security money, so I do not know why I cannot draw my full benefits...

read more
What was in store

What was in store

Columnist John Moore likes the local hardware stores. And the free calendars. Photo: John Moore When Wal Mart grew, warnings that it would put the mom-and-pop businesses under seemed to come true. Now, online businesses seem to bring the same threat to Wal Mart. But...

read more
A lot of class

A lot of class

Suggested photo cutline: Columnist John Moore’s graduating high school class recently gathered for their 44th reunion. Photo: Olyvia Howard Bennett In the movie “The Big Chill,” a group of old friends gather for the funeral of one of their own, and it turns into a...

read more
I’ll split it with you

I’ll split it with you

While much of America enjoys four equal seasons, those of us in Texas celebrate two: Hot and less hot. Between October and February, it’s kinda cold in Texas. The rest of the year, it’s hot and humid. But, as September gives way to October, there is a feeling, albeit...

read more
Photos online