Tonight I walked by a beautiful church. The lights were on inside, which made brilliant the colorful murals of the magnificent stain glass windows to those of us walking on the dark sidewalk outside. It really was beautiful and I stopped a moment to enjoy the sight.
After a minute or so I walked on. As I passed the front of the church curiousity got the better of me and I walked up to the front door. The glass in the door was not stained and I could see clearly inside. At the front of the church stood a couple of groups of people, smiling and laughing with each other, just as I have done a few hundred times after church meetings or studies or worship. I stood for a moment to enjoy the sight.
At one time I thought of writing a book using stain glass windows as a theme. The idea was that stain glass windows symbolize what is wrong with our churches; creating these beautiful works of art so that we do not have to see the world around us, and to prevent the world from seeing us.
I have passed by that same church at night when nothing was going on. The lights were not on. The stained glass appeared to be ordinary dark windows. But at this church, when people are there worshipping, fellowshipping, studying, there is light. Beautiful light filtered through stain glass.
Dang it, I guess I'll never get a book written. I don't know how the Bishop does it.
my friend heath wrote a song about stainglassed windows. some of the words are:
ReplyDelete"...why can't my world beyond stainglassed windows be like my life in there?"
i'm sure, oh wise one, that you know originally the windows told stories that those who couldn't read could "read"; so they were by nature meant to welcome the masses not keep them out. but i wonder what the cross must look like to someone who hasn't heard its good news??? scary
i grew up in a church that had these UGLY green stainglassed windows and complained about them all the time, till the tornado took them away. i keep a shard in my house, I can't make myself throw it away.
i believe it is perspective. there are those of us who look at the windows and are comforted by their our own memories from inside. there are those that see them and remember being excluded from what's inside. we live in a both/and world;
write a book (about anything) and sorry for the long post, i should've probably just blogged it myself :)
You can make a Latte?
ReplyDeleteYou can make a Latte?
ReplyDeleteIn the words of Obama, yes I can.
ReplyDelete