SUNDAY MORNING, a youth fidgets in the cold, hard pew. He stares off into space as a flickering beam of deep mysterious light penetrates his consciousness. Thoughts of heaven and hell, mixed with flashes of divine illumination, filter through his mind. Momentarily his attention is drawn to the stained glass window of Christ praying in the garden at Gethsemane. The sunlight is transformed as it penetrates the stained glass to heighten the look of fresh innocence and eternal love on the face of Christ.

The young man’s attention shifts to the window of Christ as a young boy standing in the temple before his inquisitors. The anguished expressions on the faces of the Rabbis’ suggest they are uncertain how to react. Trapped by convention they are left with no alternative except to issue a proclamation of "blasphemy" even as they stare into the eyes of God manifest in Christ.

The Good Shepherd window now petitions the boy in a whole new and different way. He begins to understand that all life is infinitely more valuable than the most precious of diamonds and now with the assistance of sunlight filtered through the colored glass he is able to witness the manifestation of God's eternal love from within the Son of a common carpenter.

And over there near the back of the church, why hadn’t he noticed the Noah’s Ark window before? Again, as in time immemorial, the seed of faith is planted. Will the ground be fertile or barren? Hope springs eternal as the dove returns to the ark with a sprouted olive branch symbolizing that the love of God shines again on Earth.

For the boy sitting in the pew on this Sunday morning his thoughts are lost in these painted images of God and man. His experience is not about the art of stained glass, rather it is about how the light passes through the glass to transform the images in his minds eye. Ultimately the message will penetrate into the heart and soul of this inquisitive child. Continued

Christ in Gethsemane, window designed for the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand, Florida.	Jesus in the Temple, window designed for the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand, Florida.	The Good Shepherd, window designed for the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand, Florida.	Noah’s Ark window designed for the First Presbyterian Church in DeLand, Florida.