Stained Glass

I recently realized why I like the look of leaves or flowers with the sun shining through them.  It's because their glowing colors remind me of stained glass!  I have always loved to see the sun shining through colored glass;  in fact, I remember having a little mosaic toy as a child, with little colored plastic squares that were placed in a transparent plastic grid, which could be held up to the light.  I loved to try different patterns and hole them up to see the sun shining through them.

I love to try to capture the beauty of these glowing colors in a photograph, when I see them.  So here are some photos that remind me of the beauty of stained glass:

I hope you enjoyed this eye candy as much as I did!  I had a few thoughts recently about transparency.  As the light shining on these somewhat transparent leaves and flowers causes them to glow, so God's love shines through us to others.  He takes our uniqueness, and shines through it to make our lives glow.  Like leaves and flowers, each of us has things that make us one-of-a-kind.  In the case of a leaf or a flower, it may be its shape, hue or texture that sets it apart.  In our case, it may be our unique experiences or gifts that make us special.  But each one of us is special in the eyes of God, and He wants to use our individual differences to glorify Himself, even as the light shining through the things He has made brings glory to Him.

Sometimes, though, we mar the beauty of His work in us.  When we refuse to obey Him, our sin mars the beauty that He has created in us, like the blemishes on the leaf in the next photo:

The absolutely amazing thing about this, though, is that, unlike this leaf, which will never be unmarred again, God gives us the opportunity to be renewed to wholeness and purity again.  Through His Son, Jesus Christ, we can be forgiven and have all our spiritual blemishes removed!  Thanks be to God.

In my next post, I plan to share some fiber creations inspired by stained glass and its glowing colors.