• My Candidacy Application Essay
  • Brett's Discernment

    For surely I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord, plans for your welfare and not for harm, to give you a future with hope. Then when you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me, says the Lord, and I will restore your fortunes and . . . and I will bring you back to the place from which I sent you into exile.


    stained glass windows


    I'm here on internship, which is going well so far. It's like being dropped by helicopter into a forest, and I'm just trying to get my bearings. But so far, I haven't gotten lost yet.
    I just wanted to post this one little thought. The picture in this post is of one of the stained glass windows here at my internship church. I think they are absolutely gorgeous, and it is exhilarating to be preaching in this space where the windows themselves testify to the cloud of witnesses who sponsored, installed, and planned these windows and this space. But I have been thinking about how introspective stained glass windows are on the whole. I was struck by this especially because the bathroom in the sacristy (which I'm sure wasn't the original use for the space) has this amazing stained glass window in it. Stained glass windows are for the people in the church, not the people on the outside. Obviously the way they are constructed and the way the light streams through works best outside-in, but still. This church is a big landmark at a big intersection in the city, and yet the stained glass looks drab from the outside. What's more, the images, like Jesus' face, look like empty, white spaces, lacking the detail that is only seen from the inside. I know I'm probably overthinking it, but what does this say symbolically - you have to be on the inside to see Jesus and the beautiful art, stories, and details of our faith. . . hmm...
    I do love these windows, and this thought is not in any way meant to be disparaging of this church or any other, it's just a thought.
    Peace+
    (Vicar) Brett




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