Window Worship

I often raise my eyes to view the natural world that lies outside my window.  I am a great fan of windows and find their history a telling understanding of my own Christian worldview.  No group worked harder at bringing the outside inside than the church.  And once they achieved that ability they immediately filled it with color by staining the widows.  Their ability to bring the outside inside was one of the greatest achievements of humans.  Not only do windows give us a tremendous number of visual cues that help us successfully navigate life, give us light by which we can enhance our productivity and personal meaning they also provide us with a greater world of positive creative energy.  Seeing the natural world without always having to experience its physical reality is a gift of kindness almost never considered when thinking of your local church.

P.S.  The long and difficult struggle by the church to bring light inside is often overlooked by that very group, the Church.  It saddens me that in so many modern sanctuaries the first thing to be abandoned is widows followed close behind by light.  My own churches’ first act of Sunday morning worship is to turn off the lights; in our sanctuary without a single window.