MY STAINED GLASS

April 27, 2020 

 

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. Matthew 6:19 

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I had a collection of stained glass windows, most in the original chipped wooden frames. I loved my stained glass. I kept them in the deep window sills of my historic home. I delighted every morning as I was greeted with a shining show of colors, reflecting in the morning sun. 

 

I spent hours wondering where my stained glass had come from. I imagined that some had rattled at the mighty gospel songs that rung from a southern black church; others, I told myself, came from 1800s Appalachian Apostolic churches, where spirited music could be heard throughout the hollows if those windows were opened. Still others I envisioned came from austere white clapboard Baptist churches, where congregations sang the invitational “Just As I Am” while the crystal lights danced around the room. 

 

Then one day, I had to move. My new home had modern, thin windowsills. There was nowhere to display my stained glass. Sadly, I took them to a consignment antique shop, where they quickly sold. 

 

Later, I found another historic house and moved in. Charming, thick window sills were throughout, but my beautiful stained glass was gone. As we sat down to breakfast the first morning in my new house, I looked out my dining room window. There in the second floor window of the house next door was my old favorite stained glass, wood frame and all! I smile happily each morning now as I sip my first cup of coffee and stare out the window at “my” stained glass. 

 

But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ.

Philippians 3:7-8