SOME REFLECTIONS ON STAINED GLASS

By Susan Greulich

The paintings in this issue were inspired by a profound interest in spiritual concepts given expression through the medium of stained glass. Serving as a sacred tool of worship, the extraordinary importance of this medium should not be overlooked. Both emotionally and intellectually, the glass is ripe with narrative themes, symbolism, and beauty. Although the glass is unabashedly material, it somehow makes the contemplation of immaterial things seem natural. As light streams through stained glass, creating a breathtaking depth of colors, worshippers are linked, past to present, by eternal themes. Frank Lloyd Wright once stated that stained glass is “painting with light itself,” and many historians would agree. That light is what many Christians see as a prevailing metaphor—eternal light, the unblemished mirror of God’s majesty.
 

My love for stained glass comes from personal experience. “The Good Shepherd” print by Bernhard Plockhorst is reproduced as a stained glass window which sits beautifully in the sanctuary of my home church. As a child, I often thought of myself as the lamb in His arms, with a simplistic but genuine need to be there. And numerous times, I imagined a loved one as that particular lamb, while I was one of the following sheep, so pleased to be there while He tended to that little one. Through the years, that window served as a backdrop to baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals— times of incredible joy and unbelievable sorrow. And while this brief narrative tells the facts about my experiences in the presence of this window, words fail to describe the times a sunbeam illuminated His face exactly when I most needed it, or color flooded the room with such bold beauty that I could hear small gasps of delight— so many times of sensing God’s presence with a nudge from the physical beauty of the stained glass.
 

As my faith continues to grow through the years, so has my appreciation of the gifts He has provided. Our tools of modern day worship serve a variety of purposes, some barely noticeable, others boldly in place yet often overlooked. Carve out some time and reflect on the sacred meaning you may find in the beauty of stained glass. May God continue to illuminate your life!