Like Stained Glass

This week is All-Saints Sunday with my Good Shepherd church family. After preparing this week's worship service with the inclusion of special hymns like "For All the Saints" and "Blest Be the Tie That Binds", I wrote the sermon based on these words from Revelation 7:17 - "For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd; He will lead them to springs of living water. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."

One of the things this wonderful little congregation does is to give those who come to this special worship service the opportunity to light a candle in remembrance of loved ones who have passed away. The lights flicker and reflect off of the stained glass windows, and it is a beautiful and touching blessing to fondly recall each person the Lord placed into our hearts - how they helped mold us and shape us and how they gave us the gifts of the light and dark and bright and dim colors of our lives.

One of the people we remembered last year during this service had been a gifted artist who made many of the beautiful stained glass pieces in the sanctuary. These gorgeous creations were part of the inspiration for a sonnet I wrote and submitted to the Iowa Poetry Association earlier this year called "Stained Glass", which has now been published in the 2023 Lyrical Iowa anthology.

Stained Glass (Laura Sohl-Cryer, 2023)

A broken shard is placed and then one more

Bright color set beside the dull and dark

And then another snatched from off the floor

One brilliant light, another sad and stark

Those bits so small they’re barely even there

Great giant hunks that spread so far and wide

Sweet specks of love and laughter everywhere

With dim and mournful shadows do collide

Small step back and breathtaking beauty glows

Each fragile shape has purpose where it lays

Then through the fragments one whole picture shows

The splendor of completeness it portrays

Pure precious bits of years gone by amass

Imperfect life in pieces like stained glass

If you are in a season of darkness or mourning in your life right now as you wonder how all of the pieces of your life fit together, I pray that you will remember God's hope-filled heavenly promise for all who put their faith in Jesus: our loving Heavenly Father will, indeed, wipe away every tear from our eyes.

And, as we remember that Jesus is with us and we do not face the tears of this world alone...let us do His good work by sharing His light and spreading the brilliant colors of His love with everyone we meet!

Photo: Brian A. Jackson (iStock, 2023)