As I read these words, there is a thread of connection and it may appear as though it is one of those multiple choice “which one of these does not belong” sequences on the SAT. So, is there actually one that does not fit?
As I launch my very first blog on my very own website with very real trepidation, I am mulling over the title of my very first book: Glimpses.
A brief glance at something - but not intentionally brief. “Glance” implies a halfhearted look that merits no further interest. “Glimpse” connotes a privileged sneak preview of something that promises so much more!
A glimpse is a moment in time snatched through a window of opportunity.
Most windows are made of glass, although every once in a while you’ll see a Saran Wrap or plexiglass proxy - usually when the original window has been broken. Broken glass is an inevitable fact of life, for glass is a fragile substance. Wikipedia says it is “typically brittle and optically transparent.” So it breaks…often.
Then there is stained glass. This is glass that has been colored by adding metallic salts and is intentionally broken and then is fitted by a master artisan into lead frames. I have gazed in awe at the masterpieces in Notre Dame in Paris, the Duomo in Florence, England’s Winchester Cathedral, St. Peter’s in Rome - more than I could ever recount - and they all have something in common: they are lit from within. Their beauty is not from what is outside, but from the light that shines inside and is reflected by those broken shards of glass.
Humanity. Perhaps the word that didn’t seem to fit in the sequence, but maybe now does. We are all what the apostle Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 4: 7 as “jars of clay”- fragile earthen vessels that are chipped, cracked, and broken. When we allow the Master Craftsman to take those broken pieces and painstakingly mold them into His unique design, they become treasures. What’s more, He fills them with His light and they are revealed to the world as one-of-a-kind masterpieces.
Take a glimpse with me. I want you to meet the Designer.
