Stained-Glass Windows

My friends Anna and Alan owned a stained-glass window, which hung suspended on the inside of their large front room picture window, which window conveniently faced the street. If my timing was right I could walk past their place just as the late afternoon rays of sun brushed those colored panes and pause for a moment to take in all that charming.

One afternoon I happened to be inside their front room when the afternoon sunshine stretched its long golden fingers all the way through the glass to where I was standing, suddenly surrounded by thousands of dancing prisms. The entire living room was bathed in miniature rainbows and I’m pretty sure I heard tiny bells tinkling their joy (that tinkling sound was probably just in my head).

Driving down the street one evening I casually glanced to my left as my car slipped past Anna and Alan’s place and unprepared for what I saw, my heart caught in my throat! My right foot slowly pressed the brake and checking to be sure no one was behind me, I carefully backed up, put the car in park and turned off my headlights to absorb every rich detail of that stained-glass window, now lit from a lamp within. I savored the moment in silent reflection before quietly resuming my drive down the road.

The first time I read the following quote by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross it resonated within me so deeply as truth and I was immediately transported back to Anna and Alan’s window on 7th South.

Read slowly:

People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.

This describes you. This describes me.

Our world is full of remarkable people, each of us beautiful and unique, sparkling and shining and sharing our individual light with those around us.

When someone is drawn to you it is your inner light they see and seek, not your outward appearance.