Friday, March 09, 2007

Stained Glass







My time in Onley, England was certainly memorable. William Cowper who battled much of his life with sever depression yet composed some rich and abiding hymns and poetry wrote There Is A Fountain Filled With Blood, one of my all-time favorite hymns. The last two lines of the first verse read, "and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains." Powerful stuff!

Some of the best and most meaningful stained glass windows I saw were in the small Church of England sanctuary in Olney. I wish I could have captured the thought and workmanship that went into them to a greater degree.
On the bottom row of one of the windows (pictured top right) you'll notice the great preacher John Newton on the left and his friend William Cowper on the right.
We miss out on so much when we don't appreciate stained glass. Many who grew up in evangelical denominations looked upon stained glass windows as being tied in with more liberal and "dead" churches. Maybe I'm only speaking for myself but I know I did.
These particular windows add meaning and beauty to our faith...don't you think!

3 comments:

  1. AWESome pictures there,
    I love to see stain glass, but we don't have many around close!

    thanks for sharing this!


    blessings

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  2. Hi Jel... I tried to get a couple of your pictures for my new posting but they wouldn't download.
    I went through your whole sunshine blog and you sure have some good ones! I even spotted a real cute couple in a heart that have been married quite a few years! The girl didn't have her hat on though, so I didn't really recognise her. I wonder if Jim and Mrs. Jim has ever seen this picture?..Love Terry


    Hi David.. I figured I would just say Hi to Jel because I am too lazy to go back to her site.

    "There Is A Fountian Filled With Blood" IS my favorite hymn, Pilgrim David.
    That is the song that I want sung at my funeral if the Lord doesn't come and take us all Home first!
    That and one of my other favorite hymns, "Only a Sinner Saved By Grace"...
    Well off that subject, eh?

    When my mom was growing up, she went to the Unitied Church and one time when we had to go there, I really admired the stained glass windows that they had. In one picture there was a Shepherd with a sheep on His shoulders. I really loved it. One of these times I will have to take my mom back to Dunnville and now that I have digital camera, take a few pictures of those stained glass windows. So nice!!...from Terry

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  3. It's been awhile since I came here to soak up the encouragement--thanks. Enjoying my time. Hope you're having a great weekend!

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