A few months ago I traveled to Muncie Indiana to see my daughter perform in an opera produced by the music department of Ball State. To be honest, I don't remember much about the opera except that my daughter looked quite professional on stage, the chorus she was a part of sounded great, and the title of the opera had something about a "bat" in it. It was in German, so it's hard to be sure. Der Fledermouse...or something like that.
What I do remember that had nothing to do with the opera was the dazzling display that we all enjoyed when we walked into the narthex of the theater. I tried to capture the wonder in the picture above, but it would be hard to do justice without you actually being there to see the display. Colors exploding all over the wall, which was the canvas for this very brilliant art work.
What might be hard to see is the source of these colors. Placed all over the wall, with high powered lights focused on them, were shards of broken glass. Glass of different shapes and sizes, at various angles. Of course, I was fascinated at purity and sharpness of the colors that emerged from these broken pieces of glass. At first I thought the light beams must be focused on the edges of the glass, which functioned like a prism, splitting light into its component frequencies (colors). I later discovered that the shards of glass had each been treated with different chemicals that made them filter out all light except a specific color. White/clear light goes in, only purple or orange or red (etc.) light emerges.
This display has had me thinking quite a bit since we saw it back in May. Here are several observations I have made:
1) How awesome is it that something so beautiful and modern can be produced by a bunch of broken glass! This reminds me that the true worth of an item, or better yet, of a person, cannot be judged too quickly or by it's appearance. I am reminded of this verse in Romans:
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (14:4)
God can make his children stand...and even shine brilliantly, regardless of their current ignoble state. All of us have been broken in one way or another, all of us are incomplete. Yet there are bold rays of brilliant color within each of us, and with a little practice, we can find the angle and the filter that will let us reveal that brilliance. God will make us to stand, if we make ourselves his servant.
2) Isn't it wild that light itself has such beauty within it - that something so pure, clean and plain comprises so many bold and sharp colors! And vice versa - that so many bold and sharp colors can be combined in a way that yields pure, clear light. In a house, glass is made to let all frequencies of light in - pure, whole, true light. Can you imagine a beam of black, red, yellow, blue, orange green, purple, and gobs of other colors coming together and forming clear, pure light?? To me, this is a perfect example of how a large group of independently gifted people, each unique, can come together and form a community that is strong and useful for many purposes. Sounds kind of like how a church should be...in fact it reminds me of the Revelation of John where the churches are referred to as "lamp stands". Makes me wonder if God was thinking about all the different colors contained within light when he called the churches lamp stands! I think the display pictured above would be great to have in the narthex of the church...with a cross backlit with pure white light above the altar. This would be a great reminder for people of the beauty of their uniqueness, and also of the power of whole, pure light.
Blessings
What I do remember that had nothing to do with the opera was the dazzling display that we all enjoyed when we walked into the narthex of the theater. I tried to capture the wonder in the picture above, but it would be hard to do justice without you actually being there to see the display. Colors exploding all over the wall, which was the canvas for this very brilliant art work.
What might be hard to see is the source of these colors. Placed all over the wall, with high powered lights focused on them, were shards of broken glass. Glass of different shapes and sizes, at various angles. Of course, I was fascinated at purity and sharpness of the colors that emerged from these broken pieces of glass. At first I thought the light beams must be focused on the edges of the glass, which functioned like a prism, splitting light into its component frequencies (colors). I later discovered that the shards of glass had each been treated with different chemicals that made them filter out all light except a specific color. White/clear light goes in, only purple or orange or red (etc.) light emerges.
This display has had me thinking quite a bit since we saw it back in May. Here are several observations I have made:
1) How awesome is it that something so beautiful and modern can be produced by a bunch of broken glass! This reminds me that the true worth of an item, or better yet, of a person, cannot be judged too quickly or by it's appearance. I am reminded of this verse in Romans:
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. (14:4)
God can make his children stand...and even shine brilliantly, regardless of their current ignoble state. All of us have been broken in one way or another, all of us are incomplete. Yet there are bold rays of brilliant color within each of us, and with a little practice, we can find the angle and the filter that will let us reveal that brilliance. God will make us to stand, if we make ourselves his servant.
2) Isn't it wild that light itself has such beauty within it - that something so pure, clean and plain comprises so many bold and sharp colors! And vice versa - that so many bold and sharp colors can be combined in a way that yields pure, clear light. In a house, glass is made to let all frequencies of light in - pure, whole, true light. Can you imagine a beam of black, red, yellow, blue, orange green, purple, and gobs of other colors coming together and forming clear, pure light?? To me, this is a perfect example of how a large group of independently gifted people, each unique, can come together and form a community that is strong and useful for many purposes. Sounds kind of like how a church should be...in fact it reminds me of the Revelation of John where the churches are referred to as "lamp stands". Makes me wonder if God was thinking about all the different colors contained within light when he called the churches lamp stands! I think the display pictured above would be great to have in the narthex of the church...with a cross backlit with pure white light above the altar. This would be a great reminder for people of the beauty of their uniqueness, and also of the power of whole, pure light.
Blessings
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