No, I didn’t get the colours wrong. This predominantly red/yellow rush of colour is exactly how the cathedral looked: I took this photo, while my wife captured the scene on her phone camera. One of her pictures was the best of the day.
This part of the cathedral has mostly red stained glass windows, and the light flooding in is stained accordingly. Another wing has blues & greens in the windows- and the result there matches those windows.
The brilliant architecture allows the light to illuminate quite differently throughout: if you ever can visit “La Sagrada Familia” in Barcelona, take the opportunity. Take a camera/phone, pray for sun, and you will capture the glory of one man’s vision. It’s hard to take a bad photo in this stunning cathedral. The actual experience of this building is hard to describe: it hit me on an emotional level, then physically, and included a large helping of awe & wonder- it touched my spirit and caused me to pray with thanksgiving. God is good- and worthy to be praised!
Taking photos is a way of making an experience and memory more perfect; I imagine that when the “Shekinah” cloud of God’s Glory appeared, the Israelites wished they had invented photography! To “capture the glory” is a deep-seated desire in our heart; it makes the contact more tangible.
Even in our less flamboyant British cathedrals, the proportion of committed Christians in the crowds of visitors is quite small. Attendees of other faiths, no faith at all, or just “exploring on holiday” people make up the majority of the crowd. Watching them is educational- most show respect, even going as far as being profoundly moved. For some, a seed of faith is planted: observing the glory and wonder begins a change in their life.
Places of worship have a wonderful atmosphere, and the more formal or elegant the architecture, the more appropriate they become for the “big” moments. Yesterday I spent all day in Croydon, in a modern building that hosts a lively congregation. It was a “Service of Lament, Thanksgiving & Hope” marking the unexpected sudden closure of my theological training College.
The service brought a measure of closure to a form of bereavement. The former students and tutors have held a strong love for the effects of training there for ministry- the college served its purpose for over 100 years, and many pastors and ministers have been formed spiritually and academically which has, in turn, had a major impact on Baptist churches across the globe.
Sometimes we seek the Glory of God for the new things; sometimes we recollect the history of that Glory as we close the current chapter of our story. Saying goodbye is hard; leaving the “what God has done here” to rest is poignant (even painful)- but it is time to move on.
And, in moving on, it should always be to seek a fresh outpouring of the Holy Spirit that bring a fresh Glory to a new generation.
“For I am about to do something new.
See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?
I will make a pathway through the wilderness.
I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”
Isaiah 43 v19
There is ALWAYS the hope of Glory. Let us seek God- and capture the new glory as it emerges.
The Reflectionary 