“On the ceiling of the sanctuary of our church, the inset lighting is arranged in the pattern of constellations. The pulpit is a large limestone boulder resting in a bed of earthen soil. On the south wall are twenty-three fused glass windows depicting the creation of the universe - our solar system - the evolution of life on earth - the history of human civilization. Each window is part of a larger whole, a puzzle piece that together tells the story of how we are truly born out of the stars. Our sanctuary is sacred space that is also our cosmic home."On Sunday morning, the light shines through and every window is different because the light is refracted differently, but the light shining through each is the same light of Truth, the same light of God. The light of God (“God” is not God’s name, but our name for that which is greater than all and yet present in each) not only shines down upon us, but also out from within us.
"Together with the windows, the darkness and the light, we are a part of this cosmic home, not apart from it. Together we comprise an interdependent web of being. But we are that part that contemplates the meaning of the whole. Yet, since the whole – holographically or organically – is contained in each of the parts, as we ponder and act upon the insight from our ruminations, we may discover meanings that give coherence and meaning to it and to us.
"The windows help us to make sense of the light and our feelings of awe and humility at the miracle of creation and the gift of life. This vision tells us there is one Power, one Truth, one Light. This light shines through every window. No one can perceive it directly, the mystery is forever veiled. Yet in the eyes of each beholder, refracted and reflected through different windows in differing ways, the light plays in patterns that suggest creative freedom and unrealized possibilities, challenging us to live lives that embody and reflect the light of Beauty, Truth and Goodness found throughout all creation."In our worship service on Sunday morning you are invited to forgo for an hour the active tense and let nature’s calm enfold you; to graciously accept the fact that you are alive. What wonder is this, that conscious, sentient life is yours, that creation should become aware of itself in you? Feeling the steady pulse, the wheeling of the heavens, the turning of the earth, the rhythm of day and night, we inwardly rejoice in being part of nature and one with God.”
Reverend Gary S. James
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