Microscopes, Stained Glass, and the Sun

At the Rob Bell event I went to this past week, we talked about how everything connects to everything else. Within the fundamental make up of the universe there is this thread that ties everything together. Something unites things that aren’t similar and that unification is the recognition that within everything, there is always something more going on. We are to be actively renewing our minds to see the incredible work unfolding around us. I thought I’d give that a try in this blog post.

I’m going to talk about microscopes, stained glass, and the sun.

As every kid who ever had a middle school biology class is aware, microscopes allow us to see things that we would otherwise not see. A microscope is a tool we use in order to analyze and collect data for small things that we are progressively finding more and more about. Bacteria, germs, atomic structures, you name it. Whatever is small, a microscope magnifies. A microscope allows us to dive deeper, see what we would otherwise not without it, and advances us forward in our understanding of the world. 

Stained glass is an art that a lot of people associate with old church buildings. It’s tied to history. Unlike the microscope, it would seem that stained glass is pulling us back to a previous time. A time where we would rather not go. A time that seems stuck in tradition and not relevant enough for where we are as a society now. But have you ever looked at stain glass as the sun radiated through it? Have you ever seen the colors that make up a stain glass window become illuminated in such a way that they seem to be showing shades that you’ve never even seen before? Stained glass is beautiful. Antiquity is beautiful. Things aren’t bad because they are a part of our past. In fact, our past is what got us here. We need the past. We need to be reminded of the beauty it can hold. And when we look to the past, often times we can see things that we would otherwise never be able to see.

The sun is this big booming bright orb that is super hot. It burns our skin. Melts our ice. Calls us outside. And illuminates the beauty that it sustains in nature. The sun is constant. It is a thing that as long as life itself has been around, it will be. And as long as life stays around, it will be. The sun is both behind and ahead of us. The sun sustains. The sun is to life on earth what coffee is to a Seattleite. The sun is a must. 

The question then becomes, what exactly does this all mean? What is the point of these three independent variables being grouped together? Well, it’s quite simple really. A healthy perspective on God relies on the microscope and the stained glass, and an understanding of what the sun stands for.

Microscopes push us forward. Without them, we’d be living in a time with terrible disease and far less potential than we have now. If we don’t integrate the microscope of God into our definition of God we begin to limit what exactly God is up to. Science is a good thing. Expanding consciousness is a good thing. New perspectives are a good thing. They keep our pulse going. They sustain us. 

However, too much microscope can limit people form the full potential of God and can also make people a bit too high and mighty. Stained glass is important because it’s a reminder that something of the past can still evoke positive emotion and an appreciation while simultaneously reminding us that the past isn’t all dark and gross, but actually quite beautiful. Stained glass humbles our advanced minds. It keeps us in check. It calls for a balance.

However, without the sun, neither one of these two realities is possible because the sun is the sustaining beat. The driving force. When we realize that everything is under the sun, everything has life because the sun, and that all can be illuminate in new light as a direct result of the sun, we begin to see just how important the sun is. The sun is God. Not literally I don’t think, but more metaphorically. The sun is the beginning and the end. The thing that illuminated the first truth and what will illuminate the last truth and the light what shined equally to every truth expressed in between. The sun will always be here. Whether it’s shining through stained glass or providing the light to see what’s being studied beneath the microscope. The sun is outside of everything yet simultaneously the driving force behind everything.

So embrace the microscope. Embrace the stained glass. And begin to see how whether past or future, all in some way are an illumination of the sun.