Glory* is one of those weird, special, Christian-ish words that rarely gets used in everyday life. While the official definition has something to do with praise and honor, in my mind it is always connected with light.
A long, long time ago, when I lived in Jerusalem, I became friendly with a woman that I met in a Hebrew language class. One day, she invited me to come to her home for tea. As I entered the ornate, wrought iron gate that opened into a flowering garden, I admired the gracious, old house with its red tile roof, green shutters, and thick walls that kept out the relentless heat of summer. Opening the heavy, carved, wooden door, my new friend invited me in. As my eyes gratefully adjusted from the hot, dazzling sunshine to the cool, dimly-lit hallway, she offered to show me the rest of her lovely home.
The rooms were gracefully and simply furnished, the wooden tables and chairs softened with colorful textiles, an overflowing bookshelf suggesting many topics for future conversation, and a kitchen windowsill filled with pots of rosemary, oregano, and other herbs. As we wandered from one shadowy room to another, I began to be apprehensive, wondering where we were going and what had happened to the promised tea.
Finally, we came to a room that was different from all the others. I do not quite remember the details of walls lined with shelves containing bins and baskets of yarn and mysterious-looking wooden tools, or the view through the watery green glass of the multi-panel windows. What I recall is a golden shaft of light pouring down from the skylight. The honey-colored wood of the huge, multi-shaft loom in the center of the room seemed to glow with ethereal light, calling me into an unimagined future.
Although I no longer weave threads into cloth, and the way ahead often seems murky, once in a while a vision of glory will come to light my way, one step at a time.
–Deborah Sokolove, Seekers Church
- What does glory mean to you?
- How do you experience a new call?
- How do you know you are on the right path?
