Mystery photo!

David Arthur has been posting mystery photos on Facebook to see if we can figure out the subject matter. His photos are cropped to a size that doesn’t fully show the entire subject or taken from an angle that makes the subject look unusual. I really like his mystery photos because they make you think. Here’s my own version of David’s mystery photo puzzler:

For one thing, it’s easy to see I’m not as photographically skilled as David. He’s got serious skills plus a lot of good equipment. I’m just a point-and-shoot guy with a beat-up pocket camera. As a result, it probably didn’t take most folks long to see that it was the outside of a stained glass window. The shapes are all visible, but the image is reversed and the colors are all muted. It’s not really much of a puzzler, but would anything make you take notice of that window if you were walking past? Would anything about it reach out to you and make you think about God’s love or grace? Here’s a different view:

The view from the inside is spectacular. The light reveals the colors of the glass and brings life to the image. The mind immediately begins to look for the meaning of the haloed figure bowing at the center…the pitcher and bowl…the cross. There are so many details that just aren’t visible from the outside. The only difference is the lighting. The beauty and color are always there, but folks can only see it if the light shines through. This is a great analogy for our lives. Sometimes we let people see the beautiful details and other times all they see are muted colors and vague shapes. Which side of the window are we showing the world?