Stained Glass Windows

As a young convert from Catholic to "Born Again" I attempted to run as far as I could away from the Church I was born into and assumed was keeping me away from Jesus. I never attempted to understand or significantly pursue my faith in this Church but took the words of an anti-Catholic tract as "gospel" and assumed I had been saved from the @#%$ of Babylon. Upon returning to the Catholic Church 31 years later, God has allowed me to see the beauty and Truth in this ancient Church. He has forgiven me for choosing to reject His Church after
"I found Jesus" as a young teen. (Actually, I always believed He found me, as only by His grace do we ever turn toward Him)

I used to mock the stained glass, incense and holy water I had left and wanted a church that was four blank walls, no religious pictures or symbols except perhaps an empty cross. The emptier the better I thought. Well, with the wisdom of age plus some basic history lessons and my anti-Catholic colored glasses removed, I have a different perspective towards the Church of my youth.
I think my feelings can be best summed up with this song I wrote shortly after receiving Christ in the Eucharist for the first time in 31 years:

Stained Glass Windows

In the stained glass windows
There’s a story of love
Told by ancient poets
Whispered from above

The fragrance of the incense
Brings me back to long ago
When it was not so hard to trust
In the things that I’d been told

Chorus:

You come to me veiled as Bread
You’re hidden in the wine
Now the Veil’s been lifted
And you’ve been there all the time

It’s been so long since I have knelt
And longer since I prayed
The prayers of my childhood
Come back so easily

I dip my hands in water
And trace the ancient sign
Symbols from this earth
Point to the Divine

Chours:

You come to me veiled as Bread
You’re hidden in the wine
Now the Veil’s been lifted
And you’ve been there all the time

As I speak the timeless creed
Passed on to us by saints
Together with all of heaven
I say, “yes Lord,” I believe .

Through the stained glass windows
I see the mystery
God made flesh, the Lamb of God
Bread of Life for me

chorus