The light in the window

When it's just above freezing and overcast day after day, I'm reminded of our years living in Geneva, when similar weather conditions could persist for many weeks in winter. Fortunately, we could drive up the Col de la Faucille on the north side of Lake Geneva out of the cloud into bright sunshine to walk or ski on Jura ridge trails, with occasional views of the high Alps fifty miles away to the south. It was so therapeutic and I still miss that experience of spending time in high mountain quietness away from traffic with occasional winter birdsong for company.

I started writing a sermon for Sunday after breakfast and spent most of the morning on it, but couldn't find the right way to conclude it. It'll come, eventually. Clare and I joined forces to cook lunch with sausages and chips (ordinary and sweet potato) baking in the oven with cabbage and onion fried together, and some artichokes from the week's veggie bag done in the pressure cooker. An unusual combination but it worked.

Walking in the park after lunch was a trial, as wind chill factor made me very cold, so I had to go home to warm up with a hot drink, and then go out again to finish off with a different top coat. It's impossible to judge how cold it's going to be throughout a long walk, as some places are sheltered from the wind and others exposed. This changes when the wind changes direction. 

The former Welsh Presbyterian church at the top of Cathedral Road, now a special needs school, was lit from within as I passed by at dusk. I noticed for the first time a large pair of stained glass panels in the middle of the otherwise clear glazed windows running the length of the building. One depicted John the Baptist and the other Christ the Light of the World as portrayed in Holman Hunt's painting. Mid twentieth century design I reckon, unusual to see in a plain protestant church building. So glad it's been conserved,

What was also unusual was the large bottom panels of both windows filled with written texts which clearly weren't information about the people or occasion they commemorate. I took a photo with my phone (for once I wasn't carrying a proper camera), and when I got home loaded the image into Gimp photo editor which lets you flip the image. The text was written to be read from indoors, so image flipping makes it readable from outside. Both texts were from St John's Gospel - John the Baptist bearing witness to the divine light, and Jesus saying "I am the light of the world ... "

Again after supper I spent the evening reading my Spanish novel. I only have a few chapters left to read, but rather than stay up late, I left them for tomorrow and went to be on time.