Lastly, busy people mistake encouragement for evangelism. We all like to welcome and encourage people. Most of us stop with encouragement because our friends don't want to change and we feel awkward in letting them know about our own life in the spirit. And it takes time and more than one conversation. And so we listen sympathetically for a few moments and hasten on, trying to patch a feeling, but missing the chance to invite them to spiritual life.
Stained glass is an art form for an illiterate society.
It reminds people of a Biblical story without using words. We ignore these pictures because we have so many words and images to choose from that we simply see the little pieces and colors. But one of our windows is the story of Mary and Martha. In the weekly services since these windows were installed, it has reminded people 2500 times that you can miss the great thing in life with too much attention to the small things. Martha was stopped by Jesus on her way to the table with loaves of bread.