East Window

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All of us need a little assurance. Each of us wants to know that we’ve made the correct decisions, whether large or small. Additionally, many of us want to know that when we’ve made poor decisions, there are still paths available to take us back to where we need to be.
Each Sunday I sit in the center of St. Giles Cathedral as the congregation sings and celebrates her faith together. I often find myself captivated by the east window as my eyes and mind wander in search for something that will speak to me. It is the stunning window pictured below; a 19th century stained-glass depiction of the ascension of Jesus Christ atop his crucifixion.

The window falls within a series reflecting the Gospel narratives. Whether the craftsman (James Ballantine) understood the theological significance of the window, I do not know, but one would be hard pressed to find a more comforting and encouraging image to impress upon a congregation as they commune around the Holy Table each week. Nothing is more appropriate during communion than for our eyes to be drawn to the ascended Lord, in whose life we are hidden and in whose faith we find rest.

The ascension of Christ reminds us that none of us walks alone, neither to the Table where we find mercy nor through daily grinds of life. Just as Christ condescended to earth as the man Jesus of Nazareth, so too this man from Nazareth raised from the dead and ascended to the place of the Father. Often overlooked is this: That having been united with Christ at baptism, so too are we united with Christ in the presence of the Father—a present reality rather than a distant future.

All of us need a little assurance. I need to know that I’ve made the correct decision to move to Edinburgh; to spend all my time and energy engaging the mysteries of God and the faith of the Church. I need to know that the decisions I’ve made throughout my life will neither hold me back nor leave me wandering through the dark. I need to know that Christ’s faith in me is stronger than my faith in him; that when I begin to fail and doubt and give up, that he hasn’t given up on me. 

 Thankfully, there’s the East window.

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