Dearest Holy Comforter Family,

The days aren’t always easy around here in this season of change. I’ve tried to be open and transparent with you about the balance between the need to hold on to what was once not just helpful, but treasured, and new needs for space and organization. Perhaps that is why the restoration of our triptych matters so much to me right now. At a reasonable cost (about $4,000, total) and without a huge disruption of our rhythms of worship, we were able to make what was already beautiful, quite simply stunning. Joe Albree is doing some research on the artist who created the triptych and I look forward to an article from him to include in the newsletter soon. For today, though, I want to share with you some of what the restoration of the triptych means to me, and I think to all of us, here at Holy Comforter.

The most important repair the windows needed involved the largest of the three. It wasn’t only that the wood of the sill under the window had rotted. The best Mr. Dodds could tell, when the window was brought from Goldthwaite, it was placed in such a way that it hung from the frame without any support beneath it. By God’s grace, and the skill of the artist who made the window, the lead that brings together the pieces of stained glass held. Before the repairs, some gaps in the glass were clearly visible, places where the weight had started pulling down and separating some of the pieces. It could have all fallen apart if we hadn’t paid attention and taken care of it. But as Mr. Dodds said to me at the end of the project, “For its age, the window is in very good condition. The lead and solder joints are still strong. Now that I have added support and shored up what I could, the window should continue to be a blessing to the good people of Holy Comforter for a good many years.”  Part of what makes this window so exquisitely beautiful is the workmanship that ensures its endurance for generations.

I learned something else from Mr. Dodds. The best way to understand the window is to say there are layers of beauty the light shines through as the sun rises each day. Along with creating an image with glass of richly hued colors, the artist who created this window also actually painted bits and pieces on the glass to give the image more complexity and character: “When I got close to the window I could see that it was originally intentionally painted to look dark, not light and bright like the more modern windows. I think it is meant to diffuse the light down to a more somber tone.” Even after Mr. Dodds so carefully cleaned the window so it ‘pops’ now, I can best appreciate this treasure of ours when the church is in the dark. More than once since the work was done, I have sat quietly in one of the pews in the nave, allowing the contrast of light and darkness to help me pray. There are many days and many ways in which it feels like darkness overwhelms our world these days. That light not only breaks through the darkness but is even more visible, pure, and bright. As I sit in the darkness I am less fearful, more trusting in a God who makes the light to pour through all that color and beauty and abundance.

If time permits, come by one morning and sit in the quiet and dark of the nave. Let beauty comfort and strengthen you for the days we have been given to keep doing the work of the Kingdom. Those who came before us left with us a remarkable gift. 

With prayers for blessings of quiet confidence and wonder in the face of beauty, Rosa+

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WEDNESDAY

 • Morning Prayer | 10:30 AM

Randy Woodland is the officiant

 • Compline | 8:00 PM

Thank you Super Citizens from Bear Exploration Center! Second-grade students collected 180 pounds of food for the Food Pantry after studying how to be super citizens through donations and giving.

Also, St. John's Episcopal delivered two huge rolling carts full of food donations - thank you!

the Backpack program will resume in September but will still be taking food donations for the fall of 2023.

A donation basket is outside the front office window.