Windows

When it comes to stained-glass windows, I've seen my fair share.

For my money, France holds the winning hand given the religious trifecta that is Chartres, Sainte-Chapelle, and the iconic rose windows of Notre Dame. For those with a more secular eye, I'd argue the linear designs of Frank Lloyd Wright are hard to beat. And if your taste runs more eclectic, how about the Washington National Cathedral? It boasts a window that houses a rock sample collected by the astronauts of the Apollo 11 mission. 

There are as many styles of stained-glass as there are artists it appears.

Which may explain my experience last Sunday. While standing in the rear of a church waiting for the procession to begin, I saw what looked like a military figure embedded in one of the stained-glass windows. It turned out to be a depiction of General George S. Patton. 

Patton, famed for leading allied forces at the Battle of the Bulge, was raised in the very church in which I stood. A hometown boy, captured forever in his favorite color ... olive green.

"Storytelling has driven faith and religious practice, keeping them alive for millennia. Every hymn, icon, and stained-glass window in a church links to a story." - Martin Linstrom