Tidings of Great Joy

Heinz Chapel Pittsburgh PA

This past Thanksgiving I had a chance to visit Heinz Chapel and St. Paul Cathedral in Pittsburgh.  For all the time I lived there I had never been to these two churches.  Between the two of them, I could have spent a day taking pictures of the stain glass windows.  As a matter of fact,  Heinz Chapel, constructed during the Great Depression, has the tallest continuous stained glass windows in the world. 

As I was taking pictures I noticed both churches contained depictions of the nativity and the related verses.  I love stained glass windows, a colorful kaleidoscope telling stories for those willing to stop and study them.  I was looking through my view finder when I received the concept of this Friday's Note. I hope you enjoy the following stain glass window story as a means of illustrating the 50th anniversary of a Charlie Brown Christmas.   

Charlie Brown: Isn’t there anyone, who knows what Christmas is all about?!

Linus: Sure Charlie Brown, I can tell you what Christmas is all about. Lights please?

And there were in the same country shepherds, abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them!

Heinz Chapel Pittsburgh PA - The angel visits the Shepherd's

And they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, “Fear not! For, behold, I bring you tidings o great joy, which shall be to all my people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ, the Lord. 

St. Paul Cathedral - Nativity

And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.” And suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the Heavenly Host praising God, and saying, “Glory to God in the Highest, and on Earth peace, and good will toward men.

St. Paul Cathedral Pittsburgh PA - Nativity window

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

Thanksgiving and Neighbors

The following is a virtual tour of Thanksgiving Square situated in down town Dallas.  The park is a 3 acre wedge of peace, restful contemplation and a reminder to give thanks.  The Ring of Thanks and Circle of Giving leads to the bell tower with three bells in the shape of the Liberty Bell.

Peter Stewart presented a mosaic version of Norman Rockwell’s “Golden Rule” to the United Nations where Thanks-Giving Square was making global connections. This picture is of the lower third of the overall mosaic.  The mural is beautiful in it’s detail, colors and message.

The chapel itself is a unique spiral design with 73 stained-glass panels created by French artist Gabriel Loire forming the ceiling.  I find it interesting that 73 has subsequently been identified as ‘The Best Number’ as defined by Sheldon of the Big Bang Theory (see youtube for full explanation of why the number 73 is better than Chuck Norris).

This picture was gathered by laying flat on floor of the circular chapel taking in the beautiful collection of colors as they spiral into the glory window at the center top.  It is very quiet, contemplative and peaceful as you take in the kaleidoscope of colors.  The following picture is a little different angle of a section of the windows.

While the inside of the chapel is this flood of colors, the outside is a very un-assuming cement, plain finish.  Other than it’s spiral presentation to the sky it seems cold and just another part of the larger city around it. 

Adjacent to the spiral is a field of cobblestones with cascading water helping to mask the sounds of the city.  This industry design seemingly hides the wonderful surprise that is the stained glass windows that shine down upon visitors. Upon leaving the 3 acre park, visitors are left with a final message and life rule.  

Seems as though the definition of neighbor is a challenge at times.

Gourdian Fun

This is a little smorgasbord of Halloween related links.  We start with the annual goard art work created by Sarah and myself while watching the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.


Pumpkin photography is always a bug-a-boo for me.  Could be the lighting, could be the cell phone, could be the pumpkin guts on my hands as I'm trying to take the picture. Here are the best snapshots that I was able to take last night.

Brian's Pumpkin





 Sarah's Pumpkin





She had help with the power drill for the pixie dust trail.


Now for the conveying the real potential of using seasonal gourds as innovative lighting designs.  The following are pictures from the artist, Calabarte, who takes the pumpkin concept to a whole new level of lighting art.

Pictures from Calabarte website





His gallery can be found at:  http://calabarte.com/   This is where wonderful creativity and a Dremel tool come together.


Finally, people use to say that the code that I would write was scary.  Likely a fair assessment of my programming skills.  The following link will take you to what appears to be a fine line when judging programmers and serial killers by the cover.  Take the quiz to see if you can sort out the macabre from the geeks:


http://www.malevole.com/mv/misc/killerquiz/


Happy all Halloween.