Do you ever wonder how we came to have a magnificent work of art grace our sanctuary?
Architect Lindsey Shives of Harvard was selected to design the sanctuary renovation of 1969-70.
The window was originally designed to have clear glass, treated with a blue tint to reduce glare.
Mary Harvey Conant, wife of Building Committee Chairman Stanley Conant expressed concern with the architect’s plan. She asked her friend Harold (Lindy) Lindergreen to intervene and consult with the architect regarding the color choice. What occurred over many meetings and many weeks was Lindy’s suggestion of a stained glass approach that would bear the originally designed cruciform. The result is our beautiful mosaic window!
In a letter written by Lindy Lindergreen to Mary Harvey Conant, he notes that the glass came from England, France, West Germany and the United States sources as well as glass from the semi-circular window that had been removed during the renovation.
He goes on to write “Within these various forms and colors of the glass tapestry each observer may ‘find’ his personal thoughts and variations. Some might envision a natural reality, others may seek to locate the symbolic. For example: within those green hues at the lower section of the tapestry, one may relate these to the fertile land or seasonal foliage. The symbolic greens may also suggest the presence of ‘life’ itself (as in the growing vine or even one’s personal being). Within those blues and blue-greens, there may be the sense of the waters of the sky (as rain, mists, etc.) or the larger qualities of water represented by rivers, lakes or the sea around us. Symbolic blue may mean celestial infinity, or perhaps the calming presence of Omnipotence. There are two sets of orbital ellipses; the upper two declare the blues of outer space, the lower pair may suggest purposeful action or finite courage (because they are red).
Where MAN ‘gains enlightenment’ there is the symbol of this phase in the yellows. Here it is seen in the variations of light to richer yellows, set to gleam within the cross as well as around the halos. At the center of the cross is placed the ancient alphabetical symbol of the ‘beginning and end’. This is to emphasize the ALLNESS of our Supreme Father. The Alpha is finite therefore done in red, the Omega is infinite and is of various blues. The overall scheme of the glass tapestry has been keyed to the past and to the present.”
In Lindy’s writings about the window, he doesn’t identify other symbols he incorporated into the window. I like to think that he left it up to us to find them on our own!
~ Rose Miller