Temple Windows and a Life with Christ

By Lauren Madsen

“Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the life and light of the world.” —D&C 11:28

It has been a little over a year since I began my service as an ordinance worker, and I am still in awe each time I walk through the halls and rooms of the temple. I am in awe of the craftsmanship—everything from the chandeliers, to the tiles, to the artwork, to the woodwork, to the stained-glass windows. I am equally in awe of our Creator, who provided all the materials we would need to produce these masterpieces. 

Recently, as autumn has settled in, we’ve had a lot more cloudy days than the previous months. One day as I walked past the stained-glass windows of the temple, I noticed there is a striking difference between what they look like on the sunny days versus the overcast ones. When it’s cloudy outside, the windows are beautiful. When the morning sun is shining brightly through them, the windows are next-level stunning. The colors are more vivid, there is greater contrast, and the light breaks through the glass prisms and scatters a hundred tiny rainbows on the floor and walls.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about the windows. If someone came to the temple on a cloudy day and saw the windows for the first time, they would likely be impressed. Yet, they also wouldn’t know what they were missing. It reminds me of Elder Uchtdorf’s talk from April 2024 General Conference. He said, “We all know people who say that they don’t need God to be happy, that they are happy enough without religion. I acknowledge and respect these feelings.” Then he explained that we as members of the church don’t discount sources of joy such as hobbies and nature.  He clarified further, “We’re simply saying that God has something more to give. A higher and more profound joy—a joy that transcends anything this world offers.” 

Perhaps living a life without Christ is like seeing the stained-glass windows on a cloudy day. Beautiful, but not quite achieving the full potential of what is possible. Christ truly is the light that takes something beautiful and turns it into something stunning. Living a life with Him ushers in gifts more glorious and celestial than anything else on earth. In the same talk, Elder Uchtdorf summarized it so perfectly, “The gospel of Jesus Christ is truly the ‘good news of great joy’! It is a message of matchless hope! A message of yoke-bearing and burden-lifting. Of light-gathering. Of heavenly favor, higher understanding, holier covenants, eternal security, and everlasting glory!”

I pray this visual reminder will stay with me always, that I won’t take for granted the incredible gift of light Christ is in my life. In addition, I pray I can share Him and His perfect light with others.