Growing closer to God through stained-glass windows: A dyslexic autistic perspective
Introduction
Over the last few years, through encounters with Christians or churches, I’ve discovered the stained glass of an artist called William Wilson (henceforth WW). I find WW’s stained glass lovely to look at. But it also lets me improve my knowledge of the Bible, and that in turn lets me feel closer to God. By contrast, I’ve had limited success using more “mainstream” means to grow my faith, such as reading the Bible or attending church activities. That’s partly because I’m dyslexic and autistic. Dyslexia and autism are groups of traits or characteristics. So there’s overlap between how they present in different individuals. But there’s also diversity within the dyslexic and autistic communities: each person is unique. So although stained glass helps me to grow my faith, it might not help others who are dyslexic and/or autistic. Having said that, I hope that everyone who reads this essay will find something of use or interest in it, whether they are dyslexic and/or autistic or not. Because everyone in the church is responsible for inclusion or we are not the church God intends (1 Corinthians 12:12-27).
In this essay, I’ll share five aspects of stained-glass windows that help me grow my faith. Then I’ll briefly suggest five other ways that people can use stained-glass windows to grow their faith.
Notes
I’ve used identity-first language, for example “autistic person.” Other people prefer person-first language, for example “person with autism.”
To see a larger version and further details of each window, click on the hyperlinked caption.
Window at Craigiebuckler Parish Church by the author.
1) Narrative
Dyslexia is sometimes described as an information processing difficulty or difference.[1] I can find it difficult to process (take in or give out) information that is presented in words, whether written or spoken. One thing that helps me to process information is narrative.
Many stained-glass windows convey a story, or part of a story, from the Bible. For example, the panel above depicts the turning point of the story in Genesis 22. This helps me in five ways.
1. It gives a visual summary of Genesis 22: 10-13
Autistic brains tend to focus on details.[2] Summaries help me to take in information because they give me the gist of it. Visual summaries work better for me than verbal ones.
For example, the above panel gives me a sense of what the verses are about. This then serves as a framework, which I can fit the details of those verses into.
2. It piques my curiosity
But the panel doesn’t tell us exactly what happens: the angel is not shown, and the dialogue between Abraham and the angel is not given. So the panel made me want to find out what happened. (A thirst for research and knowledge is an autistic trait). I looked up the passage and found that there’s more to the story than we see in the panel. And also where in the story the passage comes.
So this window acted like a film poster: it drew me into the story by showing me a bit of it, in a tantalisingly incomplete way!
3. Its relatability
I struggle to relate to Abraham and Isaac because they lived so long ago, in a far-off land. But I can relate to the sheep shown in the panel, because sheep feature in my life. (Celebrating “the everyday” was a hallmark of WW’s art[3]).
4. Its detail
The position of the sheep’s head gives the panel one of the pathetic details that really “make” a story. As my brain “does” detail well, I find that details in windows tend to stand out for me. And so they provide a very easy and natural way for me to take in the story.
5. Its drama
The high drama, conveyed in the facial expressions, gestures, and action, provokes an emotional response in me.
Two autistic traits are a heightened emotional response to other people’s dramas;[4] and “hyperfocus”[5] (an ability to focus on something to the exclusion of everything else).For me, looking at this panel is more akin to living the story than simply looking at it.
2) Stained glass can also act as an initial reference point
Window at Bo’ness Old Kirk (left) and Window at Eric Liddell Centre (right) by the author.
For example, the two windows above of Michael and Dorcas feature people I wasn’t previously aware of. Again, the windows made me curious and prompted me to look up the stories these people are in.
I find it altogether different approaching Biblical content this way, using an image, rather than words, as my starting point. This is more accessible for me than approaching a passage cold in words, because I find it easy, and even delightful, to process the images.
3) Connection
1. With Christians all across the world
WW was from Scotland but designed windows that are in churches of various denominations all over Scotland, and in other parts of the world. This makes me feel connected to people in these churches, and brings me a sense of peace and Christian unity.
2. With Christians in buildings I visit
When I visit buildings to see stained-glass windows, I meet people who tell me stories about the windows. For example, church staff and members.
Social interaction can be difficult for many autistic people. Chit-chat can be especially challenging. A technique recommended in books on autism is planning in advance what to say in a conversation, so you don’t have to come up with anything to say on the spot.[6]
My interest in WW’s windows leads to conversations about something I feel comfortable talking about. It also reduces the unpredictability of conversation for me. I find I’m able to open people’s minds to the idea of using stained glass to grow people’s faith. This lets me share the unique gifts God has given me, through autism and dyslexia, with my siblings in Christ.
4) Design/style
1. Colour/light
In WW’s windows, some panes have a jewel-like brilliance caused by the light shining through them from outside, making them bold and exuberant. By contrast, other panes seem to glow gently, almost as if they are alive. You can see this glowing effect above, in the scroll of David’s harp, and in Abraham’s face and halo.
The vibrant colour and gentle glowing of WW’s stained-glass windows makes their subject matter rich and impactful for me. So they speak to me powerfully and directly.
Autistic people take in information through their senses differently from allistic (non-autistic) people. This causes autistic people to seek or avoid sensory input in order to regulate their processing of it.[7] So the strong and bright colours of WW’s windows tap into my autistic trait of “sensory seeking.”
2. Simplicity
Stained-glass windows are simple in their content because of the constraints of the medium. As WW put it, ‘stained glass more than any other medium is “hauden doon” [constrained] to tradition because of the severe limitations imposed by such materials as glass and lead.’[8]
Each window, or panel, focuses on one person or scene, as the window on the left below and others in this article demonstrate:
Window at Fairmilehead Parish Church (left) and Window at Greenbank Parish Church (right) by the author.
Even when windows – or panels – do tell a story, they can only contain a little narrative. The window on the right above features elements of the Good Samaritan parable, representing the whole rather than giving it.
Some windows tell stories across a series of panels. But their content is still simple.
If there is any scripture in a window, it’s usually one phrase, as exemplified in the carpenter’s shop and Michael windows above. Sometimes, there’s just the name of the person featured, or a name and a description, as in the David and Dorcas windows above.
This breaking down of faith-related information into single ideas (a technique known as “chunking”), and minimising the language, makes the task of processing it more manageable for me.
Stained-glass windows are also static images. This lets me take as long as I need to process their content. (My processing speed is slower due to my neuro atypical brain).
Presenting window content in freeze frames like this also makes it easy for me to store the content in my memory. This lets me build an image bank in my mind that I can draw from whenever I need a visual to go with some Bible content I’m engaging with.
3. Symbolism
My autistic brain finds abstract ideas difficult to grasp. So anything that “reifies” ideas (makes them real) helps me. Religious symbols reify abstract concepts well for me. For example, if I think of the Holy Spirit visually (as a dove), rather than abstractly (as a spirit), then this reifies it for me.
We are given the image of the Holy Spirit as a dove in Luke 3:22. But when I see it “visualized” (made visual) this helps me because it’s a specific and distinctive dove, rather than the general concept of “a dove.”
As with summaries (see section 1.1 above), if the context is given visually, it’s more accessible for me than if it’s given verbally. For example, this window (below) visualizes the Holy Spirit as a dove, and shows it, very demonstrably, in relation to Jesus:
Window at St John’s Church Bathgate by the author.
WW also uses colour as a symbol. For example, he said about one of his windows: ‘Blue in many shades, the colour of Purity and Truth, gives the keynote to the Subject of the Window.’[9]
I use colour coding often because it lets me distinguish categories of things from each other without having to read any text. So it helps me to have discovered that colours carry meanings in stained glass.
5) The interactive nature of stained glass
1. Taking and sharing photos
I take photos of stained-glass windows and share them online. I make crafts with them too, and give them to churches for their communications. This makes pursuing my interest in windows active and creative. Many autistic people have “special interests”[10]: topics that catch their attention and which they research. Pursuing special interests is therapeutic for autistic people because it’s enjoyable, absorbing and energising.
I’ve discovered a special interest (WW’s windows) through my faith that also helps me grow my faith. I’m encouraged that God has led me to a resource that’s inclusive of me and that promotes my well-being.
2. Finding photos online
Similarly, I can search for photos of windows online that other people have taken. This lets me see windows that I wouldn’t see otherwise, because of their location. It also makes me feel part of a community of stained-glass window enthusiasts. Three sites where you can find or share photos are MyCanmore, Geograph and flickr.
Five other ways to grow faith using stained glass
- Support Bible learning in church services by displaying an image of a stained-glass window that represents the relevant Bible passage.
- Write a news report of a story that a window represents. This can include a headline, the text of the article, quotes from the characters, and a photo of the stained-glass window as the image.
- Compile a journal using photos of windows. Next to each photo, put the scripture it illustrates and the context of the scripture, or a response to the text, and any questions.
- “Jazz it up”: WW used to encourage his studio assistants to “jazz it up” when they were designing windows,[11] in other words to be adventurous in their style. Choose a stained-glass window, or a scene/detail from it, and recreate it in another media. Be bold with colours and style!
- Make a digital story or video using photos of one or more stained-glass windows. For the soundtrack, either use a musical setting of the Bible passage they illustrate, or simply read out that passage.
Image credits
All images are photos that the author took of windows designed by William Wilson RSA.
[1] David McLoughlin and Carol Leather, The Dyslexic Adult – Interventions and Outcomes – An Evidence-based Approach (BPS Blackwell, 2013), 116.
[2] Claire Jack, Women with Autism (Casacat, 2021), 175-176.
[3] Fiona Pearson, William Wilson 1905-1972 (The National Galleries of Scotland, 1994), 6.
[4] Natalie Englebrecht, “Empathic attunement: catching others’ emotions” Embrace Autism (2022).
[5] Jack, Women with Autism, 172.
[6] Nancy J. Patrick, Social skills for teenagers and adults with Asperger syndrome: a practical guide to day-to-day life (Jessica Kingsley, 2008), 160.
[7] Devon Price, Unmasking Autism – The Power of Embracing our Hidden Neurodiversity (Monoray, 2022), 69-71.
[8] Quoted in: Sandy Wilson, William Wilson – Print, Paint, Glass (Royal Scottish Academy, 2022), 64.
[9] Quoted in: Rona H Moody, “Images of broken light: William Wilson (1905-1972),” The Journal of Stained Glass, Vol XXX (2006): 147.
[10] Karen McKibbin, Life on the Autism Spectrum (Jessica Kingsley, 2016), 97-102
[11] Fiona Pearson, Scottish Masters, vol. 19, William Wilson (The Trustees of the National Galleries of Scotland, 1994), 14.
© Iris Brome, 2023.
This work is licensed under Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
Cover Image: Window at Eric Liddell Centre by the author.
A dyslexic autistic Christian living in Scotland.
