What can be seen through a Rose Window?

I am intrigued by the prominence of Rose Windows in Gothic churches.  The church I serve now, University Place Christian Church in Champaign, Illinois is built in the Gothic style and includes a pretty rose window high atop the west wall of the sanctuary.  According to what I have read, the window's origin in church architecture can be traced back to the oculus in Roman arthitecture (think of the stunning oculus in the roof of the Pantheon).  This got me to thinking about eyes, reflected light needed for vision, and the phrase, "the eye is the window to the soul."  What can one see more clearly through rose colored glass, do you suppose? And who is looking? Which way?



Want to read up on the origins of Rose Windows in churches? Click here:

 Ubi amor, ibi oculus ...

If you're really listening
If you're awake to

the poignant

beauty of the world,
your heart breaks regularly.
In fact, your heart

is made to break,
it's purpose is to burst open
again and again
so that it can hold

evermore wonder.

Andrew Harvey

Indian-born Author, Scholar and Mystic

The soul can split
the sky in two
and let the face of God
shine through. 

~Edna St. Vincent Millay