Lord, How can man preach thy eternal word?
He is a brittle, crazy glass;
Yet in thy temple thou dost him afford
this glorious and transcendent place,
To be a window through thy grace.
But when thou dost anneal (to heat glass) in glass thy story (stained glass windows often create stories.)
Making thy life to shine within
The holy preachers, then the light and glory
More rev'rend grows, and more doth win;
which else shows wat'rish (watered down), bleak, and thin.
Doctine and life, colors and light, in one
when they combine and mingle, bring
A strong regard and awe; but speech alone
Doth vanish like a flaring thing,
And in the ear, not conscience, ring.
- George Herbert
