Kathy Mattea released her first album in 1984. The last track on that debut album was the Mark Germino song, God Ain’t No Stained Glass Window. Not only did I fall in love with Kathy Mattea’s vocal style, but I also fell in love with that song.
I learned God Ain’t No Stained Glass Window and kept it in my repertoire, including it on my first studio recording, Going Over Home. A repertoire is always in flux, and though my love for the song never faded, I didn’t perform it for several years.
Recently, Our Daily Lyric mentioned me when they included a snippet from the song in their Twitter feed. On the blog, they link to recordings of whatever song lyric they are posting that day. Johnny Cash had also recorded God Ain’t No Stained Glass Window. Needless to say, I was surprised and thrilled to see my recording linked alongside alongside Kathy Mattea and Johnny Cash.
On my most recent trip to the Metamora United Methodist Church, the time and place felt right for brushing the dust off the song and performing it again. The lyrics came back as easily as ever. This song has always felt right and has stayed with me for many years. Likely, I’ll continue to keep it around.