Ever stop to look at slime? You know, the stuff that gooks up a run-down lake and makes a sticky film on stagnant water? It’s also found in streams and in the ocean. It’s really not all that pretty on the surface, but if you look closer…you can find God’s stained glass window. I was astonished when I found that simple diatom cells sometimes arrange themselves in beautiful colonies, such as the one shown in the center image above. These simple cells can form the most wondrous complex designs, all invisible without a microscope.

The famed Rose Window at Notre Dame is a notable surviving example of stained glass designed to inspire Christians. What seems beyond coincidence is how similar these patterns are to those present in nature, though the medieval artisans were oblivious to them. What if you told these artisans that they were copying pond scum? And how did the Maker communicate with them?

This algae (pond scum) has been around for millennia and is the basic food for the smallest creatures that feed, well, just about everything. And here’s something else I learned about slime: it “breathes” carbon dioxide. That’s the stuff they think may be causing global warming. So, the next time you see the film on a pond, or in the ocean, look closer: God is winking!