Fading Colors

With technological advancements, colors have become more and more prominent.  Screens everywhere display millions of colors that can change on demand.  Printers can create images with all sorts of hues very quickly and cheaply.

Back in the day before LCD screens and printing, colors meant a lot more.  I recently saw a variety of stained glass, backlit by sunlight.  Looking at the detail, I couldn't help but compare it to computer/television/phone screens today.  They glowed just like a screen turned to max brightness.  In a day without such technology (let's take a moment of silence to honor the struggle and pain they had to endure without computers and iPhones) a stained glass window would be truly amazing.  

Similarly, the reduced color in the past explains the prominence of gardens.  Many rich homes, especially in the south, had vast flower gardens.  These provided color to an otherwise dull world.  Looking at these gardens today, they don't really stand out as special.  Why would I look at a flower garden when I can see a brighter, clearer, more colorful flower on a computer screen?  If you didn't have shiny technology, bright red roses and golden tulips might seem quite special.