The story of the photo

THE CROSS OF LIGHT has been referred to as a Sword of Light by some observers.

Hi, I’m Glen.

The photo was taken while I was visiting my sister Sherrie living in India in November 2005.

A couple of days after arriving in Northern India and after telling me about the recent earthquake they felt, Sherrie pointed to the mountain and said “when the mountain rumbled, the rumbling came across the ravine and then shook the house.”

It was the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. The people of Pakistan had suffered hundreds of thousands of injuries, loss of life and millions were left homeless.

Upon leaving town I decided to take a photo of the mountain that had rumbled during an earthquake.

I took a number of photos that afternoon. All were beautiful and quite unusual, however one in particular is a beautiful, undeniably spectacular and unique cross of light which I could not capture again. Funnily enough, I was using a Motorola flip phone with a 1.3-megapixel camera.

On a plane to southern India I took a photo of the sun and while looking back through my photos I truly saw The Cross of Light and experienced an overwhelming feeling that has not subsided. This beautiful image can only be described as love and warmth and has given me inspiration to share it with everyone.

I’ve shown 1000’s of people over the years and the photo has consistently drawn positive and overwhelming reactions from virtually everyone. Clergy members to non-believers were charged with an energy and inspiration after seeing it.

It has taken 18 years to share the photo. Thanks to companies like Squarespace and Printify for making this possible.

This photos beauty and positive power means everything to me. Being less than tech savvy I have always been hesitant about releasing it online. Will someone try to illegally use or abuse it? Will they unfairly or naively criticize it without taking the time to see what it really is? The truth is, people who question and or criticize it may need it the most because in the end, it's just a unique photo of sunlight, that exudes a radiance like no other genuine Cross of Light photo ever taken, in my opinion.

As time goes by, I feel that keeping it to myself is increasingly selfish because of this images power and faith rejuvenating properties.

I firmly believe that the right thing needs to be done with this incredible image. It should be available to all people, eventually, worldwide. The only way to achieve this in my opinion is by offering it as a *photo gift. In doing this it gives the photo the best opportunity to be seen and enjoyed on any one of hundreds of personalized gift products. Anything from Bookmarks, Keyrings, Photo pendants and jewelry, Christmas cards and Ornaments, Mugs, Phone cases, Clothing, Calendars, Photo blankets, Stickers, Cushion covers, Car scents and Seat Covers, Fridge magnets, Clocks etc. The list of potential gifts is only limited to the imagination of people and the products that printing companies can offer. It’s a great way to give a gift to a person you know who doesn’t have a computer as well.

Church and people in need donation plans are designed so that percentages of The Cross of Light profits go back to help people, Churches and organizations.

In short, The Cross of Light photo has both changed and saved my life more times than I can remember and after going through so much to get it here, I just hope with all my heart that it gives you the light, love, warmth and faith to keep going that it's given me over all this time.

Love to all,

Thank you for reading.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Cross of Light image used on all products is the UNALTERED, ORIGINAL PHOTOGRAPH and due to it's original quality is NOT perfectly clear and is slightly pixelated. The original image was chosen for two reasons, it is the exact same image that has guided and saved me since I took it in 2005 and also because there is nothing else like it on earth.

A release of a enhanced version may be considered if enough people request it.

© Glen Garcia.