by June Friesen
Colors and more colors. The world is filled with colors. There is color above us, below us and all around us. Even though many of us rarely think about it or even have opportunity to see it our bodies are filled with colors as well, inside and out. What an amazing Creator you and I have. I am inviting you today to sit with me a few minutes – ponder the thoughts here – ponder the photos shared here – and then close your computer/pad/phone and look around you – and ponder the colors around you. I suspect that you will be amazed at the things that you do see and maybe never have seen or at least not consciously seen for a long time. The photo above I took just the other day. We were at a café that we go to frequently and I was looking around and enjoying the beautiful light coming in the windows above me when I spotted this light. I have never before seen it and I thought to myself – ‘June, you need to pay better attention to what is around you. Look at this beautiful light you have missed seeing for months, maybe years.’ You see I can sometimes be rather hard on myself when I notice something for the first time and then realize that it has been there for a long time. This is not the first time this has happened to me – but to miss the beauty of colors around me – I am so thankful God gave me eyes that are so almost perfect. Yes, almost as I need to wear glasses or else at my age reading is a challenge as my arms are not long enough to hold my book or reach my computer keyboard never mind that I cannot see more than a foot in front of me clearly without my glasses. My heart is filled with gratitude on so many accounts as I ponder the wonder and beauty of color. I am sure there was color in the world before Noah but I want to share with you the gift God gave Noah, a gift that many if not all of enjoy in our skies from time to time.
Genesis 8:9-17
God spoke to Noah and his sons: “I’m setting up my covenant with you including your children who will come after you, along with everything alive around you—birds, farm animals, wild animals—that came out of the ship with you. I’m setting up my covenant with you that never again will everything living be destroyed by floodwaters; no, never again will a flood destroy the Earth.” 12-16 God continued, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and everything living around you and everyone living after you. I’m putting my rainbow in the clouds, a sign of the covenant between me and the Earth. From now on, when I form a cloud over the Earth and the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll remember my covenant between me and you and everything living, that never again will floodwaters destroy all life. When the rainbow appears in the cloud, I’ll see it and remember the eternal covenant between God and everything living, every last living creature on Earth.” 17 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant that I’ve set up between me and everything living on the Earth.”
Each one of us has no doubt seen many pictures of Noah looking at the rainbow. Many are the sermons that have been preached about the story of the rainbow and how the guarantee is still in effect today for you and I that there will never be another flood that covers the entire globe of earth. This does not mean that there will never be floods and even floods that are devastating in areas and leave much ruin and loss of lives behind. However it does hold true for the entire globe.
What I want to concentrate upon here however is color and the gift that color is to each and every one of us. Well, let me clarify that a bit as I know that there are some people who cannot see in color as I do because of issues with their eyesight. For some they cannot decipher color at all – only black and white while others can see only certain colors which is sometimes referred to as ‘being color blind.’
Have you ever taken the time to ponder the colors of the rainbow? Have you ever taken the time to color or design your own rainbow? Have you ever taken the time to imagine if your life was lived only in black and white? We know that if there was not at least black and white there would be no way to decipher what things were and what things were not. One would not know depth, height, width or length. One would not be able to decipher any shapes. If you struggle to believe me I suggest that you take an hour (if you can make it that long) sitting in a room completely dark. Or if you are in the country side go out when there is no moon or any artificial light – how does that feel? Especially if you do this in a place you are totally unfamiliar with – would you even feel safe to move?
Here is a photo of an array of lights among the cacti on a hillside here in the desert. It is a gift of beauty to behold with one’s eyes at night. Does it make this area of the desert safe to walk in? No. It is not enough light to see the unsuspecting critters lounging or eating on the ground – some dangerous to humans. But I am able to enjoy not only the colors but how it makes the desert an array of beauty. So what am I trying to get us to discover today?
First of all, I cannot help but think of Christine Sine’s book The Gift of Wonder. That is actually how I met Christine as she posted on Facebook that she was looking for people to review her book. Needless to say I jumped at the opportunity and I absolutely love that book and continue to practice so many of the little things I learned from it.
It is nearing change of seasons for most of us – the season of autumn and the season of spring. These are both times when one should be on alert for the beauty of changes. I suggest that one take a walk – take your phone for pictures and/or a notepad for notes. See how many colors you can find. Think about how those colors may impact your life as you look at them. Take some time to express your gratitude to God for this wonder of color. And maybe choose to share it with someone else as well. Below I have posted a collage of autumn – mostly leaves but a couple flowers as well. It is my prayer that you will find this writing a challenge to see God’s gift of sight and colors in a new dimension in your life – a true gift from Him to you. Amen.
Scripture is from The Message translation. Photos by June Friesen.
Join Christine Sine on October 14 or watch the recording later. October and November, the season between Canadian Thanksgiving and American Thanksgiving, is gratitude season on Godspacelight. Christine Sine will encourage you to enter into the practice of gratitude in this interactive retreat that will help us enter this season of gratitude with joy and delight in our hearts.