Gray Is A Color Too!!!

This morning I woke up in the darkness of early morning and couldn't get back to sleep. I snuggled into my fuzzy robe, fixed myself a cup of coffee and settled into my favorite spot in the house - the sofa in front of large windows that provide a view of the waking world.

There I waited for the first sign of light...there I wondered, what color is God choosing to put on today? Will it be gold? red? pink? purple? blue? I think of my youngest daughter who carefully goes through multiple outfits every morning trying to find the one that best fits her mood for the day. I think of my oldest daughter who has this adorable habit of putting on her clothes the night before and wearing them for an hour to two to test their comfort level and wearability. She goes to bed assured that when she wakes her day is prepared.

I wonder - how does God chose? It is a silly question of course, so all you science geeks can refrain from the comments of how pollution, ozone, weather patterns, etc. determine the color - I know these things - but a girl can have fun with her imagination right? God as a teenage girl pillaging the closet to determine what best will suit the mood or the comfort zone...wondering what I would pick if I were given the power to chose the sunrise color...

I was hoping for soft, subtle shades of pink and purple today - gentle puffs surrounded by blue - something that spoke to the peace and serenity I was feeling this morning while snuggled in my fuzzy robe with my warm coffee on my favorite sofa. I waited...I waited...I waited

By 7:30 am I realized there would be no pink and purple today....no gold, red, or even blue. The color of the day is gray...at first I thought how disappointing...but then I went in search of some good news about the color gray.

Wikipedia helped with a small section about color T.V. of all things..."Red, green, and blue light combined together at full intensity produces white. The three colors combined at equal but less than full intensity produce all the different shades of grey. To make a cool grey, the intensity of the blue is increased slightly. To produce a warm grey, the red intensity is increased."

That gray sky now looks different - not dreary at all - God simply liked all the colors today!

Yeah God!

Glimpsing the Masterpiece

Late last year my daughters and I had the opportunity to return to one of our favorite cities - Washington D.C.  I normally allow the girls to choose our activities but they had both visited more recently than I so that day I decided to be selfish and demand some time at the National Gallery of Art. The girls believe this to be a total waste of time so I left them to sit on a bench and listen to their ipods while I flew through as many galleries as I could before they could find me and drag me out...which didn't take long.

As I entered one of the gallery rooms I immediately noticed a painter in the midst of his work.  This surprised me that they would let folks with paint within 100 yards of these priceless works of art - but nonetheless, there was a man obviously copying a portrait of a woman.  From my angle I could only see the copy being painted and not the original.  I was very impressed, he was obviously a man of great talent and I wondered how it felt to be copying someone else's work when he obviously had the talent to create his own.  I stepped in for a closer look. She was beautiful, the colors, the slight shy smile on her face. I could see why he was drawn to paint this particular portrait. It truly was a great work of art.  But by then I had moved close enough that I could look past the easel he was painting on and see the original masterpiece on the wall in front of him.  I think I might have actually said, "Oh my" right out loud.

His painting was gorgeous and I thought it was perfect - until I saw the original - then it was obvious, his was just a painting. It looked like a painting. The colors, the proportions, the detail were all there in his copy but the original looked as if you reached out to touch it, you would feel the warmth of her skin, touch the curl of her hair, slide your hand upon the yellow silk of her dress.  Her skin glowed with a light that can only be described as "life" - she really gave the appearance of life and dimension!  I'm sure you can tell by my fumbled attempts to describe this scene that I don't know a lot about art - but that day, I saw for myself the difference between a painting and a masterpiece.

I thought about that painting today as I took a ride through the country. Watching spring come alive, even though we had snow and ice this morning. I saw pale rays of sunlight dancing through the new pale green leaves. I thought about all we do in the name of beauty...how we build, how we landscape, how we paint and create and shape and form.  And yes, sometimes we do create beautiful and wonderful things...but if we are not careful, those beautiful creations will end up blocking the view of the masterpiece behind it all...God's creation!  There can be nothing more beautiful, nothing more stunning and full of life than the created world we call Earth.  God has indeed poured upon it all manner of glory and wonder for us to feast our eyes upon - but how often do we stand still long enough to notice? How many times do we bother to shift our gaze past the "art" of this world and look to the original masterpiece of God's work?

Yes, I know Spring has backslid into mild winter, but tomorrow, brave the cool dampness anyway - take a walk, take a ride - but go and see a real work by the real Master. Prepare to be astounded - it is glorious to behold!

Garden Psalm

God sat with me in a garden today. With a slight nip in the air, the sun working hard to warm the new day, I took my new book of poetry and went for a walk.  I found myself in a churchyard where off to the side was a small prayer garden. It looked inviting in the glow of morning.  I sat upon a bench and read a few poems aloud to the birds and squirrels - and perhaps some puzzled neighbors wondering what crazy fool was reading poetry out loud on a busy Tuesday morning.

"Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, 'Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.


And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come 
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine."
                (When I Am Among the Trees by Mary Oliver)

I stop reading and gaze at a flowering tree. I really should learn the names of these beautiful things. I am struck at how the tree is a visual metaphor - some flowers are only buds, not yet given birth. Some were open, red, beautiful and mature - glorious. Others were brown and giving way to death. It made me sad. Remembering I was also here to deal with grief and loss.

But then the words of the poem came to me..."and you too have come into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled with light and to shine."  As I thought about the dark and shadowy world of sorrow my eyes traveled around the little garden and I saw that even in the shadows, there were beautiful things growing.  And there, out of the darkness of a deep mound of mulch and wood chips, sprouts were forcing their way into the light.  I looked again at the glorious, red flowering tree and beneath it I notice a lush carpet of red petals that litter the ground. A royal carpet. It will now turn to fertile soil and thus will bloom again.  There is even beauty in death. I am no longer sad.