Color Me Beautiful

Have you ever thought what a dreary world this would have been if it had been colorless? Just imagine this--everything around us in various shades of gray. Ych! Remember "black and white" movies? Remember "black and white" TV? When color came to both the big screen and the small screen, people clamored for it. We loved the Hollywood word "Technicolor." Aren't you glad that God in His great wisdom made such a wonderfully colorful world? Have you ever marveled at the naturally-created spectrum cast on the backdrop of a blue sky by a rainbow or even better yet, a double or a triple rainbow? Wow, beautiful!! Right? Remember God's "rainbow covenant" with Noah, Genesis 9:13. No wonder pondering people speculated that there might be a "pot of gold" at the end of the rainbow. Donna's mother used to keep a small rotating glass prism on her coffee table in the living room. When the early morning sun broke out over the eastern horizon and crept into the room through the opened drapes, a multitude of rainbow images temporarily decorated that room. It was virtually a kaleidoscope of dancing images showing how our magnificent Master could hide "rainbows" anywhere.

 

The Bible has much to say about colors. He makes us "lie down in green pastures," Psalms 23:4. "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be like wool," Isaiah 1:18. On the table of showbread, the Levites had to spread a tablecloth of blue, Numbers 4:7, and the ephod worn by the priests was blue, Exodus 39:22. Gold, blue, and purple featured prominently in the temple decor, Exodus 28:5. The four chariots which came out from the mountains of bronze were drawn by horses of color--red, white, black and dappled, Zechariah 6:2-3. Compare that with the four horsemen of the Apocalypse on horses of white, fiery red, black and pale (?) respectively, Revelation 6:1-8. No doubt about it, color was God's idea and we love it!

 

But God had more than just aesthetics in mind when he so skillfully created color. Behavioral scientists have discovered that color has a psychological impact on us. Dr. Alexander Schauss applied the information that color stimulated the human pituitary and pineal glands, which altered moods. In 1979 he discovered that a particular shade of pink slowed heart rate, pulse and respiration, resulting in a feeling of well-being. When agitated prisoners, who came in kicking, screaming and cursing, were placed in a completely pink cell, they became calm and subdued after 10 minutes. But the effect only lasted about 30 minutes after which the subject became depressed or agitated again. To dieters' delight, he also noted that it worked as an appetite suppressant. Other colors are also thought to have beneficial effects on humans. It is said that blue is calming and lowers blood pressure. Green is believed to help relieve depression, anxiety and nervousness. Violet is thought to suppress the appetite (and you don't have to eat the violets) and help relieve migraine headaches. Yellow energizes, while red stimulates brain activity. Black increases self confidence and white makes one feel good and clean. So if all this information is factual, color not only enhances the beauty around us but also helps the human spirit inside us in subtle ways. What a mighty God we serve! We are fearfully and wonderfully made!

 

Finally, remember also that the fields are white unto harvest, John 4:35, which is a clarion call to all of us to harvest for the Master. It  should also be our desire to be clothed ultimately in white garments, Revelation 3:5. Then we can long for the green, green grass of our eternal home. I wouldn't be surprised if there are yellow ribbons tied to the heavenly "oak trees of Bashan" as we enter through that beautiful gate. So stay busy in the kingdom and avoid the blues!! 

 

Love you all,

 

Al--"the Horne of Africa."

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