Step Inside His color
I love brushing a wall with a swath of color.
That first movement of clean, new paint on a thirsty, tired wall thrills my soul. Much to my surprise, friends and family have often petitioned my guidance on choosing paint colors. We talk about the purpose of the room, their personal style and vision. I take note of their personality and listen for what would most awaken their soul. They may be hoping for joy, peace, thoughtfulness, or celebration to be reflected within a room that needs a transformation of color.
After this conversation it is time to listen to the wall itself. Walls speak a kind of “light-language.” Its window’s direction to the sun in its daily travel; the wall’s texture and how it holds and reflects light at different times of day; even the home where the wall dwells has a certain latitudinal “tilt” to the sun. The walls in Italy have something different to say than the walls in Alaska. These variables speak.
After listening to my friend, then listening to her walls, it’s time to let the color speak. Paint samples are taped onto walls. My friend and I stand to watch the play of light on the color through the daylight hours and note the subtleties during lamplight moments.
But even after narrowing our choices down to say, four paint samples, how do we know what color belongs on that wall? How do we choose?
My experience is that personal preference is not the primary lead here. In fact, the color and the wall work together to lead us into mystery. One paint sample will seem to sink inside the wall, as if inviting us to step inside its color.
So the question I ask my friend, “Which color makes you want to step inside it?” or “Which color seems to sink into the wall?”
We become witness to the magic when there no longer stands a wall and paint . . . but something new; a convergence of structure and beauty that invites joy, peace, thoughtfulness, or celebration.
It is a concrete reality that the structure of our human existence, so tired and thirsty, belongs with the beauty of God’s goodness - a goodness that invites joy, peace, thoughtfulness and celebration.
What if we grew courageous enough to step inside of that kind of goodness?
