Purple

Lent is quickly approaching and it is my FAVORITE time of year.  Most people will identify their favorite time of year by holidays, seasons, or birthdays.  So, I knew I was unique when I definitively discovered that I love the church season of Lent. 

I love everything about it!  I love the contemplation, self examination, the change in mood of the liturgy music and hymns.  I love the sacrificial way of being, putting away of the Alleluias, fasting, focusing on the poor.  But, mostly, I LOVE the color purple.

Purple has long been the color of Lent in the church (at least those that acknowledge the season of Lent).  I've known it to be the liturgical color, but wondered how that came to be.  I discovered that the use of liturgical colors other than white or black is really a relatively modern phenomenon, dating back only to the 1960s when the Roman Rite was adopted by the Catholic church under Pope Paul VI. 

I also learned that purple is a color that holds both a cool color (blue) and a warm color (red) making it a balanced color.  It is strongly associated with spiritual understanding and the crown chakra which is located at the top of the head.  It seems to be a favorite color of very creative and eccentric types and Leonardo da Vinci said that meditation can be enhanced by the use of purple light (i.e. from a stained glass window).  I'll have to try that.

So, perhaps, in light of my recent self reflective, spiritual journey, inside my own head and heart, seeking balance and a deeper connection with God, it is easy to understand why purple is my favorite color!

One thing that has been interesting to me in my journey is that religion in the east and west are so different, yet there are strong threads that run through each.  Some of the books I've read recently discuss this and much of my findings about the color purple reflect this as well. 

This discovery connects with my developing belief that there is no one right and true faith.  That faith is context bound, broken in our humanness, yet connected by one larger presence.  So, maybe purple is my yin and yang, hot and cold, east and west.  Maybe purple is the color of my faith!