A young pen pal of mine once asked me to tell her my favorite color. When I wrote back to her, I had to confess that I did not have one. There are so many beautiful colors to appreciate and enjoy! Why have a favorite one?
Like most children I enjoyed coloring and drawing with markers and crayons. During my high school years, colored pencils became my medium of choice because they could overlap and blend in ways that markers and crayons couldn’t. I migrated from colored pencils to paint in college, which exposed me to a boldness of color rarely achieved with pencils. My painting class was an amazing adventure of learning color theory and color mixing on a whole new level. It was an experience of endless fascination and discovery. As an undergraduate student with a theology major and double minors in art and philosophy, it was a somewhat natural progression to discover new insights into the divine through my various encounters with color.
Photography has been another activity that has allowed me to experience the presence of God in the ordinary miracles of life and nature–highlights, shadows, patterns, textures, perspectives and colors. Standing beneath a tree of autumn-colored leaves and looking toward the sun is like being in a natural cathedral of stained glass painted by God’s own fingers! My current fascination is with hand-dyed yarn, particularly yarn that is colored to match scenes found in nature. The colors speak to my soul and bring me to the joy of celebrating the goodness and beauty of God’s loving creativity.
There is a science to color, and the proper use of color is an art. What many people fail to recognize (or take for granted) is that color can lead us to God. Thumbing through a pack of paint swatches might have a functional purpose for people who are redecorating their house, but this very simple activity can become a spiritual experience. It might sound a little crazy, but it is true if one is open to the possibility.
Seeing color is a non-verbal sensory experience. Certain colors are naturally pleasing to us, and other colors are not. It doesn’t matter how a color is named. We associate warmth and high energy to certain colors and coolness and calmness to others. Sometimes we are in the mood for the bright and the bold. At other times misty pastels strike our fancy. Neutral tones feel earthy. Spectrums of green remind us of the freshness of spring. Colors can become associated with particular memories—good ones and not-so-good ones. Specific colors become culturally symbolic, such as the way we use them in logos and for sports teams. Colors take on meaning for us. Colors affect us mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Liturgical colors are used to enhance our liturgies and worship environment.
The experience of God is non-verbal, non-rational. When speaking of God, words fail us, because God is so much more than what words can convey. Color can help us to tap into the non-rational, non-verbal parts of ourselves where we are most like God, in whose image we are made. A simple exercise of coloring on a piece of paper or painting color on a canvas, without any intent of it looking like anything specific, can entice the mind into a state of quiet. In that quiet space the mind eventually stops solving problems, answering questions, and chasing white rabbits down endless paths to Wonderland. Playing with color, regardless of its medium, can bring us to a simpler space within ourselves that allows us to reconnect with our spiritual Inner Child, the pure and innocent self that God birthed into being with great love. It requires a little bit of time, practice, willingness and openness to the possibility, but it can happen.
Remember that contemplation is praying without words. If you are struggling with prayer and praying with words, this practice might be alternative way to approach prayer. It does not require artistic talent. It does not even require art supplies! Photographs of sunsets and flowers will do. A painting, a swatch of cloth, a spool of thread… the possibilities are endless. Once the practice of praying with color takes hold of you, you will never see the world the same way again. You will see that the whole world is filled with the glory of God!
By Sister Therese Haydel, OSB