Katie’s Musings: Color-by-Numbers Feb 1, 2018 | News It’s a color-by-numbers world out there. 2’s are red, 6’s a sky blue, 9 is goldenrod yellow, 11 is that weird shade of pale pukey green that always stays sharp as new in the box, a neglected color, an avoided color, an anything-but color. Stay in the lines. Don’t mix the 2 color with the 11 color. Barely touch the colors together, if possible, so that there’s as much gradient distinction and separation as possible, because that’s how it is SUPPOSED to be. Follow the rules and the picture will be beautiful. It will be exactly the picture you see on the box, exactly what you paid for, no mistakes whatsoever, just follow the directions, keep the colors where they belong, and everything will be grand. A color-by-number world is neat. It’s orderly. Everything is placed exactly where it should be, every hue is where it belongs, and look, how beautiful is that when everything goes where it belongs! There’s only one problem with all of this. We were not not not created for a color-by-numbers world, you see. We were created to be messy, multi-faceted humans, with a penchant for self-preservation and ambition, and a fight-or-flight instinct that causes to react to the unfamiliar with fear and prejudice, and yet possessing a deep capacity for compassion and care.… which, all to often, we shove down as far as we can to avoid having to deal with it… We didn’t all start with the same tools or an ample range of crayons with which to fill in our sections of the world. Some of us have to mix a few colors to get the right shade, or be forced to borrow a few crayons. We were not created to be so carefully and solidly confined within solid borders, because who could possibly be so defined? We were not created for sameness, uniformity, or staying in the lines. Jesus colored outside the lines a LOT, recklessly befriending societal questionables, inviting people whom he knew didn’t agree with him to dinner, healing lepers, refusing to allow his humanity to be defined by border walls and boundaries. He tried to teach us to do the same. We decided it was too difficult, too complicated, too scary to follow suit. The thing is…. The beauty of our world is in it’s diversity. The horror of our world is when we refuse to respect and celebrate it. So hey, color outside the lines a bit. It is, quite literally, what Jesus would do. Make friends with someone you might not initially agree with and have a chat. Venture outside your normal routine and hang out in a new neighborhood. Talk to people. See what happens. Take that pukey green color out of the box and go to town. You might just find a pleasant surprise or two.
