The Color Green

I guess it all started when I was in grade school. I still remember sitting in assembly. Some smart adult was talking about how children prefer some colors over others. So they started asking what everyone's favorite color was. Well, since red and blue were so popular, I did not raise my hand. Nor for purple or orange. So when hardly anyone raised their hand for green, I raised my hand.

Green has been my favorite color ever since. My favorite? Rich dark velvety forest green. I can tolerate lime green, in its place (like on a lime)... but there is nothing like standing on a hillside in spring and watching all the shades of green that begin to appear.

When I lived in Israel, I loved watching the Golan Heights at the beginning of spring. The dry brown earth quickly gave way to a soft peach fuzz green color, shortly followed by a rich verdant green that glimmered in the sun with life. All too soon, the greens would fade to a dull brown... but for a reckless moment in spring, green held a depth of meaning in that dry land that I learned to appreciate.

Here in America, Michigan to be specific, greens appear slowly as winter fads away. The rich greens stay all year round, clinging to evergreens and pine trees. But the Maples, Birch, Oak, Weeping Willows, all have their own special hue. Some red Maples never really get a green leaf.

Then there are the sprouting greens of flowers and vines, brush and week... green, so common, and yet, so reckless in hues.

Is there a language for each shade and subtlety of this color that promises life and warmth.

I'm told that when I get to heaven, my Lord will give me a new name, which only I will know. I hope He also has a unique name for each shade of green growing lush and vibrant in the new earth.

When I look around me, I see so much beauty. If the greens that I see are tainted by the fall, what must real color look like?

Green, vibrant, living, green - the color of life, of creation, of hope, of promise.

This is why I love green...