My Blue Phase

All of my life, whenever anyone asked me to name my favorite color, I had a hard time answering. I would usually mumble something like "I don't have just one favorite color," or "any color except green." 

To tell the truth, I have always liked lots of colors: red, blue, purple and, in my later years, even certain shades of green. I chose red as the color for my wedding attendants to wear because we were getting married right before Christmas, so it just seemed right. I became so tired of the dingy, pale green that adorned the walls of our hotel apartments that it was a long time before I was willing to embrace any shade of green. I love certain colors of pink and peach, but I am not really a fan of bright orange. Purple has always been a favorite, and who doesn't like blue?

God has made so many gorgeous colors on this earth that it has been impossible for me to pick just one favorite.

It was probably only a couple of years before Dad died, when we were all gathered together for Christmas at Mom and Dad's house. One of my nieces happened to ask me for my favorite color, and I answered, as usual, that I didn't have one. Dad, who was standing right next to us, got this strange look on his face, which turned into a quirky smile, before he blurted, "I don't have a favorite color either!" I guess the topic had never come up in any of our previous conversations, because neither of us had ever realized that we shared this particular trait. To Dad, at that time in his life, when his dementia was starting to become obvious, he was pleased to find that he still had something in common with one of his children.

We didn't plan to all wear blue on this day...

In recent years, however, I've come to realilze that blue might be my current favorite color. I find myself wearing a lot of blue, and I'm drawn to blue glass, blue living room furniture, blue skies--anything blue, really. But, as I thnk about it, I realize that the world is filled with various shades of blue. I wonder if any other color is as versatile as blue.

Someone once told me that, if you need to pick a group's t-shirt color, or any color that needs to be shared in some way by numerous people, blue is always a safe choice because everyone seems to like blue. Maybe that's why blue is often used as a neutral color, along with such dull hues as black, white, brown, tan, and that ubiquitous gray. Even though blue is not really neutral, it is universally accepted.

I will always love a plethora of colors, but right now, I seem to be in my blue phase. Out of all the colors in the rainbow, it is definitely one of the  top seven. 

If I have to pick just one color, I could do worse.

Then God said, “I am giving you a sign of my covenant with you and with all living creatures, for all generations to come. I have placed my rainbow in the clouds. It is the sign of my covenant with you and with all the earth.
Genesis 9:12-13



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