February 20, 2009
February 20, 2009
By Jeannie St. John Taylor
Oregon Author of You Wouldn’t Love Me If You Knew
I’m an artist, so I’ve long recognized red as the color of passion. I recall one art teacher suggesting a touch of red in every painting “just to liven it up.” Red stimulates the appetite and conversation, symbolizes fervent love, energizes, and, when paired with its complement of green, seems to vibrate the very air. But in recent years the depth of anti-Christian and anti-religious sentiment stirred by the color startles me. My goodness, I thought, red is just a color!
On Valentines Day the Saudi religious police raided gift shops to confiscate stuffed bears holding red hearts embroidered with the words “I love you”. But they didn’t stop there, even red silk flowers and red picture frames had to go. Red symbolizes St. Valentine, they maintained, and he was a Christian. It is illegal for Christians to proselytize in some Muslim countries.
It not only occurs in foreign countries but right here at home. Four years ago a Texas elementary school banned the color red at Christmas for much the same reason. School authorities claimed red symbolized a Christian holiday and, if I am remembering correctly, children were not even permitted to wear red and green clothing to their “holiday” program. That policy has since spread to other schools.
So, does red really denote Christianity? I didn’t think it did. Several years ago the followers of the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh adopted red as a symbol of their faith. Since they lived in Oregon, I avoided red clothing for a while even though its one of my best colors. I didn’t want to be identified with Oregon’s notorious false religion sect.
But Easter is approaching and in preparation for that holiday I’ve decided to take up the banner of red offered to me by those who fight against anything Christian, religious or spiritual. Maybe they’ve been right about it all along; maybe they saw something I forgot.
The color red is personal for me, because Christ shed his scarlet blood for me, he owns the color red. His blood rescued me and I claim it with pride and gratitude. I choose to love him passionately, pray to him passionately and, when given the chance, speak passionately on his behalf.
I might even look for a red Easter dress.
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I, personally, have never associated one color or another with Christianity. I may be color-blind when it comes to things like that. But then again, I never thought about it too deeply.
Still, if I were asked the question in a survey, I’d have to say red symbolizes love. And if that’s the case, then red would, indeed, symbolize Christ for me…because no one loves me (and you)better. And no matter how many external reminders, such as pillows or silk flowers or picture frames non-believers confiscate, they can never take away the love we feel for Jesus in our hearts. That’s true blue.
Jeannie, I enjoyed your comments. I learned in Psychology how the human eye is involuntarily drawn to red. Did Christ create the color red for the eyes of His children to be involuntarily drawn to it? We, and I include myself, are so caught up in the minutiae of life that we often overlook the Lord’s handiwork right in front of us–until our eye is involuntarily drawn to the color red.
John Fortmeyer forwarded a petition about the color red from a woman very concerned about the promotion of abortion nationally and internationally. This came to her in prayer:
Get a red envelope from Kinkos, or a party supply store. Address it to:
President Barack Obama
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington , D.C. 20500
On the back, or on a note inside, write the following message.
This envelope represents one child who died in abortion.
It is empty because that life was unable to offer anything to the world. Responsibility begins with conception.
Put it in the mail, and send it. Then forward this email to every one of your friends who you think would send one too. I wish we could send 50 million red envelopes, one for every child who died before having a a chance to live. Maybe it will change the heart of the president.
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Thnaks for telling it like it is.