The Grey before the Green

I have always loved the colour green in all its many guises, from the rich and vibrant hues of spring to the deep blue-green of the ocean on a sunny day.  It speaks to me of life and never fails to touch my spirit with hope. Who would dream that a colour could do that?

I recently bought myself an artist quality set of pencil crayons thinking that I would like to reproduce some of the colours that I see in the world around me. I was surprised to discover that I couldn’t find a crayon to match the particular shade of green that I was looking for. I learned that the green I wanted would require a layering and blending of several different colours. After a good deal of experimentation I discovered that in order to achieve the best results, I had to start with grey. That surprised me.

Grey is most definitely not my favourite colour. I probably wouldn’t have bothered to include it in the box had I been in charge of packaging the crayons. In my mind if green is the colour of hope, then grey would be the colour of sadness. I’m glad I wasn’t in charge after all. The shades of grey in my box of colours are more important than I knew. 

There are grey times in my life, times when sadness is my portion. I might have wished that the One in charge hadn’t included that particular colour in the tools He uses to paint the portrait of the woman I am becoming, but now I see that the grey is only a small part of something much richer. It is a necessary step in achieving the final result. I just need to trust the Artist. 

I may be in the grey right now but it is only the grey before the green.