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I used to hate the color red. Saying I detested it could not have been a more accurate description. A number of years ago however, the "big red chair" that had belonged to Tom's dad came to live at our house after his parents' home was sold. I made my peace with the chair... but that hue... only by diluting it with all manner of pillows and throws was I able to tolerate it.
Enter the phrase, "You've come a long way, Baby."
If you were to visit my house today you would find cheery red dining chairs accompanying said perch which now resides happily unencumbered in its original glory (oh, yeah, except for the doily on top... some things never change.) In fact, there are little red touches everywhere around here now that I think about it.... red canisters in the kitchen, a red enamel soap dish which holds chalk for the grandkids to use at the pantry door "chalkboard." There is even a little pile of petite red books stacked on a curio shelf in the hallway.
How and when did this happen? Beats me. I just know that now, for some inexplicable reason, I love red. It marries ever so delightfully with my beloved pink and green. Good thing, because this time of year red and green are EVERYWHERE.
Perhaps it's become endearing to me because red is the traditional color of love. It's found in all its rosy glory along with pink on Valentine's Day. Hey, there are even poems written about it, "O my Luve is like a red, red rose that's newly sprung in June...." (Robert Burns) Maybe though, it's something more. Maybe I have come to love red because red came to love me.
It isn't a coincidence that red is a significant color for this season, is it?! Red. The color of love... a love that came down at Christmas. A love that manifested itself in human form. A love that lived a life of perfection that I could never do. A love that went to the cross, that bled, that died for me... for you. A love that gave its all for all, though not all would return it.
That's reason enough to love red, isn't it... or at least to appreciate it. I think I'm going to embrace the color this year instead of just putting up with it like I've done so many times before. I'm going to embrace it... just like it embraced me 2,000 years ago... both in a manger and on a cross.
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