Practices From the Inside Out: What Color is Spiritual Life?

What Color is Spiritual Life?

I was born and raised in a world where spiritual life was black and white.

Spiritual life was about what we believed and how we lived our lives. The things we were convinced were right to believe and to do were written down. The boundaries and standards were clear and we knew it was wrong to step over the line.

We believed what we read and how we understood what we read.

It was clear to us we were right and other ways of understanding were wrong. Very few things were blurry or foggy or unclear. Spiritual life was not like a painting, but more like a coloring book.

We stayed inside the lines and used the right colors. That is how we knew we were doing a good job.

It took a while before I began to realize the world might not actually be monochromatic.

The first colors I could see were bright, distinct primary colors. Spiritual life might not be black and white, but it was clear. Red was always red and blue always stayed blue. It was best to stay inside the lines and not get too creative.

Each color had its right place and it was up to us to put it there. It was when colors started getting outside their places that people got into trouble.

Coloring Outside the Lines

Some people see the colors of spiritual life from the beginning. For other people it is a lesson they learn in an instant.

My appreciation for the color of spiritual life has been a gradual process over time. It is as if my eyes have taken a long time to open.

I have looked at spiritual life through a variety of lenses, from different perspectives. Each time, I saw something new. Eventually I began to recognize the world has never been black and white, always in color. I was just not in the habit of seeing it that way.

Spiritual life apparently does not take lines very seriously.

It is difficult to remember when I saw spiritual life in black and white. Spiritual life is red and yellow like fire and green like the leaves on trees. I see spiritual life in the colors of sunrise and sunset, and in the stars shining at night.

Spiritual life is all the colors of the ocean, people’s faces, and stained glass windows. The colors of spiritual life transcend boundaries, blending together to create new colors.

There are times when the color of spiritual life still catches me by surprise.

The colors of spiritual life are alive and actively creating new beauty. We cannot limit spiritual life by where we think the lines should go or how the colors should look. Spiritual life is greater than our efforts to shade or control it.

Spiritual life changes color each time I look. There is always more, deeper truth that I saw before.

What Color is Spiritual Life for You?

Some people act as though spiritual life comes in one color, one size, one version. There is one right way, and no other acceptable options.

For me, this “one size fits all” approach may be the opposite of spiritual life.

Our world is in constant motion. We push back boundaries every day and become more connected to each other. Innovation continues to accelerate. Challenges continue to become more and more complex.

Spiritual life is a force for creativity, for using all the colors.

Each of us has our own favorites. Some of us see spiritual life as vibrant. We may see the world as a shiny, exciting environment in primary colors. Others are more down to earth, experiencing the world in earth tones or pastels. Some people like to stick with orderly standards of what society thinks looks good. Others prefer to create eclectic combinations of new colors across the spectrum.

We cannot allow our own personal preferences to become limiting habits. While I may enjoy a particular range of colors, that does not excuse my ignoring other choices. Even though I might love fire engine red spiritual life, I still need blue and green.

There are times when brown can accomplish what even purple cannot.

Some colors are great for attracting attention, others are better for settling us down for the long haul. Some colors spur people to action, while others encourage deeper reflection.

We get focused on the colors we want to show others and forget what the world really looks like. Spiritual life is full of fluorescent hues and muted tones and variations of light and shadow.

Look Again

If coloring spiritual life outside the lines makes you nervous, I encourage you to look again.

Spiritual life is not about trying to create the perfect composition or use the right colors. We are creating our own masterpieces, not copying someone else’s.

The colors of spiritual life are limited only by what we see. If we see spiritual life in black and white, it will live in black and white in us.

My experience of spiritual life is of it at work in me encouraging me to open my eyes. There are always new things to be recognized, new colors to be seen. Spiritual life is not about lines and regulations, but discovering new colors. Our spiritual journey is an exploration of how the world really looks.

It is easy for us to be distracted by the artificial and temporary. Spiritual life draws us to see things as they are, as they have been and will continue to be.

The colors of spiritual life are amazing. They can be overwhelming when we first see them and they never grow old.

If at first you do not see the power and beauty of the colors of spiritual life, look again. You do not want to miss them.

What color is spiritual life for you?

Are there colors you have gotten out of the habit of seeing?

[Image by Mathias.D1]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is StrategicMonk@gmail.com.