We have arrived at the beginning of the end. The color purple comes from mixing red (flesh/mankind) with blue (word of God) leaving you with the purpleness of royalty, priesthood, and inheritance. Oddly enough, at the start of my purple season I received a letter in the mail about my inheritance from my dad. If you have been following along with my rainbow year, you might remember at the start of this rainbow my dad passed away. 9 months ago now. Not that grief really has an end, but this rainbow seems to be a little capsule of that process. Death through to inheritance. Here’s a sketch I did of my dad that we put by his favorite snacks at the celebration of life.
We often talk about receiving all of what the Lord paid for when Jesus died on the cross, rose again, and restored us into a right relationship with The Father. That state of “right living” being the inheritance, the end goal. That “right living” can also look like stepping into your royalty and living your days as one giving endless supply of love, forgiveness, grace, and all the goodness to the people you find yourself next to. Priesthood and royalty make me think of serving. The best leaders know how to serve those they are leading.
I did the last pastel of my rainbow. I want to put them all together. Line ‘em all up. This purple one reminds me of landscapes. When I look at it, I can’t help but imagine a little character walking through the different landscapes. Almost like a video game. GRIS anyone? I also see the staff-like form on the left side of the paper. That goes along with royalty and priesthood pretty well I think. According to Google AI, the staff of kings “symbolize a monarch's power to rule, with ancient roots possibly stemming from a shepherd's crook”. Shepherds’ staff to a king’s scepter, that sounds like the upside down kingdom of God to me. A shepherd’s staff symbolizing a gentle guiding nudge to the sheep. That’s the type of ruling power I want in my life.
I didn’t do many “big” projects during this purple season. My sketchbook has collected most of my creations of this color. These two were from sketching during church. I’ve actually been working on a rather small-in-size project that has taken up most of my time and energy. Another little surprise of my rainbow year.
I love this ending to my rainbow year. A rainbow baby. This year has really been bookmarked by my colors, some even with crazy timing if you ask me. I’m thankful to have walked this rainbow to the end. Better than a pot of gold. Happy New Year's Eve everyone. Cheers.