Color Threads: Red

Enjoy these random reds from my photo files!

Juicy, robust red

photo credit: Daniel Weber

People I love in red…

I want a red to be sonorous, to sound like a bell. If it doesn’t turn out that way, I add more reds and other colors until I get it.

Pierre-Auguste Renoir, French Impressionist painter, 1841-1919

Dying red…

Fruitful red…

If one says ‘Red’ – the name of color – and there are fifty people listening, it can be expected that there will be fifty reds in their minds. And one can be sure that all these reds will be very different.

Josef Albers, German-born American abstract painter and designer, 1888-1976

You can’t go wrong with the use of red; every painting should have red in it.

George De Groat, American painter, 1927-1994

To me, red symbolizes decision, daring, and drama. Perhaps this is an appropriate time, then, to declare my plans for the next year. Or, rather the plans that God has led me to.

I have written a little about my time in Ontario this summer. The people I connected with and the ministry I was involved in have stayed on my heart. I am going back. Some of the details–important details like work and housing–haven’t been finalized yet. Sometimes I think I must be crazy, going out on a limb like this and expecting God to keep on working out the details. But. He has provided things already, and as long as He keeps opening doors, I’ll keep walking through them and trust that the next one will open just in time.

I hope to live in the city of Kitchener and work with Reach (where I was in July.) Nothing fancy–getting together with people, building relationships, being there to speak a word of truth when the time is right. It won’t always be simple, but the concept is not complicated. It’s really not that different from what any follower of Jesus can do anywhere: sharing His love in the dark places, with a passion fueled by His grace.

It’s only because of the crimson blood of Jesus shed for our redemption that there is hope to share. His death opens into endless life. With an inheritance of eternal life like this, there is no reason not to risk our own comfort, to dare and dream and get excited about the joy and life Jesus might want to bring to others through us.

In two weeks, Lord willing, I’ll be driving my little red car toward Ontario. My aunt and Mom’s cousin from Ontario are coming to visit a few days before I leave, and then I’ll drive them back. So I’ll have wonderful travel companions.

The closer I get to the time to leave, the more I realize what all I’ll be leaving behind here in Nova Scotia. My family. Friends. A church that has taught me how to be at home. The North Mountain. The Annapolis Valley. But still, I’m excited to see where this story will lead. If God is for us, who can be against us?