Sunday, July 6, 2008

New Crayons

Oh, how I love a new box of crayons! This is something that has not changed since I was a child, when receiving a new box of them brought a rush of excitement (especially if it was a BIG box!). I loved the anticipation of lifting the lid for the first time and gazing upon the multicolored gathering, all points pristinely sharpened. I loved their colored paper wrapping, the waxy smell of them, the interesting names of the shades. My love of the color periwinkle began with Crayola and continues to this day.

I was talking with a friend today about some difficult things she is going through when an analogy began to take shape in my mind. What if our lives were like a piece of paper upon which a story is being drawn? With the dynamic tension between our free will and the guidance of Providence in mind, we draw the story with the crayons God provides. Each new experience, each skill, each difficult valley is a new crayon that God places in our hands. What we draw with it determines how the picture of our lives turns out. Do we turn the crayon over in our hands thoughtfully before we draw? Do we paint the page black with angry scribbles? Do we close our eyes and pray, asking God to guide our hands, and then peek with surprise at what He's created? Certainly each of our pages reflect a bit of each method.

We cannot know which crayon God will give us, or when. While some seem to have boxes of bright, pretty colors, others draw amazing things with dark colors only. The process is two-fold: crayons from God (His loving gifts to us) and our creative and prayerful use of them. Thinking like this helps make sense of some of the valleys I've traveled and those I'm sure to walk through in the future.

Mmmmm... maybe a wonderful heretofore unimagined version of periwinkle is ahead... or perhaps a lovely shade of forest green...

Either way, I'd better go prep the canvas with lots of prayer.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love this analogy (if that's what it's called)and I find your posts soothing and inspirational...the expanding sponge, the crayons, such everyday objects used well to explain great mysteries...thank you for sharing your insights.

Esther said...

Thank you so much, Mibsy! I think sometimes I have a small mind so God gives me these very simple ways of looking at things for my growth and understanding. :)

Lavinia said...

Very poetical. Your analogy with the crayons is remarkable....

Our Lord is the Creator, and the source of all creativity....

I hope the colours your new box yields will delight and surprise you...

Esther said...

Lavinia: Delight and surprise - yes, please! Thank you... I pray the same for you.

Macile Hooper LeJeune said...

I know there are some times when I am in such a hurry to get something done ... and mess up, that I certainly do ... scribble with black anger; and then after prayer and reflection ... wish I had not done that ... even if only GOD and me know what I did. Asking GOD to guide my hand that is coloring my day's chores is going to be my motto from now on ... AND ... I pray that I can remember that. Merci, ma cherie.
DIEU TE BENISSE!! Cajun Sissy

Esther said...

Macile: Have you ever seen drawings where bright crayon is covered in black and then the black is scraped off with lovely patterns revealing color underneath? God always gives chances to revise our drawings. :)

Macile Hooper LeJeune said...

Yes, I have, ma cherie. Merci for reminding me of that. GOD has his little ways to comfort us; and sometimes ... many little ways go unnoticed by us ... waiting for the big event. xxxooo
DIEU TE BENISSE!!!
Cajun Sissy