ode to yellow

Sometimes I find it hard to pray.  I know that may sound weird coming from a pastor, but it’s true.  If Jesus were standing here beside me, one of the first questions I would ask him is that same soft and vulnerable question the disciples asked so long ago:  “Lord, teach us how to pray” (Luke 11:1-4).

In my imagination, Jesus says something like this:  "One way to go about praying, my dear, is to focus in on a particular color that you can carry with you for the day or for the week.  Pray through that color.  Pick one, and pray through it."

So, my color today is yellow.  Such a perfect color against the doldrums of winter.  A bowl full of lemons, bright round egg yolks from our neighbor's chickens, the color of black-eyed susans waiting for spring, the sweet, powdery lemon drops my great-grandmother loved to eat.

Today I will learn to pray again through the color yellow.  I will give thanks to God for the bright yellow rays of the sun that rises every morning to greet us and warm us.  I will say a special prayer for the Haitian man driving the yellow taxi cab going down the street.  I will pray for the woman sleeping in the subway station who is wearing a lemon yellow hat.

Today, every time I see the color yellow, I will lift up a prayer of healing, of comfort, of protection, of thanksgiving for a God who teaches us how to pray. 

+++++

Tell us, how do you pray?  What color would you choose?

+++++

Thanks to Rick Harris for this delicious photo!