Sunday, January 26, 2014

Rainbow, God's Promise & Us



http://images.nationalgeographic.com/wpf/media-live/photos/000/013/cache/double-rainbow-reid_1399_600x450.jpg

One of the most amazingly beautiful phenomena we witness in nature is the rainbow. The array of colors dispersed through the air as the mist of a summer rain settles on the ground stops us in our tracks, if only for a moment, and the promise it represents takes our breath away replacing it with humbleness and a reminder of God’s grace and mercy (Genesis 9:13-17)!

Science attempts to explain the wonders of nature as well as the human body and the mind. Discoveries have been made revealing answers to so many mysteries of each and enlighten us to the fact that there are more questions to ask. When it comes to rainbows, we have been able to simulate the band of colors created from projecting light onto a triangular block of glass called a prism to transform that beam into the splendor of a rainbow! Well, ok, a very small version of God’s grand display in the sky!

In all the spectrum of color there are many made from a combination of the three primary colors the human eye recognizes: red, blue and green. Adding these colors emits white while subtraction leaves us with black. Most everyone loves color and most of us have one that is our favorite. Have you ever wondered why you are drawn to one particular color more than another? Colors are as vast and diverse as personalities. Just like personalities, colors can tell much about a person. There are even personality tests that go solely on color. So, this seems to suggest that colors have meaning. According to the Bible they do!

First, let’s take a look at the link between color and personality. Have you ever wondered about the significance of color? Besides the obvious purpose of making our surroundings more exciting and pleasing to our senses do colors have specific meanings? If so, what does that meaning have to do with us? Well, we have all grown up hearing the generalizations bordering folklore of the ‘dumb blonde”, “angry red head”, innocence of pink or brooding of black but what about all the colors of the spectrum? Everything has a reason for it’s existence, even a color. So, what is that reason and what is it’s connection with you?

First, we need to understand how we see what we see. For most of us, those who aren’t totally blind, information is received by the eyes and transmitted to the brain. Colors are processed by three different cones: red, blue and green. The latest and most excepted theory, due to neurological findings, suggests a more specific categorization of channels produced by the cones of red-green, blue-yellow and black-white (luminance). This explains why we don’t see reddish-green or yellowish-blue. It also better defines the color wheel. The process of color perception is as vast and mysterious as the brain itself.


Now that we know how color is perceived, it’s time to discover the meaning assigned to each. There are several areas we can find that place significance on color: culture, religion, social beliefs and personal preference. Comparing the areas you find they agree to most of the same defining qualities.
 
What does your personality have to do with your color perception and preference? What does God say about it all?