Don't Hug Me; I'm Grey

Grey.

My previous post explored its strange role in our view of life.

It's the color that most comes to mind when I imagine the world's that are created in dystopian books

like The Hunger Games or Divergent.

They are worlds without vibrance.  The characters seem to dress in dull hues and their buildings are drab, sharp, and utilitarian.

When a world is left with nothing but physical survival, as the ones in these books appear to be, there is no beauty, no heart, no art.

Is that the world you live in?  Does this feel like the world of your soul?

Have you seen the series of popular Youtube videos named "Don't Hug Me; I'm Scared"?  They are meant to be humorously disturbing as what appears to be a children's puppet show turns into a lesson in fear and the grotesque.  The second of the two videos, however, is particularly interesting.  In it, a puppet sings a song and teaches the others about time.  As expected, it turns slowly macabre.  Characters imagine their own decay as they, their friends, and in one case, their parents fall into states of senility and eventual death.  One particular lyric refers to time teaching us about the "future".  That word is sung over top of a picture frame showing the word, "nothing."

That video, while certainly intended merely for humor, is a perfect illustration of a world without beauty, without hope, and really, without God.

God, to me, is the game-changer, the infusion of white.  White, as the last post pointed out, is "the color with all the colors in existence combined."

"You see, grey is almost a bright color."  Almost.  When your life is grey it easy to ignore what is missing.  When your life is black it may be easier to see that you are missing brightness.  But grey dulls your senses, and helps you get used to missing out and makes you think this is all there is.

But, if there is a God, there is meaning, purpose.  Love's magic returns.  Friendship again has lasting value.  Suffering has a context that allows it not to be meaningless.  Someone cares how I react to it.  How I live my life and how I treat others matters.

I share this with you because I too sometimes get beaten down by life.  Times like these make me wonder what it's all about.  Does anything matter?  And so I fight for my soul and preach to it: "Father loves you.  He will give you grace for each thing that comes along.  He cares.  You, and your life matter to Him."  And with repeated exposure to reality, divine reality, I can, sometimes slowly, find colors once again.