Day 1: The Colors of Christmas

3 years ago I sat down and attempted to look at the Christmas season from a different perspective. I loved how that year felt. I loved the insights I was able to learn. I loved sharing those thoughts with all of you. So this year, I've decided to share them again. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did the second go-around.

I'm so excited to share this project with you. Not because I think I will write anything spectacular.. But because it's something that has been pressing on my heart for months. I have grown increasingly disappointed in the way our holidays are portrayed and celebrated. The world is working relentlessly to teach our children and families what Christmas, or any holiday, should "mean". My goal is to try and have one tiny voice fighting against the screaming of the world. One tiny voice proclaiming that Christmas was first, foremost and always to direct our thoughts and hearts to Christ. To the perfect baby wrapped in swaddling clothes and resting in a manger. To the majestic man teaching the eternal truths of heaven. To the submissive love demonstrated in the Garden of Gethsemane and on Calvary Hill. And finally, to the glorious resurrected Christ who is the reason for our hope. He is the "reason for the season".

Red and Green begin to spill into the stores and clothe our cities sometime after Halloween. But what do these colors represent? And ultimately, how can they direct our thoughts back to Christ during this season and throughout the year? 

Red: The color red represent the life force in all living creatures. It directs our thoughts to the atoning sacrifice our Savior made for us when He spilled His blood in Gethsemane and on Calvary. It reminds us of the stains of our sins, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool." It reminds us that our life is a gift from our Father in Heaven, the blood which sustains us was given freely that we could choose for ourselves the better part. It directs our thoughts to the glorious resurrection wherein all will be made alive through Christ our body and spirit never to be separated again. Red is one of the few colors that remains in nature during the winter. A reminder of the hope that even in the winters of our lives the salvation and exaltation offered to us through the Atonement remains alive and powerful. When Christ comes again He will be arrayed in Red, a symbol and reminder to us of the sins, the stains of our lives, His Atonement covers for us and the eternal life He offers us. 

"And the Lord shall be red in his apparel, and his garments like him that treadeth in the wine-vat. And so great shall be the glory of his presence that the sun shall hide his face in shame, and the moon shall withhold its light, and the stars shall be hurled from their places. And his voice shall be heard: I have trodden the wine-press alone, and have brought judgment upon all people; and none were with me."

Green: Just like the color red, the color green represents life force as well. This time the life represented is in nature. When grass and trees and vegetation is lush and green it testifies of the strength of life in that plant. It is used symbolically in the scriptures too, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures". Representing a safe, life-giving place of rest.

In the song "Joy to the World" we learn how the earth rejoiced at the coming of the Savior as well. Listen to some of the lyrics:

"Let earth receive her King", "And heaven and nature sing", "While fields and floods, rocks, hills and plains, repeat the sounding joy", 

"Nor thorns infest the ground. He comes to make His blessings flow, far as the curse is found."

In Genesis we learn that God cursed the earth for Adam and Eve's sake. So they could have the experience of work and labor for their growth and development. But the Articles of Faith teach us that the earth will be renewed just as our bodies will be renewed:

"We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory."

Just as we rejoice at the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, the earth too rejoices to know one day it will be cursed no longer. Green in nature gives the hope to the world (literally) that at the second coming of the Savior it too will be caught up in the glory of the resurrection, never to experience death or corruption again.

As we see red and green this Christmas season, whether in nature, or in our Christmas decorations, let our minds reflect on the glorious resurrection and the atoning sacrifice which enables us to be renewed and receive our paradisiacal glory. And on that day when the Savior comes adorned in red, our minds will be conditioned to express humility and gratitude for the divine gift He provided in taking the stains of our sin upon Him. In the name of Him who trod the wine-press alone, Jesus Christ, Amen.