God’s poet is silence! His song is unspoken,
And yet so profound, so loud, and so far,
It fills you, it thrills you with measures unbroken,
And as soft, and as fair, and as far as a star.
~Joaquin Miller

When a pandemic of blues and purples appear in the garden, the sound of their secret silence is almost deafening.  So sweet are their melodies that not only do they whisper “velvet seductions” to the bees, but they murmur too thunderous truths of holy words, holy hands, holy love, and holy intent to listening human ears.  How fortuitous then are the lilting, purple and blue incantations of earth’s beauty!

When the deep purple falls over sleepy garden walls

And the stars begin to twinkle in the sky–

In the mist of a memory you wander back to me

Breathing my name with a sigh. . .

~Excerpt from lyrics by Mitchell Parish

Creation is, as J. Philip Newell pens, “where the truth of God is hidden, like a treasure buried in a field,” and so for many purple is said to nurture the soul of the believer.  Over the centuries purple has also been a color used to depict nobility, passion, pain, creativity, magic, and mystery.  As amazing as it is, purple does not, however, surpass the color blue in beauty nor is it as much a constant in our lives.  Blue is always with us because it is the color of sea and sky.  Even the nighttime sky turns to indigo before it completely blackens.  For some, the deep blue of the night sky “symbolizes a mystical borderland of wisdom,” and indigo has a way of taking blue from the external world and pushing its influence inward where it increases depth of thought and brings profound insights.  In the garden some blues are soothing colors that invoke rest and are capable of causing the human body to produce chemicals which calm it.  On the other hand brilliant or electric blues are so dramatic and dynamic that they are often invigorating and exhilarating.  Regardless of what shade of blue blesses the eye, John Ruskin hit the nail on the head when he called blue the color “everlastingly appointed by the Deity to be a source of delight.”

Where can I go from your Spirit?  Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.  ~Psalm 139:7-10