PURPLE – A SPECIAL SUNDAY – A SPECIAL COLOR.

” I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.” Alice Walker “The Color Purple”

In the April edition of our church newsletter, I’ve suggested that we celebrate PURPLE SUNDAY on the Sunday following Easter – April 19. The Sunday following Easter in the Christian calendar is referred to by lay people and clergy alike as “low Sunday”... low meaning lower attendance and certainly, lower expectations than Easter week – but I’m suggesting that we do something different (even radical?) on that Sunday. Let’s rename it and reclaim it! We’ll drape the pulpit and lectern in purple, hang a royal purple drape over the overhead cross and we’ll all wear purple – and all its varied shades – as diverse as we are: Violet, plum, lavender, lilac, puce, thistle, orchid, mauve, magenta, royal, amethyst, wine, pomegranate, eggplant and mulberry!

Why purple?? Purple has always been linked to royalty and spirituality. A mysterious color, purple is associated with both nobility and spirituality. The opposites of hot red and cool blue combine to create this intriguing color and it has a special, almost sacred place in nature: lavender, orchid, lilac, and violet flowers are often delicate and considered precious. Because purple is derived from the mixing of a strong warm and strong cool color it has both warm and cool properties – making it a blending of opposites – mysterious in its make up!

The color of mourning for widows in Thailand, purple was the favorite color of Egypt's Cleopatra. It has been traditionally associated with royalty in many cultures. Purple robes were worn by royalty and people of authority or high rank. The Purple Heart is a U.S. Military decoration given to soldiers wounded in battle.

The earliest archaeological evidence for the origins of purple dyes points to the Minoan civilization in Crete, about 1900 B.C. The ancient land of Canaan (its corresponding Greek name was Phoenicia, which means “land of the purple”) was the center of the ancient purple dye industry. “Tyrian Purple,” the purple dye of the ancients mentioned in texts dating back to about 1600 B.C., was produced from the mucus of the hypobranchial gland of various species of marine mollusks, notably Murex. It took some 12,000 shellfish to extract 1.5 grams of the pure dye. Legend credits its discovery to Herakles, or rather to his dog, whose mouth was stained purple from chewing on snails along the Levantine coast.

Rome, Egypt, and Persia all used purple as the imperial standard. Purple dyes were rare and expensive; only the rich had access to them. The purple colorants used came from different sources, most from the dye extraction from fish or insects. The imperial purple of Rome was based on mollusk from which purpura comes. Emperor Aurelian refused to let his wife buy a purpura-dyed silk garment, as it cost its weight in gold!

Insect and animal-based purple colors were mentioned in the Bible for use in textile furnishings of the Tabernacle and for the sacred vestments for the High Priest Aaron, and they also were used in King Solomon's and King Herod's temples in Jerusalem.

Pope Paul II in 1464 introduced the so-called “Cardinal's Purple,” which was really scarlet extracted from the Kermes insect. This became the first luxury dye of the Middle Ages until William H. Perkin discovered an aniline-based purple dye called “mauveine” in 1856 while searching for a cure for malaria. Perkin was an English chemist who changed the world of his time by making this purple color available to the masses. It became quite fashionable to wear clothing dyed with “mauve,” and Mr. Perkin became a very wealthy man.

The New Testament makes reference to one of Jesus’ female followers and financial supporters being a “seller of purple.”

During the Easter season we generally place a “robe” of purple on the cross hanging from the center of the sanctuary of our church to symbolize the authority of Christ in our lives. That is what the Easter season is all about – and the color purple can be an outward sign of our inward desire to be more like Christ – to live like Christ – to be known as Christ’s disciples! Let’s take our outwardly imperfect selves and clothe ourselves in the color of royalty and spirituality! Christ leads us through death of the old self, motives, attitudes and behavior -- to new life, and empowers, energizes, enables us to face life today and tomorrow as winners, not losers, lovers, not haters, victors, not victims. Amen!