Can colouring bring peace on earth?
“Maybe we should develop a Crayola bomb as our next secret weapon. A happiness weapon. A Beauty Bomb. And every time a crisis developed, we would launch one. It would explode high in the air - explode softly - and send thousands, millions, of little parachutes into the air. Floating down to earth - boxes of Crayolas. And we wouldn’t go cheap, either - not little boxes of eight. Boxes of sixty-four, with the sharpener built right in. With silver and gold and copper, magenta and peach and lime, amber and umber and all the rest. And people would smile and get a little funny look on their faces and cover the world with imagination.”
– Robert Fulgham, All I Needed to Know I Learned in Kindergarten
I haven’t had crayons in my supplies for years. I have purchased paints, markers, coloured pencils, drawing pencils, and even pastels. But never crayons.
When I went on leave from parish ministry during lockdown, painting and photography became a healing balm for me. They were technical and beautiful. The adult colouring craze was in full force, and I still have a couple of empty colouring books. It just never seemed to catch on for me.
I’m embarrassed to say, I think I was embarrassed to be seen with crayons. Crayons are childish. I wanted to try “real art” (whatever that is) so I got “real” art supplies.
During Harbor’s retreat, I sat down with some friends and picked out some colouring sheets and started colouring with the crayons. I was actually amazed, first of all, at what a great artistic tool a crayon is! The colour is true, and you can make a colour lighter or darker with more or less pressure, much like with watercolour. It is practically no-mess, and doesn’t require drying time. The simplicity meant I could be social, and being social while making art is really so much more fun.
Ultimately, though, there is something sacred about finding joy in something as an adult you found joy in as a child. Jesus says we should approach God as children do. Children approach our Maker with excitement, some shyness, lots of questions, seeking love and attention and, one more thing. Imagination.
Maturity, we are taught, means leaving aside our imaginations for planning and strategy and facts. But where else do ideas begin, except from our imaginations?
I have always loved the above quote by Robert Fulgham. I love the image of boxes of crayons landing on the floors of Parliament, on battlefields, and at awkward Thanksgiving dinners. Peace requires imagination. It requires imagining a way that does not rely on any of our old ways of weapons and power.
Can colouring bring peace on earth? I like to imagine it would. Probably not, though. But if peace starts with me (and you), maybe creating something like a child would not be a bad place to start.
Dawn would like you to know that as soon as she posted this she went out and bought a big pack of crayons.
