the color purple

During some midnight wakefulness I found myself thinking about the color purple, the liturgical color for Advent as well as the title of a classic by Alice Walker. NOTHING in our society at this time of year is purple, except in the walls of a church or on our home advent wreaths--it's all green and white and red and glittery silver. And my reading this morning from the Rule of Benedict was all about being intentional about the work of the spiritual life. SO....I am going to spend Advent looking for and celebrating the color purple, for as Shug says in the book, God is trying very hard to get our attention with the color purple, and our attention wanders all over the place in red and green and glitter.