What color are you today?

Some days are yellow.
Some are blue.
On different days I’m different too.
You’d be surprised how many ways
I change on Different Colored Days.

My Many Colored Days, by Dr. Seuss

One of my favorite picture books is My Many Colored Days by Dr. Seuss. This is not your typical Seuss book with weird made up rhyming words and cats in hats destroying a house, but a lovely poem about emotions, illustrated in vibrant colors by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher.

Children love this book because they are so in touch with their feelings, unlike us grown-ups who like to pretend we are okay when we are not. When I read the second verse to a group of kindergartners – On Bright Red Days how good it feels to be a horse and kick my heels! – they eagerly nod their heads, relating to how it feels to have that energy surging through them. Likewise, On Purple Days I’m sad. I groan. I drag my tail. I walk alone, brings the same nods, perhaps a bit self-consciously, as they all know that unhappy days come along too.

This book came to mind this morning as I woke up feeling gloomy. The usual ups and downs of life are still going on and I’m also struggling to deal with the creeping depression that threatens to overtake me as I realize that we may be living with the fear and anxiety of COVID 19 for many more months.

Some days, of course, feel sort of Brown.
Then I feel slow and low, low down.

Throughout my life, books have been a great source of comfort and I believe strongly that God puts certain books in my hands at just the right time. The other day a pile of books on the table in my bedroom fell over, revealing a little devotional book I bought a few months ago at McKay’s Used Books. The Prayers of David relates different episodes in David’s life and suggests Psalms that he may have written at that time. Hmm, maybe God wanted me to pick that little volume up!

The Psalms are the perfect part of the Bible to be reading during these unsettling times because they cover so many of the emotions we may be feeling – fear, sadness, anger, uncertainty – and assure us that we are not alone – kind of like Dr. Seuss. They let me know that it’s okay to feel whatever emotions come up.

Then come my Black Days. MAD. And loud.
I howl. I growl at every cloud.

Today the chapter heading in The Prayers of David was The Lord is My Provider, and I read this familiar verse:

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
    for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
     till the storms of destruction pass by. Psalm 57:1

I love the image here of only needing the shadow of God’s wing to protect me. No matter what my feelings may be, God is still taking care of me. He doesn’t care if I’m “happy Pink” or if “Everything is gray” – He’s going to love me either way.

I know that God has me and my family under His wing. My worries are small compared to so many. He will take care of my needs.

Today is a day for hunkering down under the shadow of God’s wing and letting the storm go by. I feel quiet, introspective and slow, sort of like a fish in the sea.

Green Days. Deep deep in the sea.
Cool and quiet fish. That’s me.

Tomorrow the sun will be out and my mood will be better. Perhaps tomorrow will be a yellow day!

Then comes a Yellow Day and Wheeee!
I am a busy, buzzy bee.