Traditionally, cool colors (greens, blues, purples) are associated with sadness, whereas warm colors (reds, pinks, oranges, and yellows) are associated with happiness.

However, for us it is reversed, the cool colors appearing on the “Joy” side and the warm colors appearing on the “Sorrow” side.  

This reminds us that our Joy and Sorrow do not follow the pattern of the world’s values, but instead come from the values of Christ. Similarly, the colors bend into the opposite spaces, the warm colors reaching across into Joy, and the cooler colors bleeding over into Sorrow, reminding us that on this earth, all things are mingled. Joy is mingled with grief, and the griefs are part-and-parcel of the Joy. Conversely, Sorrow exists because Joy also exists, and we would not feel Sorrow if we did not at times feel Joy. In our greatest Sorrow, the death of Christ, is found our greatest Joy: Salvation, and the extravagant love God bears for us. The all-encompassing spectrum of colors reminds us of God’s sovereignty. No matter where we are or what our story is, God is our source and sovereign. As he made all the colors of light, so he made all of us, in our infinite variety, and he knows all our stories and is present with us in them; both the joys and the sorrows of each. There is nothing outside of his purview. The vibrant colors remind us that Christ came to “bring us Life, and life Abundantly.” No matter where we are in the cycle of Joy and Sorrow, God gives us beauty, abundance, and makes us vibrant witnesses to his Goodness.