Chapter 9 The Color Purpl

I watched the movie “The Color Purple” yesterday. It had been many years since I had watched it last. Watching now with a different world view, I was able to see some of the wonderful things that had previously been hidden. I was also able to see how easy it is to be led astray-especially if your foundation is not strong. The Color Purple shows a woman abused over and over again. Finally, she reaches the breaking point and makes a stand. After that moment, her world turns around. She decides that the only person who ever loved her had been taken away and kept from her. I wonder, if she had known Jesus, would she have felt that way. If she had really had a relationship with Christ would the bad things have been able to hold her down for so many years.
The preacher says that it doesn’t matter what we do. “Whether it is love or hate, man does not know” (v.1). We are trapped in a world where our actions mean nothing. The same things-good and bad-happen to those who sacrifice and those who do not sacrifice. I can see Alice Walker, the author of The Color Purple, saying this. It doesn’t matter. It is our job to survive and enjoy what we can enjoy where we can enjoy it. How sad is that?
The preacher is presenting a world view without Christ. He exemplifies the “No Jesus, No Peace” bumper sticker. The best he has to offer anyone is to “Enjoy life with the wife whom you love” (v 9) excellent advice but empty in the long run.
Henry David Thoreau wrote that “most men are living lives of quiet desperation”. This quote has echoed through my head countless times as I looked at the piles of meaningless days. We get up and do our appointed work. In that appointed work, we find a measure of happiness. We go home to our family. If it is a happy family, there is a pleasantness most nights but the inevitable fights and hormones happen. Then we go to bed, perhaps to dream something delightful, but really what is there in dreams except even more thin vapors than we find in the waking world. It is awful this quiet desperation. The days stretching out into months and still nothing to fill the void.
The preacher tried filling the void with so many things. He had good food, many women, entertainment, education, work, yet nothing could fill the void. Thank God, we have the missing piece-the missing peace. We can reach out to Jesus to give us the water of life which will never leave us wanting something else to drink. He is the bread of life which fills not only our hunger but all of our senses. His love infuses us and causes us to reach out, beyond ourselves. We reach out and grab on to others. We build relationships that transcend all barriers. We build friendships which give us the strength and boldness to tear down walls. The darkness of this world where the best we can hope for is to be alive fades in the pure light of heaven and we see that the best we can hope for is to know Jesus.