Colors of the Wind is a song written by Stephen Schwartz and Alan Menken, featured in the movie Pocahontas, that brings to life the unique moods, textures, and seasons of our world. Scripture proclaims

“The wind blows all around us as if it has a will of its own; we feel and hear it, but we do not understand where it has come from or where it will end up. Life in the Spirit is as if it were the wind of God.” John 3:8 The Voice (VOICE).

A key to knowing not only your location but also your destination is in your ability to determine the season in which you exist. The brushstrokes of colors of the wind are not random or happenstance; they are shaped by historical patterns and divine interventions of our Creator. Nature and the natural remind us that the sequestered beauty of wind-driven leaves in Autumn’s visitation can only be experienced through loss, as the greening pigment of chlorophyll departs for another year. Therefore, the full palette of beauty is shed abroad.

America can’t deport its way out of its destiny. An iridescent land of changing colors, pigmentation, hues, and ethnicities is returning to its antiquity.

Kevin Robinson

Scripture reminds us

“And that’s not all. We also celebrate in seasons of suffering because we know that when we suffer we develop endurance, which shapes our characters. When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love.”

Romans 5:3-5 The Voice (VOICE).

The element of shedding sometimes brings us to the reality of scaling back and redefining our visions and missions to more efficiently align with their objectives, much in the same way frugality must take hold of our spending habits during times of high inflation. In Romans 5:3-5, it is quite the opposite. In this instance, adversity leads to more abundance of love and empowerment. The color of the wind may reveal the approach of another season. Diaspora can lead to serendipitous positive results, as in the case of the transatlantic slave trade. The colors of the wind for the ancestors were well-disguised and dull-colored, opaque. However, they shone brightly through innovative talent and motivation by the spectrum of the African diaspora that, no doubt, without it, America would have never reached the radiantly Iridescent heights it has achieved.

The Hush Harbors, tucked back in the woods or the swamp, would appear upon initial observation to be a place of retreat and consolidation, deep within its crude but secure confines. However, to the slave, there existed a place of refuge, rest, spiritual enlightenment, nuanced by African influences that empowered their newly adopted Christian faith, as well as a place of encouragement for developing strategies that would cultivate cohesive unity and future liberation.

This is a unique time indeed for the kind of nation that has never been and probably will never be again. The Demographic changes in America are inescapable. America can’t deport its way out of its destiny. An iridescent land of shifting colors, pigmentation, hues, and ethnicities is reverting to its ancient roots. Many have asked and prayed for America to return to its former glory. To that end, there is but one two-word answer, “Turtle Island.” 

“Turtle Island” refers to the continent of North America as named by various Indigenous peoples, reflecting creation stories in which a landmass is formed on the back of a giant turtle. The term emphasizes a spiritual relationship with the land, emphasizing respect for nature and interconnectedness. Source: Google AI Overview.

Acknowledging the economy of the spirit, we must not ignore Ecclesiastes 1:9, which says, “those things that were shall be again.” With all of the brilliant colors that are not only in the wind but in reality, our plans and prayers must be centered around a coming together vs. all of the mood swinging and mudslinging power grabs and overreaches on all sides of the divide that, through its replication, keep us all aimlessly guessing wrong on the wind every time. Quoting the timeless words of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., “we must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”

As in many times of the past, the seasons were not recognized as the powerful can play games of manipulating objects under the shell. A higher-stakes dynamic is at work, extending far beyond what we can see or comprehend.  If you listen close enough, you can almost hear the rustling and feel its breath upon your cheek. The colors of the wind are changing. It is time to stop the rhetoric and recognize what season we’re in.  

Take some time this season and look up and think with every gust of the October wind and drop of degrees of the thermometer, along with the social, economic, and cultural tug of war surrounding us, and remember these words from The Sounds of Blackness in their song Optimistic:

“When in the midst of sorrow, you can’t see up when looking down
A brighter day tomorrow will bring

You hear the voice of reason
Telling you this can never be done
No matter how hard reality seems
Just hold on to your dreams, yeah

Don’t give up and don’t give in, although it seems you never win,
You will always pass the test as long as you keep your head to the sky,
You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky,
You can win as long as you keep your head to the sky,
Be optimistic