This morning as we were driving to church, I was again struck by the beauty of God's Creation - it is spring here again, and the trees are just now starting to bud, the lawns are a luscious, healthy green (undamaged by insects and wind). All plants have started to grow and their leaves and foliage are dressed in greens from the whole range of a green color scheme, from light green hues to dark green shades and everything in between. It is one of my favorite times of the year.
It made me think of a discussion we had earlier this week.

It was about the color of a certain dress - we could not decide whether it was maroon, fuchsia or another color. We asked our son for his opinion, he said it was red and he pulled up the following chart -
This little chart says it all. The woman on the left sees so many different and interesting colors in the color scheme... however, the man sees the the colors of the rainbow... blue, yellow, green. That's it.
When my younger children see the pictures of our ancestors, they are under the assumption that our forefathers  lived in a dreary, sad and colorless world. I also have never never seen an old family portrait where any of them are smiling, they all look so somber and detached from one another even the children. Their facial expressions are rigid, serious and seemingly void of happiness and joy - probably due to the fact that the  cameras back then actually took a minute or more before they actually took the picture. Holding a smile for such a long time would have been extremely painful. It was just a better option to stay in one position or pose - or the picture would be blurred.
Our youngest son actually thought for a while that people lived in a black and white world - that there were no colors, because all pictures from that time era are in black and white or sepia colors.

Leaving it Behind

Arrival Of Immigrants - Ellis Island 1906
Depicts scenes at the Immigration Depot and a nearby dock on Ellis Island.


This is the scene of thousands of Europeans immigrating into America at Ellis Island in 1906. All these people left behind their home, their country and often family.
In those days that was quite a big step, a time when there were no phones, no e-mail, no air travel. Once you left, you left for good, leaving everything - with the hope for a better future.
What really struck me, when I was watching this short video clip, is the size suitcase or bag everyone was carrying.
One small suitcase, or a little bundle with all of their belongings.
I was thinking about myself, if I had to travel like that, leave everything behind, what would I take.
If I look at all our stuff, our overabundance of material wealth and things we claim ownership to, how hard would it be to leave all that behind.
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Matthew 6:21

So the question is, if you had just that one little suitcase, what would you take ?