Welcome to Light in the Desert - Via de Cristo Nevada

“The Colors. My name is Barbara Grubaugh.” When I think about it that way, it doesn’t make much sense, does it? When my brother, Jeff, visited our team meeting last year, our ”De Colores” greeting really sounded strange to him. Just like it does when I say,“The Colors” to you. Yet, I’ve watched you. When you say, “De Colores,” and the whole group echoes it back, you smile and get all fluffed up. I’d like to propose to you that this greeting signifies so much more. 

Why is this saying so meaningful? I’ve been giving this same greeting for almost 15 years now, yet every time I hear it, it still makes me happy. Saying “De Colores” to each other certainly links us to our Cursillo roots. We might have learned it from a silly chicken skit, or Spanish song, but no matter how we learned it, when I greet you with our common salutation “De Colores,” that greeting is immediately recognized by you all. We are unified by our shared common experiences. Under normal circumstances, if I met you out in the “real world,” I would just say, “Hi” or “Hey,” or “Good morning,” to you and then we’d move on. But, not here. Not us. I say,”De Colores” and you echo it back to me. We now have a bond.

I have come to believe that when I say “De Colores” to you something happens or changes within me. I move from just a lighthearted greeting to a more profound connection with you. It signals that you and I are now in the same state of grace. What I am actually saying to you is this greeting: “The Lord be with you.” And when I say, “The Lord be with you” you will reply…., “And also with you “ or “And with thy spirit.” I greet you with the colors—let a spirit of beauty, majesty, and wonder of the Lord be with you and also with me. Nice, eh?

The greeting, “The Lord be with you” in Latin, Dominus vobiscum, and its response Et cum spiritu tuo. are ancient in their origins. (First noted in the Bible in the book of Ruth when Boaz greeted the harvesters.) It was a salutation used by the common citizens prior to, during, and after the life of Christ. This greeting is so full of meaning. What I would like to propose is that familiar greetings can still be used by us in the same way intended by the early Christian communities as an invitation to have God come in among us. 

As people of God, we are led and invisibly supported by the Holy Spirit of Christ, but we should also form true and visible families. The De Colores greeting connects all Christoistas together as a true family. This is necessary to bring to life what was lived in those first Christian communities, when all were one in mind and heart. When we gather around the Eucharistic altar, we form a small community dedicated to experiencing this same unity of family and to expressing this unity as love. So, next time you say “De Colores” to me or to someone in our community think of this: We are joining together in a family of grace, and we are inviting the Lord to be with us all. This is a special bond that we share. This is what our “De Colores” truly means. 

So, “De Colores, my name is Barbara Grubaugh”