Let me introduce you to Sanguine. He was a young man who loved color. It was his work, his hobby and it filled his life! Each day as he went out into the world he saw the most vibrant and beautiful colors. They delighted his soul and made him want to sing. He found colors in the sky, in the flowers, in all the different grasses and foliages. He saw colors in the mountains and hills, in the clouds and the rains. He saw colors in the wood of his home, on the trim, and reflected back at him in the glass of the window panes. He loved how the different colors complemented and contrasted with one another. The vibrancy and variety of all those wonderful colors filled him with happiness and joy.
One day as Sanguine was traveling he met Blinkers. Now Sanguine had heard the Graybeards warn against making purchases from the salesman, Blinkers. They warned that one could not truly appreciate color when using coloured lenses, but Sanguine could not understand how adding color could cause one to lose color and so the admonishment of the Graybeards meant little to him. In fact their warning was all but forgotten in the excitement of meeting Blinkers! Blinkers discerned the love of color that Sanguine possessed and encouraged him to try out some lenses in his favorite color so that he might enjoy all the delights of that spectrum and view it whenever he desired. Loving red, Sanguine happily chose a rose colored pair. They delighted him. He promptly made his purchase and began wearing them everywhere. The many hues of reds, corals and pinks he was now able to detect in absolutely everything were delightful! In fact he loved those tones so much, that he seldom took off the glasses! He even began to think in terms of those rich ruddy colors. He began to forget the look and feel of blues and greens, but it didn't bother him because he had such a spectrum of crimson colors to enjoy! All he saw and experienced began to be defined through his russet vision. As time went by, Sanguine became so accustomed to wearing his rose coloured glasses that he never felt a need to take them off and life proceeded in a cloud of crimson views.
Over the hill and down the road lived another young man by the name of Beryl. Beryl was also blessed with an affinity for color. His favorite color was blue! Beryl met Blinkers on his way to the market one day. Blinkers, who was very astute, and good at making sales, perceived Beryl's love for blue and also convinced him that the Graybeards were overprotective, and simply feared something they knew nothing about. This made sense to Beryl, and he optimistically purchased an azure coloured set of lenses. Beryl loved the rich blues, greens and aqua colors of his world through the glasses. He wore his spectacles everywhere, finding joys and delights in the rich blues and sapphires of his world. Over time he forgot the warmth of the red part of the spectrum, but he was not aware of this condition as he went on defining his world in terms of his cherished indigos. In the days that passed Beryl's world of blue satisfied him and he forgot that there had ever been anything more. 
Across the lake and to the west was another small, remote village. In this village lived a young man by the name of Clarion. Clarion had a grandfather who was a Graybeard. His grandfather, was very wise and wanted Clarion to not only know of the deception of coloured lenses, but to understand it. This wise man upon hearing of the imminent approach of Blinkers the salesman, decided to purchase some transparent coloured boxes. He then called Clarion to him and once again gave him the warning of the coloured lenses.
"Clarion, the salesman, Blinkers, who peddles coloured lenses soon approaches our village. It is time for you to understand why it is that looking through colored lenses prevents you from enjoying the full richness of the blessings of color, for when one looks through a colored lense, the weakness in them for that color often overrides their knowledge of the color spectrum, and they cannot let go of their pet color long enough to see or appreciate other colors."
With those words, the old Graybeard handed Clarion a blue colored box and asked him to look through it. Clarion immediately loved the rich blues he saw in everything about him. He looked and looked, but the box became heavy and he had to put it down. Next the Graybeard gave him a green box. Clarion was dazzled with the greens sparkling back at him. It was so beautiful, but it too became heavy and he had to put it down. Grandfather continued to hand him color after color, orange then red, purple, gray, and yellow. Then the Graybeard handed him a clear box. Clarion was delighted, for he could see all the colors clearly, and he looked and looked, and looked. Much later he realized that he had dropped the box long ago. The colors he saw were genuine and warm. They hadn't changed, but he had come to appreciate them more deeply. This is the lesson that carried him into his maturity.
Opportunity eventually brought Sanguine, Clarion and Beryl together with others in the work of producing artful masterpieces. Sanguine produced works of art that were filled with reds, golds, corals and crimson. Beryl composed art filled with blues, sapphire, azure and indigo. Others they worked with had an eye trained from green lenses who formed designs filled with rich emeralds, teal and chartreuse. Others favored orange or yellow, but no matter the color, it was always perceived through the color programming of ther chosen lenses for Beryl saw blues and greens in everything, Sanguine perceived reds and pinks and their other associates dominantly perceived the color through which their lenses were tinted. Clarion alone crafted designs that purely captured warm reds, contrasted with cool blues, rich greens, royal purples and energizing yellows but in all his art, his whites were the purest and most defining feature of all.
Clarion's work was in demand, even those who wore colored lenses somehow sensed the purity in his colors. Everybody wanted it and Sanguine and Beryl were beside themselves in seeking to understand Clarion's success. One day they asked him about it. Clarion had been waiting for the opportunity to help them, and slowly approached Sanguine. He reached up and carefully removed the forgotten colored lenses from off the bridge of Sanguines nose.
Sanguine blinked and reached out to retrieve the glasses, but Clarion said, "You may have these back, and you may wear them if you wish, but first look out the window, over the flowers, toward the hills and mountains, and into the sky."
Sanguine slowly lifted his eyes to the window and beyond and audibly gasped in surprise! "There is great beauty here that I had forgotten!" he gasped, falling to his knees and weeping.
Beryl was puzzled at the display, for he had forgotten that he too was wearing a pair of colored lenses. Clarion stepped toward him and gently removed the lenses and in that moment Beryl was flooded with the full beauty and love for color he had once had but forgotten as he looked toward the distant hills and saw a bright rainbow in all it's splendour. "Thank you, Clarion, for helping me to see that which I lost sight of. For life IS glorious and beautiful!"
With the lenses that tinted their vision removed Sanguine and Beryl were now able to once again fully appreciate the beauty that surrounded them and it was reflected in their work. No finer artists were ever known in those parts than the three men who had grown beyond the need for colored lenses.
DISCUSSION
Do you wear colored lenses? Have you ever been tempted to view your surroundings or others through the eyes of criticism, imperfection, or unforgiveness? How do you take these tinted perceptions from your vision? Who will lift the lenses from off your eyes for you? Are you aware of the lenses you wear or only the lenses worn by others? How can you remove the colored lenses of negativity and replace them with the clear lenses of perfect love?
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