© WanHee Yoon (Faith Column #20, LA Christian Today, 1998)

One day, while walking along the shore, I realized that the sea no longer remained simply blue or green. It breathed endlessly, alive with shifting light and color. The blue and green we often speak of are merely fragments of its full spectrum. Yet people still say, “The sea is jade-blue,” or “It’s a green sea.” Even in my own consciousness, it was difficult to accept that the sea could not be confined to a single color.

One morning, I looked out at the dazzling sea cradling the rising red sun and exclaimed, “Oh! How beautiful!” On another morning, I watched the storm-darkened sea surge angrily, as if ready to swallow the sand—and still, I told myself the sea was blue.

For a time, I tried to grow closer to the sea, walking barefoot for miles along the sand each morning. Watching the waves playfully rush in and out, I whispered, “Thank you—for surging for hundreds, even thousands of years, and still keeping yourself so clear and pure.” In that moment, the sea breathed deep within me.

And for the first time, I saw its achromatic hues. The sea had no fixed color of its own. It was vast and deep enough to hold every color in the world. It was too expansive to claim just one light or shade.

We humans also struggle to recognize the light and color God has given us. I remember when my two daughters, still in high school, returned from the salon one day. They hesitated at the door, sensing our reaction. Their hair, once a rich brown, had been dyed bright yellow, carrying a synthetic scent.

They had invested time and care into this transformation. Watching them, I whispered inwardly, “This is part of the journey to find your own light—your own color. You’re searching, struggling to discover what’s already within you. And soon, you’ll return to it. We all wander like this, but one day, you’ll love your light and truly meet it.”

The girls kept checking the mirror, resisting the change they saw. My eldest even seemed depressed for a while, until she went out and bought dye to restore her original color. Once she did, she looked relieved—like she had found herself again.

So what is the light and color we carry?

The purer and clearer we become, the more our light reflects a multitude of hues, reaching into the depths of others. This light, passed down from the source of life, carries truth, recognition, and the wisdom to make the ordinary shine. It cannot emerge from fear, denial, hatred, or resentment.

Nor can it be revealed through pride or arrogance. It is only visible through the eyes of the heart—yours and mine. And because of that, it is often overlooked or dismissed.

One day, as I realized the sea was no longer just blue, the words “You are the light of the world” began to unfold within my soul. Though it may seem like we possess nothing, the abundance and celebration of light—its harmony, restraint, and transparent beauty—lifted me like a silver fish leaping into hope.