Using All the Colors

Not all spiritual journeys are spiritual. Sometimes they take the pregnant wife of a missionary across the frozen tundra of Alaska in a dogsled, turn a teenager into a seagoing cowboy, land a retired minister on the stage at Carnegie Hall, encounter an angry Taliban commander in Kabul, or reveal the wealth of diversity on Los Angeles trains. Using All the Colors is a vibrant collection of stories and recollections from more than two dozen authors who have shared their experiences in a weekly writing group at Monte Vista Grove Homes in Pasadena, California, a community of retired church workers. Through their words, readers travel through nine decades and journey to places exotic and a World War II internment for foreign nationals in the Philippines; San Francisco’s Chinatown of 80 years ago; a stunningly beautiful day for man—and bear—in the mountains above Pasadena, California; Egypt, Rhodesia, Iowa, Pakistan, Michigan, England, New England, Brazil, China, and the always charming Tucumcari, New Mexico. The title, Using All the Colors, calls to mind a box of crayons. An artist may limit herself to a handful of crayons, or dump out the whole box in all its splendor and use all the colors. Told with rare humility and grace, the stories are historical, philosophical, humorous, personal, and at times theological, but never preachy. They resonate with the joys and fears we all have as human beings, offering a hand in friendship to the reader. The collection is edited by the writing group’s facilitator, Anna Walker.