She Was a Seller of Purple

Sometimes I hear a word or a phrase and it jumps onto the canvas of my mind and paints a picture. This phrase, this "seller of purple" captivated me.  What kind of woman gets that kind of description? Purple was the color of my notebook paper when I was 12,  I was enthralled that my best friend got to live in a house whose shutters were actually purple!  Had I been Dorothy, I'd have rather had purple slippers to wish me back home. It was the color of choice for times when I wanted to feel especially lovely. But, to garner a place in history as a seller off purple;  what did that mean?

Her name was Lydia and she was from a village in, what is now, Turkey,  known for it's dye works.  They produced the color purple in her region, which was extremely difficult to create and hard to come by.  Because of this, the dye was expensive and largely available only to the wealthy or persons of status.  Lydia decided to set up her own shop in a bustling river town, far from where she lived..  She was on her own, with her own business and known to the most important people in the area.  It was the year 50 A.D.  Lydia was an uncommon woman for her time.

Being a wealthy, well respected business woman would have left her with little need for anyone or anything.  She was woman, hear her roar.  With all that her position afforded her, though, Lydia was known for being a worshiper of God.  She would frequently gather with the other women in town to pray. One day two traveling evangelists came to her town and walked down to the prayer gathering to talk to the women.  Lydia was there.  She listened intently to what was being said and, that day, she and her entire household became the first christian converts on the continent of Europe.  Afterwards, she opened her home to become a center of hospitality for others seeking to believe.

This seller of purple lived a gutsy life. She left the familiar to seek out her future.  She believed at a time when, to do so, often incurred the wrath of the the people, some of them the very ones she did business with.  She extended the hand of friendship to other women and came alongside them without regard to her own status or theirs.  She took the first step, which required making the choice alone, and her courage bred courage in others.  She held her hand open to life and the Life Giver.

I want to be like this woman, this Lydia,  when I grow up.  I want to give away my cheap fear in exchange for expensive faith; faith that costs me more than I have.  I want to be found among the praying women and listening intently with my soul when truth is spoken.  I want to have the courage to step into the water before it parts, and look back to grab the hands of others.  When my race has been run and those lives I've touched have gathered to say goodbye, I want them to say, "Ah yes, she lived a life selling purple!"