We have just crossed the threshold into Cheshvan, the eighth month of the ancient biblical calendar.

Behind us lie the booming trumpets, the grand feasts, and the vibrant celebrations of Tishrei. But as the dust settles, something unusual happens: the calendar goes quiet. This month, there are no appointed biblical feasts. No grand celebrations to prepare for. No mountaintop moments. There are only ordinary days, the open road, and the pilgrims walking it.

This is where the calm beauty of consistency takes center stage.

The word itself traces back to the Latin rooted in consistere, “to stand firm.” It is an unyielding, immovable posture. But the Hebrew language adds another beautiful layer to this picture. In Hebrew, the concept of consistency is  connected to akev—the heel. It paints a picture of a traveler following intimately in someone else's footsteps, placing one heel directly after another.

It is the art of standing firm while also continuing forward.

Now consider our heavenly Father. He is fiercely loving, brilliantly creative, and undoubtedly possesses the grandest sense of humor in the entire cosmos!

But what would any of those magnificent qualities mean if He were not also consistent?

If His promises shifted with His mood, we'd have no hope. Yet Scripture declares:

 “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today, and forever”

Hebrews 13:8 .

Whether your current path is bursting with vibrant, celebratory color, or stretching out before you in miles of  sandy beige, the Shepherd remains exactly the same. He simply asks us to keep showing up, placing one heel after another, on the ordinary road ahead.

Speaking of beige, did you know this seemingly ordinary color has a rather interesting history? The word comes from the French, where beige originally described wool in its natural, undyed state. Simply as God created it, without any human addition of color or embellishment.

From humble wool to the grandest interiors, beige has stood the test of time. But perhaps its greatest quality is its generosity. Pair it with crimson, and the red becomes richer. Place it beside royal blue, and the blue takes on a certain majesty. Add blush, sage, gold, or even another shade of beige, and each brings something entirely different to the room. Beige has a remarkable way of allowing other colors to shine without demanding the spotlight for itself. It remains beautifully, majestically beige, no matter what surrounds it.

Our journey this week takes us back to nineteenth-century France, where we'll eventually find ourselves in Paris with a brilliant chemist named Michel-Eugène Chevreul, whose discoveries would change the world of color forever. And it all began with some supposedly defective wool.

Born in Angers, France, in 1786, Chevreul traveled to Paris at just seventeen to study chemistry. His brilliant mind would eventually improve everything from soapmaking and candles to the dyes used in the world's finest textiles. In 1824, he became director of dyeing at the famous Gobelins tapestry works in Paris, where the weavers had a problem. Their beautiful black wool appeared muddy and reddish when placed beside certain blues and violets. Naturally, they blamed the dye.

But Chevreul wasn't convinced.

He examined the wool, compared it with the finest black threads available, and discovered something astonishing. There was absolutely nothing wrong with it! The surrounding colors were changing how the human eye perceived it. His investigation led to the publication of his Law of Simultaneous Contrast in 1839, a discovery that would influence generations of artists, fashion designers, and decorators, including the color techniques seen in the masterpieces of Van Gogh, Monet, and Renoir.

Look closely at their paintings and you'll notice how contrasting colors placed side by side make each appear more vibrant and alive.

The wool wasn't defective. They were simply comparing it against the wrong thing.

And how many perfectly good things have we called defective simply because of what we placed beside them? A lovely life can suddenly appear dull alongside someone else's brilliant success. Our ordinary Tuesday seems insignificant compared with their extraordinary Saturday. Even our gifts and accomplishments can lose their luster when measured against the wrong things. Chevreul proved that what we see isn't always an accurate measure of what is actually there. Sometimes the color doesn't need changing. Sometimes it's the comparison.

And sometimes, like beige, our greatest contribution is allowing the people around us to shine. Proverbs 13:20 reminds us, “He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed.” Choose your company carefully, pilgrim. The colors surrounding you matter, and so do the footsteps you follow.

But Chevreul's most remarkable quality may have been his consistency. For nearly 86 years, he returned to the same museum, faithfully pursuing his work, year after year. He developed his Chromatic Circle, a remarkable system of 72 hues that helped shape modern color theory.

During the Siege of Paris in 1870, he continued working even as cannon shells struck the museum. His beloved wife had died eight years earlier, yet neither grief nor war kept him from his work. And when others tried to separate his science from his faith, the hundred-year-old chemist publicly affirmed his belief in the Creator.

The world around him changed, but his convictions did not.

Chevreul became a beloved figure in Paris, a familiar sight with his walking stick. He even made regular visits to watch a magnificent iron tower rising above the city. He died at 102, just days after its completion.

High above the streets he had walked for decades, his own name was inscribed among France's greatest scientific minds on a monument overlooking Paris that you may have heard of,

The Eiffel Tower.

 Proverbs 29:23 tells us,

“A man's pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.”

All those ordinary days, all those faithful footsteps, led to his name being lifted high above the city he loved.

So this week, don't let comparison change your perspective on this stretch of the road. Chevreul taught us that even the finest colors can appear dull when placed beside the wrong ones. 

Remember Beige & Beulah.

Beige is the color of the path beneath your feet, reminding you to keep walking. Beulah is the land of God's promises, a place of encouragement for the pilgrim's soul, reminding you to keep believing, hoping, and trusting the King who is faithful to His Word.

And beyond even Beulah, the King is preparing the most beautiful room of all in His Father's house, just as He promised in John 14:2. Perhaps one day we'll even discover colors we've never seen before. For Scripture tells us, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him” (1 Corinthians 2:9 KJV).

Just keep walking.

Jusqu'à mardi prochain, que vos bénédictions soient doubles et vos fardeaux légers.

Thats's French for..

Until next Tuesday, may your blessings be double and your burdens be light!

Michelle Driscoll