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My husband and I recently painted
our house gray. Our doors are currently white, but that’s boring, so I’ve been
considering what color to paint them. While on vacation, Bill and I saw
numerous churches in mid-Missouri with red doors. Now we’ve seen this before,
but the abundance of these doors all in one area made me curious. The
explanations for this delightful practice are numerous and varied.
1) Some say it
signifies that the mortgage on the church was paid off.
2) In Medieval times, a
red door on any building (not just a church) indicated a place of sanctuary. A
person pursued by an enemy, lender, or even the shire reeve (sheriff) couldn’t be
followed behind the red doors. The tradition continued as church leaders saw
the spiritual significance.
3) The origin could be from the first Passover when the
Hebrews applied lamb’s blood to the doorposts, so they would be safe from the
angel of death. According to one researcher, red paint was once made of blood
and buttermilk.
4) Along those same lines, red symbolizes the blood of Christ and his salvation.
Church doors began to be painted red as a way of remembering the ultimate
sacrifice the martyrs made for their faith.
5) Similar to the idea of
sanctuary, it might have become an American tradition to paint doors red as a
sign of welcome to strangers.
6) Church leaders painted the doors red so newcomers
to the town could easily identify the Episcopal churches.
7) I even read an
anecdotal story about Albert Einstein, who is said to have painted the door of
his home red so he could tell which house was his.
Regardless of the origin, the ideas
of sanctuary, safety, welcome, and finding one’s way home are pretty
meaningful.
I think I’ll paint my front door red
and pray my home will live up to the tradition.
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What color is your front door? Does
the color have any significance beyond esthetics?
Love this, and I think you should definitely paint your doors red!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Melanie. Now all I have to do is convince my husband. :D
DeleteI always knew there was a story behind red doors, but I didn't know what it was! My friend said she bought her house in part because of the red door.
ReplyDeleteI've always loved red doors on houses. My husband is from the "white-goes-with-everything" school of thought though, so until very recently all the walls in our house have been white and our front doors have always been white. Now that I've gotten him broken in with the walls, I'm going to try for the doors. :)
Deletewow i do love the style of the glass door..i am looking forward that i could see a shower glass door which is similar on this..i do love to put it on my bathroom.
ReplyDelete. shower doors portland