Friday, October 1, 2010

Paint, Raincoats, Stain and Beauty

Who would have thought that those 4 words had anything in common?

Last weekend, at a home improvement store, I walked down multiple aisles trying to make sense of the rows of paint and stain in order to choose the right can of chemicals for my outdoor fencing.

I enlisted the help of an employee who shared a wonderful analogy with me when describing the difference between paint and stain.

He said, “Think of the paint as a raincoat. It covers the wood up and protects it. The stain however lets the beauty of the wood shine through. It is protected by the stain but it does not cover it so much that the beauty does not shine through.”

I replied, “Then that is all the more reason people should not wear raincoats. Their beauty would be covered up.”

The employee laughed and we both smiled as he handed me the stain for my back fence.

It rained all week here and I only wore my raincoat once.