Imagination

What would we do without our imagination? As I was praying the other day, I was reflecting on God, and how I picture him, and it dawned on me that it would be impossible for me to even comprehend God without my imagination. I would be dependent upon only that which I could take in with my senses, I would only have ‘reason’ one might say.

I can hear the voice of the atheist already, see God is only a figment of our imaginations. To some degree God is a member of our imagination. It is in my imagination that I can picture, him, that I can even begin to comprehend him, but let us not mistake that for being only a product of our imagination. Rather it is our imagination that informs us.

What would we do without imagination? We would be trapped within our senses. Our reality could only be defined by that which we see and hear. There would be no hope without imagination. No one would even be able to dream of a better tomorrow. No one could hope for a better world, a better life. What would we do without imagination?

This is why I think it is vital we encourage imagination in ourselves, and even more in our children. Encourage them in their creative work, and in their “overworked” imagination. The imagination is such an important part of the image of God we have been endowed with. Look around creation and see the imprint of God’s creative work. We too have been charged with the enterprise of creativity, and developing God’s creation into what we call culture. And now the church too has been asked to declare to a dying world, a better world. Imagine the hope we have in the Kingdom of God. Imagine a world where justice is truly the rule of law, where peace rules within us and between us, where mercy abounds, and where love has now end. Imagine a world where people dwell in the face of God.

What would we do without imagination?