Mar 08 2008
Imagination… not just for kids.
Lately, I have done a lot of thinking about how important the imagination really is, and what role in plays in our life. More accurately, the role it SHOULD play in our lives. We tend to think of the imagination as something restricted to, or only relevant during, childhood. However, it occurs to me more and more that the imagination is vital to our ability to reason, relate, and explore the mystical and even physical world. Especially in the context of Christian mysticism, the imagination our key to connecting with Jesus Christ and God our Father.
The word “imagination” can conjure up images of kids entranced by a purple dinosaur on television or children dressed up in super hero costumes tripping over their capes. Indeed, it seems we abandon the practice of using our imaginations as we enter adulthood. What a great loss to abandon such a great gift as we let ourselves become entrenched in our material reality.One of my recent articles, The Emotional God, I wrote after mulling the story of The Prodigal Son over in my head. I imagined what the father must have felt like to react the way he did, and then I imagined what it must have felt like to be the returning son… after all that, I realized how thankful I am God gave us our imaginations.
While many people have abandoned their imaginations, and let them shrivel up like the Grinch’s heart, for those who keep their imagination active life has endless possibilities. Using our imagination is like peeking over the walls of our cubicles and staring out the window: we aren’t where we want to be, but we know there is more out there. Those who become stagnate in life, have often lost the ability to use their imaginations to keep them striving for greater things.
What few realize is the imagination is not given to us to be used for creating our own illusions, (i.e. a purple dinosaur), but rather for being able to understand reality beyond our own day-to-day experiences. What Christian has not spend at least some time playing the Passion of Christ (the event, not the movie) in their minds, attempting to understand what Christ went through?
The imagination lets us look forward to Heaven, and keep a healthy fear of Hell. The imagination lets us live out our own death, so that we might value the time we have. The imagination lets us empathize with others, and effectively pray for others.
Not that I think we would completely live in the imagination. The imagination shows us possibilities, and reason teaches us probability. Keeping that in mind, the imagination is a powerful tool to all who seek to have a relationship with the Living God. It’s not just for children… but now that I think about it, it is another good reason to keep in mind Jesus’s statement “unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven.” (Matt. 18:3)
