Imagination is kid's play - NOT

Imagination is kid's play. Not.

Imagination is how we move from the places in which we walk each day and leap into the next steps of life for which we did not expect. Imagination changes our expectations When our expectations change we can become something new - even when the expectations are small.

Imagination can change the story. Rather, imagination can change the way we see or hear the story and therefore it is how we change how the story continues. Imagine being more loving with people we find so easy to hate. Wow, that is a different story line. And yet, it becomes a possibility once we are open to new expectations that are quite out of the box in which we so often choose to stay.

After six months of staying out of the church scene - retirement taken seriously. I am starting to step back into church. Last weekend I was the guest preacher and presider at a local congregation. During the month of July I will be teaching adult education at another congregation on Sundays and Wednesdays. I want to encourage folks to let their imaginations go out beyond the way they have always walked and learned.

Imagination allows the biblical stories to come to life. When I speak of imagination here, I do not mean that we attempt to 'see' or 're-enact' the story as we hear it read. Rather, imagine the whole world around the events - imagine all the parts of the story that may not be visible - imagine the characters who are seen and and those not heard. It may be that we will become aware of new dynamics - new perspectives, and gain a new appreciation for the story being told and the power it can have for new life.

This Sunday, in order to set the stage for the class, I will be singing a song I wrote years ago. It was for the story of the feeding of 5000 in John's gospel. There was a boy who had fish and bread. The scene was set as though it was a ridiculous notion for Jesus to have everyone sit for dinner - 5000! I must admit, I don't always know how to see miracles in the bible. In this story I thought about the boy. I wondered what brought him out there. I wondered about his life before that moment. Who taught him to share - as I don't think the disciples just ripped the bread and fish from him.

I think when we allow ourselves to wonder we begin to imagine a wonder-full life. The song is about the boy's mother. I'm a mama's boy and therefore my imagination took me there. I imagined her teaching her son - day after day - about caring for others. I imagined her reaching into her faithful vision of the Reign of God and offering that vision to her son - in passing - from day to day. The refrain was quite simple: My mama bakes bread each day - she kneads her love in barley loaves. And sends me out the door, with her kiss I hear her pray... The verses are what I imagine she says to her beloved son. Some of what she says reflects the image of shalom - wholeness - the well-being of all. I imagine her telling her son how life is a gift and it is something we share with others. I imagine her painting pictures of self-giving and daily bread for all. It is the life-giving story they would have heard in synagogue as they learned of the Reign of God.

The story has become so important for me. The miracle of sharing is out of the box - revolutionary. One writer noted that folks would never go out into the setting of this story without taking some food.  Everyone had food. Not everyone could imagine sharing it with others. We all know how that goes - we take care of ourselves and our own kind. But Jesus is about the miracle of God's Reign - the miracle of sharing and caring and taking the risk to reach out to strangers.

Imagine Jesus having the attention of all those folks and he offers blessing to the food that has just been handed to him - the bread and fish from that boy. And then - he just starts giving it away to all in reach. Imagine everyone who witnesses the give-away opening up their hearts and letting the bread and other bits of food for the journey flow into the hands of others. Imagine - over and over again - a grand banquet of food being passed around in that wilderness setting. A banquet where banquet are unimaginable. Wow.

Imagine miracles reshaping how we walk through the day. Imagine faithful people passing on faithful stories that open up faithful hearts for a new life we too often cannot imagine possible. Imagine people letting go rather than grasping and taking. Imagine folks making sure that those around them - who may have much or may have little - having enough. Imagine how a desert place becomes a place of abundance - more than enough. That is the reality of our world today - when we imagine it being just like that.
TRRR