Imagination!
Imagination is so important!
When I young, my elders would say, “sometimes you see better with your eyes closed.”
If I was tired, sad, or frustrated, they would remind me to close my eyes so I could SEE visions and dreams. They knew I would feel better, happier, safer, and more powerful if I could SEE beyond my reality.
Imagination!
So, what’s imagination. According to the dictionary, “the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images, or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.”
Family, right now, our world needs to use its imagination. We need to see something different because what we are seeing is hurting our souls.
Mass killings, violence, vitriol.
Domination, aggression, anger.
Death, rising COVID numbers, and reluctance to follow safety measures.
Toxic masculinity, white supremacy, plots of revenge.
Unemployment, underemployment, divisive work cultures.
Voter disenfranchisement, degrading social media posts, selfishness.
Whitewashed narratives, spiritual bypassing, racial gaslighting.
Fear-mongering, police brutality, civil unrest.
Loneliness, despair, physical abuse.
Our world is living in fear, and our collective anxiety is swallowing us up into an abyss of madness, misery, and mayhem.
We are being strangled by our collective grief, and we are becoming numb to pain. We are living fragmented lives, and many of us struggling. The increase in mental illness and abuse proves we are living in perilous times – times which we are not psychologically equipped to endure.
Though emotionally exhausted and spiritually depleted, we are doing our best to survive in a harmful environment that toxic individualism, systemic oppression, and unbridled greed created.
Yes, our harmful culture was man-made and perpetuated by laws, policies, and practices designed by the powerful, reinforced by the greedy, and co-signed by the silent and apathetic.
My friend, we need to imagine something different if we are to heal our past, thrive in the future, and live together in peace.
My elders were wise; imagination is the beginning of new possibilities and healing. And I believe that there are 4 types of imagination that can help us SEE bigger and better. All 4 types challenge us to reflect on critical questions that affect humanity.
Prophetic Imagination – What you can predict, hope or SEE for yourself and others to help the community weather the storm and build a better future?
Spiritual Imagination – What can you imagine your Creator doing for you and to you? And most of all, what can you imagine your Creator doing THROUGH you and AS you so you can contribute to the world?
Liberatory Imagination – What can you imagine doing and being if you were fully liberated from oppressive systems, white supremacy, social conditioning, need to please, old trauma, toxic traditions, the fear of rejection, the status quo, or any other factor that limits how you and others live?
Collaborative Imagination – What could you do if you could work, live and share with people who lived, loved, prayed, spoke, believed, voted, and talked differently than you do? How could you join hearts and hands to uplift those in need, speak for those who didn’t have a voice, or share with the poor? How could you work with others to dismantle systems that devalue others?
What I know for you sure: When you can imagine something better than your current reality, you can hope, dream, and work for a better life. You can reclaim your hope, reignite your courage, and mobilize for change.
Click here to listen to the IG Live. Click here to listen on YouTube.
As we continue to face many complex problems and challenging times, please close your eyes and imagine something safer, better, bolder, and fairer.
And then determine how you can support yourself and others to transform the ethos and the policies of the world.
I am praying and thinking of you.
Please share this message with those who need hope.
