Thinking about this, I see love itself as quite an imaginative force. After all, love is by nature biased toward the other. Love isnβt a realist; it doesn't assess a person through empirical evidence. Love instead always uses imagination to see beyond towards the person's best future, seeing in the other his potential for positive change, forgiving his imperfections, giving the "benefit of the doubt", crediting beyond what the other would deserve according to the typical order of things.
I just think of the way my little nephews look at me sometimes with a level of admiration I no way deserve. They look up to me and imagine me to be much greater than I am. It definitely pushes me to want to be who they think I am.
In its perfect form I think this type of imagination allows children to see beyond the fragmentary, partial world we encounter and to peer at the unity we will witness in the eschaton. The children are then the truly great philosophers!
Maybe what it means to see by faith is firstly to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" but secondly, having been purified by the Holy Spirit, to obtain this innocent imagination grounded in love, so that through it we can encounter in the midst of our current, partial moment full reality as it will come to be.
All I can say is, 'Wow.' This is a real eye-opener. It shows how adult imagination often becomes a mere fantasy of oneβs own self-will, whereas childlike innocence creates imaginary worlds where there is unconditional love for others to share and participate in.
Love this so much. My next article I am about to publish is on the magic powers of image, I briefly mention the powers of the imagination there. It feels like it is no coincidence that this entered my feed right as I was working on it. Very well written!
Thank you for writing this! GOD bless all such inquiries!
You really drew out well this mystery of this twofold special (i am inclined to say THE highest) gift from GOD... it is something I have been pondering and trying to discern very much during last two years. Especially within the relationship of stories like from Lewis, fairy tales and legends from Tolkien. It has to be a very fine tuned relationship as by now i am very much convinced that for real living relationship with our Maker at least I in this age need to reinhabit the world through the view that the ancients and fairytales saw the world. As without seeing the Cosmos as an incomprehensibly great wonder and mystery of Christianity - of the appearing of the Son of Man as the Cosmic King of kings coming into this very flesh that we wear... it just tends to wither towards moralism and legalism and then to corny teenage romancing as a counter. I am very convinced that to enter into the deep heart felt realization of my ungratefulness and betrayal of our Creator and the mystical repentance of tears an weeping that the Fathers speak of - in this cold loveless age - these imaginative stories are one of the deepest ways to come into that.
But it is very easy to get pulled too much into these other worlds and then returning back to reintegrate what you experienced there back into your daily life and prayer rule can be confusing. It is such a wonderful tension, as i can feel i need the wonder-filled spirit and frame of these stories to fight off the modern bleakness and tastless view of religious practice but also you cannot let them take the place of your primary world that you actually get to act in, lest they confuse you and pull you away from true GOD. It is the return journey that is always the problem isnt it?...
Thank GOD ive come to the same realization over and over that it always comes to the difference of you at the centre of the imagination vs. you as a little participant in the Great Story... simpler than it could be yet we so often get deluded so unbelievably. May GOD burn off all our selfish imaginings that we may be one of the blessed of the pure in heart who will see GOD!
Maybe you are aware of Annie Crawford who has partnered with the Symbolic world and done courses there on Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy and Till we have Faces.
Two years ago she published there also a speech to graduates in her school precisely in this spirit about the proper role of imagination as the essence of true Faith that the wonderworking saints cherished. Id say it is something like total openness under total contraint of obedience and submission to our circumstances which means taking everything that comes to us as from GOD whether good or not. Which is exactly how a proper child is.
It migt be worth reading, i think it resonates very well with your article.
Imagine beyond the cockroach hive.
Thinking about this, I see love itself as quite an imaginative force. After all, love is by nature biased toward the other. Love isnβt a realist; it doesn't assess a person through empirical evidence. Love instead always uses imagination to see beyond towards the person's best future, seeing in the other his potential for positive change, forgiving his imperfections, giving the "benefit of the doubt", crediting beyond what the other would deserve according to the typical order of things.
I just think of the way my little nephews look at me sometimes with a level of admiration I no way deserve. They look up to me and imagine me to be much greater than I am. It definitely pushes me to want to be who they think I am.
In its perfect form I think this type of imagination allows children to see beyond the fragmentary, partial world we encounter and to peer at the unity we will witness in the eschaton. The children are then the truly great philosophers!
Maybe what it means to see by faith is firstly to "trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding" but secondly, having been purified by the Holy Spirit, to obtain this innocent imagination grounded in love, so that through it we can encounter in the midst of our current, partial moment full reality as it will come to be.
All I can say is, 'Wow.' This is a real eye-opener. It shows how adult imagination often becomes a mere fantasy of oneβs own self-will, whereas childlike innocence creates imaginary worlds where there is unconditional love for others to share and participate in.
Beautiful and very practically helpful, thanks !
Love this so much. My next article I am about to publish is on the magic powers of image, I briefly mention the powers of the imagination there. It feels like it is no coincidence that this entered my feed right as I was working on it. Very well written!
And now, rewrite this piece using your imagination
Thank you for writing this! GOD bless all such inquiries!
You really drew out well this mystery of this twofold special (i am inclined to say THE highest) gift from GOD... it is something I have been pondering and trying to discern very much during last two years. Especially within the relationship of stories like from Lewis, fairy tales and legends from Tolkien. It has to be a very fine tuned relationship as by now i am very much convinced that for real living relationship with our Maker at least I in this age need to reinhabit the world through the view that the ancients and fairytales saw the world. As without seeing the Cosmos as an incomprehensibly great wonder and mystery of Christianity - of the appearing of the Son of Man as the Cosmic King of kings coming into this very flesh that we wear... it just tends to wither towards moralism and legalism and then to corny teenage romancing as a counter. I am very convinced that to enter into the deep heart felt realization of my ungratefulness and betrayal of our Creator and the mystical repentance of tears an weeping that the Fathers speak of - in this cold loveless age - these imaginative stories are one of the deepest ways to come into that.
But it is very easy to get pulled too much into these other worlds and then returning back to reintegrate what you experienced there back into your daily life and prayer rule can be confusing. It is such a wonderful tension, as i can feel i need the wonder-filled spirit and frame of these stories to fight off the modern bleakness and tastless view of religious practice but also you cannot let them take the place of your primary world that you actually get to act in, lest they confuse you and pull you away from true GOD. It is the return journey that is always the problem isnt it?...
Thank GOD ive come to the same realization over and over that it always comes to the difference of you at the centre of the imagination vs. you as a little participant in the Great Story... simpler than it could be yet we so often get deluded so unbelievably. May GOD burn off all our selfish imaginings that we may be one of the blessed of the pure in heart who will see GOD!
Maybe you are aware of Annie Crawford who has partnered with the Symbolic world and done courses there on Lewis' Cosmic Trilogy and Till we have Faces.
Two years ago she published there also a speech to graduates in her school precisely in this spirit about the proper role of imagination as the essence of true Faith that the wonderworking saints cherished. Id say it is something like total openness under total contraint of obedience and submission to our circumstances which means taking everything that comes to us as from GOD whether good or not. Which is exactly how a proper child is.
It migt be worth reading, i think it resonates very well with your article.
https://www.thesymbolicworld.com/content/meaning-and-imagination-a-2024-address-for-graduates
Thanks again for writing this! It is a joy to be remembering you in my prayers!
We, us, our Father..... πFAMILY!ππ―οΈπΏβͺβ¦οΈ
β€οΈβπ©ΉβπΌ God is wonderful in His βοΈπ¦π¦π«π΄ππͺSaints,
https://claude.ai/public/artifacts/2ed67a50-8514-4fb2-a9d4-f2b52cbf1707
Saint Gerasimus the Righteous of Jordan, pray for us!
Happy Feast x Blessed Lent Amigos, onward to Jerusalem.....