Imaginings – Rev Janet Parsons and Karl Frank

Jan 31, 2021

We have such an unusual and interesting service for you this morning! Thank goodness we have five Sundays this month. There has been a theme all month, but we’ve barely been able to scratch the surface of it for everything else that has been happening – insurrection, inauguration – it’s been quite a time.  But our theme this month has been Imagination, and today we have the gift of an extra Sunday to explore it.

I found myself thinking a lot about Imagination this month, starting with: what is it?  And, where does it come from? 

So often, imagination is a trait associated with children; when a young child tells a story, or creates an imaginary playmate, we applaud their imagination.  But as we age, imagination becomes less praiseworthy.  We worry about people with their heads in the clouds.  We are looking for practical thinking, and our feet solidly on the ground. How often were we told to stop daydreaming as we grew up?

But we humans are meant to see beyond what is in front of us, to see with our hearts and our spirits.  We find shapes in clouds, we hear music and see words in our heads, and we create stories, pictures, and images.  We problem-solve; invent brand new solutions for old problems.  We are meant to do this.  It is one of the attributes that makes us human.

Before creativity comes imagination.  We imagine new things into being, beginning with the glimmer of an idea.  It is the root of newness, of change, of progress.  Imagination comes through us, not from us.

And what comes before imagination?  What gives rise to our imaginings? 

Well, of course, that is one of our great mysteries of being human.  But I will say this: there is a life force, a spirit of life, as we often call it; a generative, life-giving force in the universe. From this force springs life itself, and growth.  It helps us to heal, to love, to laugh, to imagine. I call this force Love.  There are many names for it.  This is not human love, of course, but rather an elemental energy that urges us forward toward lives of wholeness and creativity and love.

Today five of the artists from this congregation have offered to share their experiences of imagination with us, in words, and images, and videos.  I invite you to watch and to listen.  And as you do, listen for the love.