“Can you find out the deep things of God? Can you find out the limit of the Almighty?” — Job 11:7
I was wondering recently how to describe the busyness that many of us feel, the frenetic drive that often dictates the pace of our lives, and our almost comical attempts at multitasking as we try to be everything to everybody. What words might I utter to drive the point home, to help us hear the truth in a fresh way?
Then I witnessed this scene on a sidewalk near my home: A young father pushing his two children in a stroller with the same hand that is holding the leash of his over-exuberant dog, all while his other hand props up the smartphone into which he has buried his face!
Quite frankly, it’s a ridiculous scene. And the image we conjure in our mind captures the essence of “busyness” far more powerfully than any essay I could write on the subject.
Imagination has the power to take us beyond words. It can startle us with awe and wonder. It can cut us to the quick. It can invite us into mystery. It can excite our deepest longings. Imagination allows us to experience that which we don’t fully understand and lack the words to fully describe. Imagination enables difficult truths to skirt the guard dog that is our mind and penetrate our heart.
So, it’s not surprising that our Creator God gave us vivid imaginations, and that God’s Word is filled with potent images to captivate our entire being and elicit the broadest range of human emotion. The writers of Scripture use imagery to draw back the curtain a bit on a transcendent God who is beyond our comprehension. Some paint pictures to convict us of the futility of sin while others entice us with the beauty of the life of faith. Each image in the Bible can draw out our most honest selves and create space for God’s Spirit to dwell.
Our summer preaching series is entitled Divine Imagination. My hope is that the biblical image we explore each week will draw out unexpected responses, captivate us with its fresh power, and shine light into an unexamined part of our hearts and minds.
Presbyterians often place great value on words. And that is a credit to us. But, this summer, may God’s Spirit open our eyes wide and expand our capacity to imagine. May we lower our guard just a little and invite divine expressions of wonder and beauty to wash over us, the starkness of truth to convict us, and portraits of hope to lead us on rejoicing.
Grace upon grace,
Pastor Scott
