As I am writing this, we are in the full throws of Vacation Bible School! Adults are running around decorating and making costumes! Teachers are reading up on “Threshold”, “Mezuzah”, learning songs and signs and even working on ancient bead making! VBS is always a great deal of fun, but I’m even more excited this year as we step back in time to visit the Hometown of Jesus— Nazareth!
I am amazed by how the history of the ancient times so attracts people of all ages! I guess it is the power of imagination. Some think that imagination is for child play. Some don’t connect imagination and spirituality. Of course, some people scare me with their ‘imagination’ as they dream up encounters with God, say in the grocery store, leading them to the perfect fruit salad.
“In traditional Jewish terms, the human imagination, our yetzer, good or bad, is our human self-- creating alternative possibilities for responding to our personal situation. And, like it or not, we create our world in terms of our interests and purposes as well as our ideals and aspirations. In the Hasidic tradition, this means that we have to live constantly with the tension between a constricted, self-interested awareness of our world and a more expansive, self-transcending consciousness.” — Spirituality and Imagination by Tsvi Blanchard.
I am slowly seeing that imagination can be a conduit for encounters with Jesus. Through guided imagery, we can have a dialogue with our Lord! May your imagination bring you closer to God and bring a little heaven on earth!
With abiding love,
Pastor Lynnae
