“Imagination is the soil that brings dreams to life.” Anonymous
Imagination is a crucial part of the human experience. Our Creator endowed us with the capability to imagine. Some authors like Dr. Maxwell Maltz have made assertions that imagination is the quality that differentiates human beings from animals. He wrote the following in the book Psycho Cybernetics:
“We often overlook the fact that man too has a success instinct, much more marvelous and much more complex than that of any animal. Our Creator did not short-change man. On the other hand, man was exceptionally blessed in this regard. Animals cannot select their goals. Their goals (self-preservation and procreation) are pre-set, so to speak. And their success mechanism is limited to these built-in goal images, which we call “instincts.””
I wonder what goes on in a lion’s mind as it is chasing a Zebra or what goes on in a Zebra’s mind as a Lion is chasing it. Do they both think of the outcome of the chase? Survival or perishing?
“Man, on the other hand, has something animals haven’t —Creative Imagination. Thus man of all creatures is more than a creature, he is also a creator. With his imagination he can formulate a variety of goals.Man alone can direct his Success Mechanism by the use of imagination, or imaging ability.”
Imagination, just like any other attribute, tool or goods available to human beings, can be beneficial or harmful, depending on how it is used. You can use imagination to aid you in achieving the creative goals you are pursuing. However, imagination can be harmful if we use it to overly dwell in things such as fear, worry, anxiety, jealousy, envy, bitterness etc in us.
For us to live an inspired harmonious life, we should use imagination in pursuing our creative goals. The way we can do this is to imagine the result of our goal as it would be when it is accomplished. To see in our minds eye the goal fulfilled and experience all the joy, exhilaration and confidence it gives us having accomplished the goal. This is in keeping with what Jesus said in Mark 11:24 “I tell you, you can pray for anything, and if you believe that you’ve received it, it will be yours.” Once you capture that mood of how you would feel once your goal is accomplished, then carry on with your current endeavours with that mood. This may be difficult to do initially, but as with anything, with practice, it becomes better.
There is a story told by Dr Joseph Murphy in his book The Power of the Subconscious Mind that illustrates the power of imagination: He tells the story of Dr. Lothar von Blenk-Shmidt, of how he escaped from a prison camp coal mine in Russia where he was in danger of certain death from brutal guards.
Dr Lothar said he was a prisoner of war in the coal mine. He saw men dying all around him in the prison compound. Each day, after a short medical check up, a quota of coal was assigned to each person. In case anyone did not fill his quota, his small food ration was cut down.
He started imagining and concentrating on his escape. He knew his home in Germany was destroyed, his family wiped out, all his friends were either killed in the war or were in concentration camps. He said to his subconscious mind, “I want to go to Los Angeles and you will find a way.” He had seen pictures of Los Angeles, he remembered some of the boulevards and buildings very well.
Every day and night, Dr. Lothar would imagine that he was walking down Wilshire Boulevard with an American girl whom he had met in Berlin before the war. She ended up being his wife. In his imagination, they would visit the stores, ride buses and eat in restaurants. He ensured that each night he would drive his imaginary car up and down the boulevards of Los Angeles. He made it vivid and real. He said the pictures in his mind became as real and as natural to him as one of the trees outside the prison camp.
Every morning the chief guard would count the prisoners as they were lined up. He would call out the numbers from one upwards. Dr. Lothar’s was number 17. On this day, when his number was called, he stepped aside. Then the guard was called away for a minute or so, and on his return he continued counting. By mistake he started with the next man as number 17. When the crew returned that evening, the number of men was the same and the discovery of a missing man would take a long time.
Dr. Lothar walked out of the camp undetected and walked for twenty four hours, he rested in a deserted town. He found coal trains going to Poland and traveled on them by night until he finally reached Poland. With the help of friends, he ended up in Lucerne, Switzerland.
He said that one evening at the Palace Hotel, Lucerne, he had a talk with a man and his wife from the United States. The man asked him if he would care to be his guest at his home in Santa Monica, California. Dr. Lothar accepted. When he arrived in Los Angeles, he found that their chauffeur drove him along Wilshire Boulevard and many other boulevards which he had imagined so vividly in the long months in the coal mines. He recognized the buildings which he had seen in his mind so often. He said it actually seemed as if he had been in Los Angeles before. He had reached his goal.
This kind of imagination requires effort and practice. It requires being able to overlook the present facts of your circumstances or environment and dwelling on the imagined reality until it comes to pass. Abraham the Father of faith must have had this kind of imagination. In the book of Romans 4:16-25, Paul retells the story of Abraham as follows:
“For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. Even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept hoping—believing that he would become the father of many nations. For God had said to him, “That’s how many descendants you will have!” And Abraham’s faith did not weaken, even though, at about 100 years of age, he figured his body was as good as dead—and so was Sarah’s womb. Abraham never wavered in believing God’s promise. In fact, his faith grew stronger, and in this he brought glory to God. He was fully convinced that God is able to do whatever he promises. And because of Abraham’s faith, God counted him as righteous. And when God counted him as righteous, it wasn’t just for Abraham’s benefit. It was recorded for our benefit, too, assuring us that God will also count us as righteous if we believe in him, the one who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. He was handed over to die because of our sins, and he was raised to life to make us right with God.
Jesus after he had been raised from the dead had a conversation with Thomas one of his Disciples. When Jesus first appeared to the Disciples, Thomas was absent. When the others told him about it, that Jesus was alive and had appeared to them, he did not believe it. Thomas doubted, thus the proverbial term “doubting Thomas”. When Thomas eventually saw Jesus and touched the wound on his side, saw His hands. He believed. Jesus then told him “ you believe because you have seen me, blessed are those who believe yet they have not seen!” John 20:24-29.
So for us to live an inspired harmonious life, we have to use creative imagination. So Do not hold back, imagine to the farthest possibilities and impossibilities. I hold firm to this sentiment that whatever the depths or heights of our imaginations, our Creator, the Most High can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine as it is written in the Scriptures in Ephesians 3:20
So my question is, what have you been imagining lately? Is it something creative or destructive?
I end with what Albert Einstein is quoted as saying “your imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s coming attractions.”
