Impossible Things
- Sep 27, 2016
- 3 min read
"Imagination is the only weapon in the war against reality." The Cheshire Cat....from Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll
I've always had a fairly vivid imagination. I've seen things most people wouldn't dare breathe a word about, in my mind's eye. I remember a particular time, as a high schooler, coming out of the bathroom at my grandmother's house, laughing hysterically. Of course, enjoying laughter and a good time, she wanted to know what was going on. I told her she would think me crazy, to which she quipped, "Oh, it's too late for that!" I began to explain my giggling, with her grinning ear to ear. My grandfather, however, almost always serious, spoke with great concern. "Dawn," he said cautiously, "don't tell people things like that. They will really wonder about you!" Mammaw and I both just laughed, not disrespectfully or at him at all, just at life. You see, there are those in life who take things super seriously, with no thought allowed for the imagination, and those that are more free thinking. There's a need for both, I understand this.
Sew Blessed Farm was, in its origin, and still today, born out of a heart for nurturing family and relationships between children and the adults in their lives. Sprouts came about from the sprouting of my imagination and the resurfacing of my inner child. I was left, unattended, to roam throughout those deep places in my mind and to wonder about a few things. Why do we feel the need to have a special something? Be it a blanket, a stuffed animal, a doll, a pacifier, a pillowcase, whatever? It is attachment. Children outgrow clothes. They become uninterested in board games, handheld devices, books, movies, and the like. However, I know grown people that still have their woobie, their teddy bear, or a threadbare quilt. (Most of them won't cop to it. They MAY say their mother has it.) Attachment. What connects us? Love. Peace. Hope. Joy. Faith.
What is faith? "He called a little child and set him before them, and said, "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, unless you repent (that is, change your inner self--your old way of thinking, live changed lives) and become like children (trusting, humble, and forgiving), you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this child is greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Matthew 18:3-4 (AMP Bible) My question is this...does faith not begin with imagination?
im·ag·i·na·tion
iˌmajəˈnāSH(ə)n/
noun
the faculty or action of forming new ideas, or images or concepts of external objects not present to the senses.
faith
fāTH/
noun
1.
complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
We must attach ourselves to that which we cannot see to place trust in it. Without imagination, can we believe in that we do not see?
Don't misunderstand me....I'm not asking you to jump off the roof and flap your arms. I'm not even asking you to talk to birds or call deer in to help you clean your house. I'm simply asking you to take a few seconds or minutes, if you can spare them, to consider our future in a world that is "too grown up" for make believe. Will there be any faith among it?
Our church recently had the privilege to serve our community in an endeavor called "Judgment House." I found myself repeating the phrase (in character, unscripted), "If I'd only believed. Please, give me one more chance to believe." This has repeated in my mind, quite often. I find my heart burdened to encourage the fostering of innocence, wonder, and belief.
At Sew Blessed Farm(SBF), we get a little silly sometimes. We name our dolls and talk about their friends. We consider each stuffed animal to be the potential BFF of some little sprout out there, needing a buddy to journey through the jungle, cross the desert or the high seas with. Let's grow great minds together. Let's consider the possibility that this may well be a very important step into the future of our world.
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