Through the years I have had several friends who have had their appendix surgically removed. Though the pain that necessitated this procedure was bad, and the recovery was inconvenient, they have been able to live normal lives without having a functioning appendix. This is because your appendix doesn’t have a use within the body that we know of.
I think adult imagination has largely gone the way of the human appendix. We have it, but it doesn’t often serve any useful purpose. I’ve been listening to Greg Boyd’s recent series “Animate” and he talks about this a great deal.
We have this amazing ability to inwardly see, hear, taste, touch and smell. We all have this dramatic inward experiential reality. As children most of us utilized this capacity in play, but as adults, for many of us, it simply has lost usefulness.
For many adult believers I know their inward capacity to envision simply gets in the way. As they try to pray or read the Bible, their minds simply wander from the abstract spirituality they are attempting to practice toward something concrete, like the laundry that’s waiting to be done. For them, taking every thought captive is simply an exercise in getting that part of their brain to think about nothing instead of the something that will distract them from the important work of the spiritual practices.
Many others have a very powerful and active inward exeriential reality and they are completely in bondage to it. Fear, lust, or both have so gripped them that this great capacity inside their heads to powerfully envision and experience is a constant hinderance in their lives.
I have no idea what an appendix is for, but I suspect that our inward imagination is designed by God for more than make believe when we’re children or a hinderance to us as adults. The Bible is full of the stories of people who experience dreams, visions, and hear the voice of God. Where does all this take place? I believe the powerful human capacitiy to inwardly experience powerful and transforming reality (the imagination) is the canvas upon which God reveals himself to us.
Try turning in your Bible to a familiar passage in the gospels. As you read, instead of working to discipline your imagination to not wander off to the laundry, actively engage your imagination to experience the reality you are reading about. See the story, smell the smells, hear the sounds, touch the lepers, taste the bread. You’ll be amazed at how engaging your imagination in that way transforms your time in scripture.
Next time you are worshipping at church, instead of simply singing the lyrics and trying to keep your mind from wandering towards the concrete items pending on your to-do list, actively engage your imagination. See yourself walking into God’s throne room; see him seated there in his glory. See the elders and the living creatures. See the six-winged angels. See the nations before him bowing down. See yourself approaching to worship the King. Why do you think the Bible has given us such rich imagery?
As you learn to actively engage your inward world in your reading of scripture and your life of worship, you will, I believe, be activating your imagination for use in accordance with its original design. Start working that muscle out a bit in these kinds of ways, and you will be amazed at how much easier it becomes to hear God’s voice. That’s the arena in which he most often speaks. Use it or lose it!
