Everyday Imagination (Part 1)

​Think about this a minute with me (Rich). Most of us do not think abstractly in everyday life, we think concretely. That is not to say we can't do abstract thinking. We can think abstractly, but most of the time in everyday life we use vivid, concrete imagination. For instance if your spouse or friend asks, “Hey could you pick up some ketchup and coke at the grocery store?” Your imagination kicks in because you automatically retrieve an image of a ketchup bottle and a coke bottle. In fact you just did it while I was saying this, without my telling you to do it. Imaginative thinking is the mind's ability to evoke images of things that are not physically present. It is a re-presentation of what we have experienced and know. In one sense it is like a virtual re-experience. When I think of my wife, or you think of your spouse, or friend, you don’t begin with a descriptive list about her or him in your mind, you begin with a concrete image. We begin with a real image that we have in our mind.  We are image making in our mind. In fact we re-present images often but we usually take this for granted. Imagination is the re-presentaton of an image in our mind. We do this all the time.​Now the more concrete and vivid the image the greater its influence and impact on us and others. In other words, the more real the image, the more the image actually re-presents reality the greater its impact will be.In what way are you employing your imagination in your faith journey? What are you imaging about our Lord Jesus Christ? What are you imaging about your having been raised in Christ?  Christian spiritually continually invites us to use our imagination!