There is a great deal to lament as we look around the world, with conflicts all around: from the small places with in ourselves and the communities around us to the more tragic and dramatic unrest in the middle east and further to Sudan, the Congo and Zimbabwe. It can leave us feeling overwhelmed and unsure on how to respond.
Seeing this video [below] gave me hope today. There’s something about the beauty of the music and particularly watching the dexterity of the musician that speaks of the goodness of God, and holds out for a future where God puts the world to rights. Beauty in truth and truth in beauty. “Let justice roll on like a river, and righteousness like a never-failing stream” [Amos].
“Why is our world beautiful, and what are we as Christians to do about the fact that our world is beautiful? Why is our world ugly, and what are we as Christians to do about the fact that our world is ugly?” N.T. Wright
I mentioned a while back that I wanted to take the ‘mission and pain’ and prophetic imagination thoughts off in a few directions, and I hinted that I would explore some of N.T. Wrights thinking on the role of the imagination for a follower of Jesus, and particularly the artist walking this path. One of my favorite pieces on this who issues on this the transcript of a talk at Seattle Pacific University by Wright entitled: ‘The Bible and Christian Imagination’ (there is a corresponding MP3 online at iTunes U). I risk quoting the whole article, because I’ve personally found it so helpful, but I’ll try and avoid that and add my own comments and thoughts along the way,
In his book The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann identifies two modes of Old Testament prophets. The first is the message of future hope, shaping the imagination of the people so that they can envisage what God’s future will look like. The other is making sure that they confront the reality of their current situation. In this second mode prophets shatter the rosy views people carry around, the assumption that things aren’t as bad as they seem. They make sure that the true extent of the problems and failings are felt.
In the last post I wrote about “adding to the stock of available reality” this fits in with the idea promoted by Walter Brueggemann of “The Prophetic Imagination” [a book I cannot recommend highly enough]. Taking a route through the biblical narrative from Moses to Jesus, Brueggemann recasts the role of the prophet as more than just a ‘predictor’ but as one who engages the imagination in ways that moves beyond the dominant mentality [the 'managed data' of the prevailing culture] and gives freedom for the life of God to be revealed.
“The prophet engages in future fantasy. The prophet does not ask if the vision can be implemented… The imagination must come before the implementation. Our culture is competent to implement almost anything and to imagine almost nothing… Every totalitarian regime is frightened of the artist. It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep conjuring and proposing alternative futures.” [Brueggemann]
I wrote to a friend today (concerning a particular piece of writing) saying:
‘all i want to do is “add to the stock of available reality” – i think personal stories and dreams are a perfect way of doing this. As we hear each others stories and dreams it releases us to dream also.’
“Adding to the stock of available reality” is a phase I picked up from the Image Journal — there Gregory Wolfe writes about how good art gives us fresh idioms, through new juxtapositions and new forms that spark our imaginations. I’ve been thinking how here the stories of others, their successes and failures work in a similar way. As a result I’m trying to encourage others to write and report on their stories, and dreams. Watch this space.
Listening to Steve Chalke talk on the Mars Hill podcast helped me today. I highly recommend a listen it. Look for: ‘Stop the Traffik’ by Steve Chalke over at Mars Hill – he tells his own story there on how and why he ended up doing what he’s doing. Let your imagination be ignited.
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