I Can Only Imagine

I Can Only Imagine

Over the last week, I’ve had the opportunity to spend about 48 hours in the House of Mouse. The foundation of the Disney Empire in California is based on one thing; not corporate greed, massive acquisitions, or even family values. The house that Walt built has a single cornerstone, imagination. This is the beating heart of one of the most impressive business success stories in world history. All of the other gobbledygook running through the competing media narratives of today miss this critical point. Now imagination, like any other human endeavor, can be used for incredible good or terrible evil. Much depends on the intent, persona, and context. In Disneyland, it is on full display. Walk through the wild frontier, a kingdom of magic, the land of tomorrow, the far, far away galaxy of Star Wars, and see, touch, taste, and smell new worlds just itching to be explored. If seeing truly is believing then the wonderful worlds of Disney demand to be experienced…except none of it is real. The castle is a facade, the rides break down, the new lands accessible for a hefty fee, and lengthy waits, and then can only be experienced as directed. Look hard enough, and you’ll see the seams, behind which are nothing more than people playing pretend. A beautiful dream to be sure, but a dream nonetheless.

I wonder how much of our faith, how much of our “walk”, how much of our prayer life is the stuff of Disney imagineering, and how much is grounded in the reality under our feet. Please forgive in advance the navel-gazing, self-indulgent, or personal nature of this particular Newsletter. This is an issue I struggle with immensely and hopefully, by examining it, we may both glean some useful insight. Luckily, our group will be back in swing next week, and we can commence with our regular programming. But to that end, how best to proceed? Maybe, it best start with a dream. When examining something as ephemeral as imagination, why not distill it to its purest essence? Dreams are pure imagination, our minds running wild, unencumbered, and without limit. I’ve always been drawn to “dream logic” as it’s called. Even if the term is unfamiliar, you should be well acquainted with the practice. (David Lynch films are good examples of this phenomenon, from the good, The Straight Story, to the hopelessly esoteric and incomprehensible, Inland Empire.) “Dream logic” draws connections that are more instinctual than reasonable. There is something elemental (therefore many believe -likely mistakenly- more “truthful”) to this notion. I’ve always been enamored by the idea of getting “myself” out of the way and seeing what the mind can conjure on its own. But even this view is inherently childish. The “mind” is merely a hunk of meat, meaningless without the soul which makes it uniquely our own. And even that is not even remotely possible without the gift of life God gave us, to begin with, and the brain which He bestowed upon us to facilitate all the other gifts we’ve been given.

Which brings us to the next little wrinkle. God has a history of using dreams to communicate. He reassured Joseph about Mary’s visit from the angel announcing the birth of Jesus (Matthew 1:20-23), and also urged them to flee to Egypt to escape the wrath of Herod (Matthew 2:13). He reassured Gideon through the re-telling of a dream (Judges 7:13-15). Job 33:15-18, clearly states that God uses dreams to speak to whom He wishes, similarly in Numbers 12:6. There are also the accounts of Daniel and of course, young Joseph who knew that God alone interprets dreams. Should we really so easily discount the random misfires of mental activity if it truly could be a corridor of communication with the Lord? Most dreams can be easily dismissed I’m sure, but what of the others? The ones that sit you bolt upright in bed, every nerve and muscle attuned toward a singular focus? I really wish I knew. I truly believe that if we communicate with God regularly, we will be accustomed to His voice through whatever mechanism He chooses to speak. Paul understood when and where the Spirit was leading him, even when contrary to his own wishes. Acts 16:6-10 recounts this for us. Paul and his companions wanted to enter into Asia to spread the Word, “but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.” Later on, during the night, Paul was given a vision that led them to Macedonia. Constant communication with God allows one to recognize His voice. It’s similar to knowing a loved one's voice even over a bad phone connection. But we invented caller I.D. for a reason.

Most people desire clarity. Who wouldn’t? But we live in chaos, making it elusive if not downright impossible to obtain. When faced with the truly confuddling, our tendency is to fill in the gaps with our imagination. We rest assured on our educated guesses but rarely take into account just how limited our perspective truly is. “There are more things in Heaven and Earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” -Hamlet. A useful line to keep in mind. “At the end of a life spent in the pursuit of knowledge Faust has to confess: ‘I now do see that we can nothing know’” -The Cost of Discipleship, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. “I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind.” (Ecclesiastes 1:14) A thread there that could lead to nihilism and despair if you let it. But our God has given us more than mere dreams and suppositions. More than an imagined peace and more than an assumed victory. Because our God is not a dreamer. Our God is an Author. “You killed the author of life, but God raised Him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.” (Acts 3:15) You are witnesses too. Not of some nebulous dream, not to the ephemera of imagination. But to the rock-solid truth of Salvation. Our God etches His law into stone and imprints His Word on our hearts. He exceeds our imagination. For our God, there is no dream too big, but also no worry too small. “The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” (Deuteronomy 31:8) And yet…

The thing about that verse is that it is said by Moses to Joshua as he passed over the baton of leadership. Moses never crossed the Jordan and never experienced his sought-after Promised Land. The home God called him to was far superior. David never got to build his God His Temple. The man after God’s own heart was denied this. Instead, he got to stand in His presence directly. What if you seek and yet still do not find? What if you knock and the door remains steadfastly shut? Are you chasing your dreams, or chasing the Lord? The two will not always be synonymous. But how are we specifically to know?!? “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” (Proverbs 3:5) Then why do I feel so strongly this way?!? “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) “We are like the dreamer, who dreams and lives inside the dream.”-Twin Peaks: The Return. Are you building your home on the shifting sands of what can only be described as delusion, or is it on the solid rock you stand? I suppose, like so many other things, it resolves to an issue of faith. But the not-knowing can be so interminably hard. Perhaps this is where we can strengthen one another. We can find in fellowship that which we cannot garner on our own. And in that way, shamble on down the road together. Jostling, bumping, and moving together, like a herd. Sheep, in need of a shepherd. Where to? I needn’t only imagine, I’ll just have to believe.

Jordan Williamson