{Imagination Matters}
I imagine I am in a garden. [Ok, I don't have one.] So I create a garden in my mind. What is at the center, where might I sit, why is the border a tall or low hedge, when do the birds arrive, is there a scent of flowers, and how do I feel about visitors? Because Jesus just entered the garden.
Look what is happening in this very moment.
Imagination
the faculty or action of forming images of external objects not present to the senses.
- Webster's Dictionary
{Imagery}
We all have this ability of imagination. We are all made to create. Our words are rooted in imagery. Our beliefs are stacked on top of those words. And because our beliefs are formed by words and imagery, we need to examine our words and we need to examine our imagery. Why?
The images we use in our imagination is forming us.
That place of forming (words + images) can lead us to our greatest achievements or our destruction. We need to ask ourselves what do we allow into this space?
{Beliefs}
As I wrote this {10,000 Hours, Part 1}, I had to call a HALT. I wish to write responsibly and trace where the words and my mind and my emotions were traveling.
Do I believe God needs me to defend Him or His Word - The Bible? No. What do I believe God wants from me? Relationship. Obedience. Honesty. Purity.
Until I faced a year of homelessness and walking without seeing ahead, I could not stomach the word obedience. Frankly, I cringed at the thought of obedience. But something irreversibly changed inside me. I am not as my former self. I sought a deeper understanding of God through that year. I came to believe God in a whole new way. And I developed a closer relationship with God based on my transparency, not His. I had to become right size.
I found freedom in knowing I wasn't the only deer in the forest.
I now have an inexplicable desire to be obedient to God. I am willing to be God-dependent not self-dependent. I am willing to walk day by day seeking His will and not personal ambitions. A God-consciousness that is more real than physical life.
He is the great provider. He does show up in the worst of situations. But, He will not enter where He is not welcome. He stands at the door and knocks.
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.” - Jesus.
Revelations 3:20
Definition: To sup means to join with and is reference to The Last Supper. This is to have the transformative power of Jesus Christ operating in one's life.
How does one hear 'the voice of God'? The key is belief.
“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.” - Jesus.
John 10:27
Every single believer knows the voice of God.
A speaker, artist, imager, and word’er is Scott Erickson. He can be found at Image Pilgrimage on Substack. @SCOTTTHEPAINTER
“Prayer is not about trying to get God's attention, prayer to get God's attention is Voodoo.” - Scott Erickson
I can use words + images and read again the previous quote to see what this looks like.
{Grab A View Finder}
What images do we have of fear. What images do we have of love. The images of fear say, “This is in the way.” The images of love say, 'No, no. This is the way.” (Scott Erickson).
I say God cannot be squished into the convenient totality of the phrase “God Is Love”. God cannot be boxed in by our words or images. God is infinite and eternal, and our minds cannot fathom His riches, His glory, His ways, and His great love for us.
I remember this as I read other's words and view their images.
{I've taken the trash out}
Maybe its maturity, maybe its a long time practice of sobriety and having the necessary growth to maintain a fit spiritual condition. Maybe its having a love of good and goodness. Maybe its about seeking truth and nothing less will do. It's quite possibly God's transforming power at work in my heart. My mind is clear. I have quietness of mind and soul. At times I have great Peace. I cannot explain this to the old version of me. That was another lifetime ago.
The Beauty of God is indescribable. It can see in a newborn's smile, a wise old owl, an Orca breeching the ocean surface in silence and spray, a vivid sunset, the thundering of wild horses running free, overlooking The Grand Canyon at daybreak, feeling the mist when standing at the base of Maranatha Falls, a chirping sparrow outside a window, smelling a rose in bloom, and looking into a loved one's face.
The Aºtlas of My Heart is under excavation. Gloriously so. I have put in my 10,000 hours of practice and it's coming to performance time.
Beautiful Ginger ✨
Oh the journey when we are broken down and finally hear His call to follow in baby steps. To rebuild.