The Imagination of a 5 year old

There is an old book some where out there that is entitled something like "Everything I needed to know about life I learned in Kindergarten." Sorry if I messed up the name of the book, but you get the idea of where I am going with this blog.

When I was in kindergarten, my teacher called my mother to confirm some of my "adventure stories." It seems I told tall tales of the great adventures of Pepper and his father; we wrestled bears and alligators and lived to tell the tale. Indiana Jones didn't have anything on us!

I have a 5 year old grandson who seems to have inherited, in some part, this same incredibly vivid imagination. After hearing the latest story, he may have a greater gift than his grandfather. For a couple of years now, our house has been alien-free because of his expertise in seeking and destroying whatever being dared enter our dwelling. He bravely went where no 5 year old would dare; closets, under the bed, behind the furniture, he untiringly zapped and smashed all of the monsters and aliens. We feel so safe and secure when the mighty Nate is around.

The other night he developed a new ploy to fool the aliens. He and his faithful sidekick, Babe (that's his great-grandmother) tricked the aliens by acting like they had fainted. Had we walked into her room about that time we would have found Nate in the recliner and Babe on the bed with their eyes closed and their tongues hanging out of their mouths. He fooled the aliens into thinking they were passed out. Then he would jump up and get them all!

What an imagination that 5 year old possess! What happened to mine? When did I grow up? Isn't that what happens when we get older - we lose our imagination? Sad, isn't it?

As humans grow older, we come to believe that imagination is only for the young, the children. To follow Christ requires maturity, sobriety, and the ability for deep thinking and contemplation. Adults do not have time to waste in imagining things that will never come to pass.

Maybe that's our problem. We have lost the ability for free-thinking, to imagine, and to ask the question, "what if?". Imagination is that uniquely human gift from God that allows room for faith, hope, and love. I think that sometimes we work so hard at becoming an adult that we forget what it was like to be a child.

Imagine what might happen if we have the faith to trust God. Imagine what could happen to humanity if people of faith invested their hopes and dreams in the God of eternity. Imagine what if...

We can't help it if we get older. It happens. We just don't have to give in to stagnate thinking and lose the ability to imagine what might be through the eyes of faith.

The next time you have trouble with the concept of imagination talk to a 5 year old. And if you run into any aliens in your house, call me. I've got a grandson who is a genuine alien slayer.

Blessings Human Friends and Imagine What Could Happen

2009 Resolutions

The New Year is typically a time of reflection and pondering the future. I think part of what makes us human is that we try to recover from our mistakes and do better the next time. We realize that we are not perfect, but yet we strive for perfection. When you think about it, that's not really a bad thing.

Since 1985, my wife and I have been involved in working with students and their families. We started out in church youth ministry and have ended up in Christian education working with middle and high school students.

Recently we began reading Family Ministry by Diana R. Garland. The book is somewhat clinical in its explanation of the description and development of families. It offers insight into the development of a family ministry within in the context of a church. I am not sure why we are reading it other than our experiences with families and a desire to have a better understanding of how families develop and communicate.

In discussing why families generate conflict and anger, the author suggests that one of the problems in family communication revolves around a need for power and autonomy. There is a section that caught my attention and I immediately made a spiritual connection to my personal relationship with Christ. I know it's problematic to pull out quotations and make an application other than what the author intended, but here it is:

"The partner who habitually and irritatingly piles papers in the middle of the dining table may be saying, 'You are in control of most of our life together, but there are still corners of my life that are mine over which you have no power.'"

I wrote a comment in margin of the page: "Do we do this with God?" Do we withhold certain areas of our lives from God to maintain some sense of power and autonomy?
With God, it is all or nothing. I cannot hold anything in reserve; He is either all of my life, or He is not.

Humanity has a tendency to compartmentalize their time and functions. Family time, a day with the guys, work time, school time, time with our spouse, alone time. You name it, if it is meaningful enough for us, we will create time for it. But God is different.

We cannot create a slot big enough for what He needs from us because He wants us, not just our time. God wants to be at the center of who we are, not first in line. Neither does He want to be allotted the largest time slot. In reality, it is not even a matter of priorities; God is either God, or He is not.

So, I am still thinking about the possibilities for 2009. I am even more keenly aware of what God expects. Hopefully 2009 will bring opportunities for us to center our lives in Christ. May He place us all strategically in the harvest field of humanity.

Blessings! May our humanness reflect Christ in 2009!