Sad to say that many times we see prayer and meditation as separate from creativity and imagination. Sometimes contemplation takes us to a place beyond imagination, but it is very valuable to allow God to stir our images and to breathe life into our creativity as part of our worship and prayer.
Brother Lawrence, Practicing God's Presence, is the inspiration for this quote on imagination:
In God's holy presence Brother Lawrence suggested that we converse "with an act of praise, of adoration, or of desire or with an act of resignation, or thanksgiving, and in all the ways our spirits can invent".The gift of imagination, which we sometimes call creativity or inventiveness, is a precious gift from Our Father. Like all of our God-given gifts, they are only of value when we return them to Him. Only the gift that is dedicated to its source and creator will grow and thrive.
Imagination, without God at its center, is fantasy. Imagination directed to God becomes inspiration, in-spirited. We look for and enjoy doing little things to please God. As we grow in the practice of the presence of God, our ability to vividly imagine His nearness becomes stronger and involves all our senses until we actually feel His indwelling spirit. This spirit, then, naturally expresses itself in little creative and inventive ways of appreciating His presence.
The initial sense of unnaturalness and unreality gradually diminishes until we arrive at that point where we, like Brother Lawrence, say, "those only can comprehend it who practice and experience it."
It is truly magnificent to allow our spirits to become creative and inventive in the presence of God. How much more alive can our daily life with Him be as we allow our imaginations, fueled by faith, to enjoy the manifold splendor of who He is.
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