I was reminded lately, that as children, our hours and days are spent with an abundance of imaginary adventures, fun friends, and far off places. We have fun, experience new things, and relieve the stress of our young lives by believing in something or someone who is exciting and brave, or beautiful and talented. In our imagination we can spend time on a desert island, or snow-covered mountain; we can visit with people we have never met, or have a conversation when family members and mentors that have passed away into the next adventure. It seems nothing is beyond that idealistic realm, it's a possibility among all possibilities.
Each day that we live and grow older, we lose a small piece of that ability to believe. We learn that life is about reality and not about fantasy. And this affects us in very profound ways. We lose certain abilities to see the good in life, and the kindness of a gentle gesture. The hope that can be fostered by one good happy thought. It may not help us "fly", but the lack of this belief has also blinded us to the realm of possibility. We have no problem believing in unproven theories of science and probabilities, even though they are as hard to see in real life as the miracles that we so often seek or dream of.
If we could look at life with the same perspective of hope and dreams as we did when we were young, would we live happier lives? If you allowed yourself to dream of things that you haven't known or enjoyed for most of your life, would you strive a little harder to attain them? It is a sobering thought when I think that I might be my own worst adversary when it comes to conquering fears about the unknown or working through unresolved issues. We say and think that we seek happiness and prosperity, but the path to those goals does not always lie in a factual, and realistic world. I have to stop to consider that my attitude and how I pursue happiness could be a bigger stumbling block to succeeding at what I seek, than my physical effort. Is it possible that we desire what we don't understand? Or that our spirit tells us that we are so unworthy of that reward that we really will never get there anyhow, so why try?
I know that as I walk this winding road of life, that I feel the pressures and pain of every loss, every day. To say that my attitude is not always a positive one would be an understatement of monumental proportions. But of things unseen and yet to be known, a God who loves me and wants the best for me, is as hard to understand as putting a number or order to the stars of the universe. How do we bring ourselves to believe in a God that is as much unseen and mysterious as our childhood dreams? It's not easy. In fact, it is one of the hardest ideas to fathom. But faith is like that favorite song that you heard when you were a child. Sometimes you can't remember all of the words, and you hardly know anything about who wrote it, or when; but when it comes to mind, or you hear it hummed or being played, the feeling of comfort and happiness is as clear as the morning sky. Faith is using your imagination, your hope, and your reasoning, to believe in something far more wondrous and compelling than yourself. It is the solution to the phrase, "how ?". And imagination gives our faith a media within our minds where the images can play out our dreams, our gifts, our love, and friendships. It may just be, that Faith is the solution, to our earthly imagination.
Randy
(4/2/2015)
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