Years ago I stumbled across a relatively unknown essay by A.W. Tozer, entitled, ‘The sanctified imagination’. It is well worth reading, though somewhat challenging to find, I managed to track it down again here. This idea caught my attention, it held me and welcomed me as a thought that was both foreign and yet somehow familiar.
In my neck of the woods, we seem to be cerebral people. We live in our intellect, we debate, argue, refine, argue some more, we like to think well and like others to think that we think well. And, other methods of thought and being are somehow relegated to places of less importance. Do we feel? Maybe, but we must never be driven by our emotions. Do we imagine? Perhaps, but let’s not get lost in flights of fancy.
But, it seems to me, there are glaring problems with such a line of thought. Sometimes we have the impression that the intellect and thought process are placed on a pedestal, seemingly uninfluenced by sin and error. While other modes of being and interacting with our world are inferior. So they are swept under the carpet, not to be thought of or dwelt on. While, clearly, reason and careful thought are essential in our lives as followers of Jesus, unquestionably, we, as human beings, are more than our logical thought processes, surely we are also emotional, imaginative, creative beings.
In this essay, Tozer writes,
‘A purified and Spirit-controlled imagination is… [what] I have in mind here. I long to see the imagination released from its prison and given to its proper place among the Sons of the new creation. What I am trying to describe here is the sacred gift of seeing, the ability to peer beyond the veil and gaze with astonished wonder upon the beauties and mysteries of things holy and eternal.’
You see, I have found that God often speaks to me in images. Certainly, it is not the only way he speaks (see Hearing God part 1 – an introduction and Hearing God part 2 – How does God speak?). But for me, these images have been life-changing. They have altered how I view things in my life and most certainly changed how I see God. Once I realised that God could and does speak not just in words, or into my rational thoughts, but also through my imagination, the way I related to God changed dramatically. It was as if I had been given a precious gift that needed to be both cherished and nurtured.
Of course, I am not saying that every picture, image or string of images that comes to me is from God. We discussed how to discern God’s voice here, and all that was mentioned there is valid for all the different ways that God chooses to speak to us. Be it through scripture, an internal voice, via another person, a dream, vision, through an image, etc. For me, such imagery usually comes to me during prayer, and I have learnt to give these images space to develop, to not simply ignore them and push them away but to sit with them in the presence of Jesus and let him make of them what he will.
C.S. Lewis writes,
For me, reason is the natural organ of truth; but imagination is the organ of meaning. Imagination, producing new metaphors or revivifying old, is not the cause of truth, but its condition.
This quote from C.S. Lewis encapsulates what I have found to be true. For the images that I “see”, they have brought depth, meaning, and experience into my relationship with God. They, always, if they are images from Him speak to a deeper truth. Frequently, I find as I read my Bible that I exclaim, “that’s it, that’s the place that describes what I have seen. That is a verse, or passage, that speaks exactly about what God was showing me.” This brings me great joy and endless encouragement.
Holy Spirit, we long to be your people wholly and completely. May you guide our thoughts and our imagination, that you would speak to us life and truth. Teach us to hear you. Draw us ever closer, ever nearer, to you. May we know you and encounter you today. Amen
There are many ways we can choose to actively engage our imagination when we spend time at Jesus’ feet. The ancient practice of Ignatian meditation seeks to deliberately do this with a passage from the Bible. While it is beyond the scope of this particular post to pursue this further, hopefully, we will return to this topic again in the future.
What is your experience? Does God speak to you in images or through your imagination? Have you invited him to do so? How does he speak to you?
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