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HOW TO REIGNITE RELIGIOUS IMAGINATION
"There are people that I recognize I can never get to because their imagination is already formed. And when their imagination is formed, no amount of facts can dislodge them," said Ta-Nehisi Coates, activist and author of Between the World and Me, in a 2021 interview. His observation is broadly significant. If we think we'll lose, we won't try. If we fear those people, we can't befriend them. If we imagine there's a God, we take one journey. If we're sure there isn't, we travel another.
Religious imagination is a vital aspect of formation for believers. Do we teach children to love or fear God? What do we tell them about service and prayer, rules and forgiveness, mercy and judgment, prayer and liturgy. While Coates may be correct that facts rarely dislodge pre-formed imagination, one does remains free to re-imagine given the right motivation.
Theologians, preachers, spiritual writers, and retreat leaders share in the task of reawakening religious imagination and even reshaping it. I grew up in a church steeped in devotional Catholic practices, then encountered Scripture for myself in the appealing homilies of a Newman Center pastor. Those homilies week after week revolutionized my understanding of what discipleship means. Catechists, parents, and friends can reshape imagination with their storytelling, personal testimonies, invitations, and sharing of books and materials. The heart is often still listening, long after the mind is closed.
—Alice Camille,
reprinted with permission from TrueQuest Communications
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