Imagining a Better World

Joan of Arc said that God speaks to us through our imagination. If we imagine a more peaceful world, God is urging us to help create it. If we imagine a country where immigrants can feel welcome and safe, God is speaking to us to make it happen. If we imagine a time when people with opposing views can get together and work out a solution acceptable to both sides, God is inspiring us to work to bring it about.

If you can imagine it, you can do it, we are told. Joan of Arc imagined she could defeat the English army and restore the crown to France and she did. Of course, she was later burned at the stake and declared a heretic, but centuries later she was proclaimed a saint. It takes a steadfast trust that God puts the creative spark within us to accomplish great things.

Imagination requires change. If we try to hold onto the way things are, they will never improve. We need to see beyond what is, to what could be. That’s how computers, jet planes and electric cars changed the world. A few creative geniuses were able to think outside the box and transformed our lives forever. 

Of course, we have to expect setbacks, mistakes, and failures. Galileo was not believed when he discovered that the sun revolved around the earth. Teilhard de Chardin’s writings about the universe were not accepted until after his death. Our achievements may not be recognized in our lifetime, but we must let our creative imagination spur us on anyway.