In the context of addressing issues at the intersection of education and creativity, Sir Ken Robinson is quoted to have said, “Imagination is the source of all human achievement.” However, could this–human imagination–be where the problem lay all along? Not long ago, the prophetic imagination of a megalomaniac envisioned the “annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe”; and that prophecy was near fulfilled. Certainly, however, his is not an isolated case.

This is not to say that as humans we do not have the capacity to do good. However, if human imagination has indeed brought us to where we are as a human race, then the quality and direction of such imagination must be called into question; it cannot (does not) exist in a vacuum.

Nevertheless, the time is now when we would be wise to consider that whatever humanity has to offer, left to itself, is unable to ward off, let alone prevent, the uncertainties of our time–with special reference to the scale and escalation of COVID-19. Who’s to say how this is going to turn out? For many, the future is bleak. At such a juncture, should we have more of the same–more humans coming up with supposedly more and better solutions? Certainly. However to rely on human solutions alone apart from divine intervention would be foolish, especially with respect to addressing ultimate concerns of humanity. If human existence is not of ultimate importance, then the question of divine intervention is redundant.

When it comes to addressing the issue of breakthrough creativity, the tangible and earthly reality are matters of ultimate spiritual concern since we assume, at least for this blog series, that the earth and everything in it is created by the Creator God and did not somehow emerge into existence out of “thin air”.

And so, unless and until we as a human race learn to turn our eyes from what we can do with our feeble human resources and strengths, and rather turn toward fixing our gaze on our Maker, the Creator God, we at best will find ourselves, “grasping at straws,” never truly imagining and finding the future that all of us yearn for–a land that is fruitful, a people who are kind and generous, and a world where all people irrespective of caste, creed, gender, ethnicity, or race, enjoy the freedom of dignity accorded to each person by the Creator God.

Shall we be driven by fear or faith?

You may have heard it being said that “COVID-19 is spreading at an unprecedented exponential rate, faster than any previous epidemic.” Or, “This is the worst ever, more than any previous pandemic on earth.” And even, “Things are going get much worse before they can get any better.” Such statements tend to incite fear. But fear in and of itself is not necessarily the greatest problem.

Unrestrained fear masks reality. It forces us to fixate on that which is not true. And by doing so we may inevitably follow our fears rather than our hopes, and this ultimately will result in something much worse and much greater in scale than what COVID-19 can achieve on its own. What options do we have? How do we combat a disease that threatens the lives of all people irrespective of our human categories of distinction, national, religious etc.?

The question therefore is: what fixates you?

Here’s a way to think about the impulse to follow what you fear rather than the larger truth of reality:

It’s like driving a car at night and coming in your direction is another car with its high beam on. The car is coming right at you, or it seems so, passing by on the other side. As it draws near, you are tempted to fix your gaze at the blinding light. The next thing is that you find yourself quite unbeknowingly moving toward it, which if not rectified could be devastating. However, a skilful driver is one who has learned to stay focused on the “darkness” in front and to not be distracted with the light “coming at you” from the other direction.

How can we learn to be fixated with the truth rather than that which is false, the eternal rather than the temporary?

To be fixated with the truth is to train the human imagination to be fixated on the Creator God rather than on the created, i.e., the problems we face and the situations or people that confront us daily.

Here’s how some have done it in the past:

Moses met with God on the top of Mount Sinai after which his face shone brightly to the extent that he had to cover it with a cloth each time he spoke to the people and take it off each time he went in to the tabernacle to speak with God (Exodus 34:29-35). Likewise, in the nature of the language of the writer of the Book of Revelation in the New Testament, Jesus’ face is said to be shining like the sun in full strength (Revelation 1:16). In the Gospel of Luke, the glory of God dramatically altered the human form of Jesus when he was on the “Mount of Transfiguration” in a way that was apparent to the disciples who were with him.

But what’s the point of all this? Interestingly, we notice that right after the “transfiguration” episode, in Luke, the next day they journey down from the mountain (a symbolic journey) right into the episode of the demon-possessed child whom the other disciples of Jesus were unable to cast out. Jesus reproves the people, accusing them of being a “faithless and twisted generation”! He then rebukes the demon and gave the fully healed and restored boy back to the father. Here Luke, the writer, comments: “And all were astonished at the majesty of God.” For more, read the story for yourself here.

the mega-ness of God

I find it interesting that Luke reserves the revelation of the “majesty of God” or the “mega-ness of God” for this moment. The Gospel writer goes on to observe, “But after they were all marvelling at everything he was doing” Jesus puts things in perspective. He says: “Let these words sink into your ears” (which by itself is a pretty serious statement indicating the weight of what is to follow). Jesus then tells the disciples for the first time in this Gospel of how he, Jesus, is “going to be delivered into the hands of men” something that they were unable to understand, and that is difficult for some of us to comport even today: why would God choose to compromise his glory, his majesty with the blood and gore of the Crucifixion?

Just like they were afraid to ask him then, we too may be afraid to ask Jesus concerning the implications of the Cross for us today. However, rather than explore the implications of such for us today, what strikes me about the narrative is that fixing our eyes on the glory of Christ must happen through meditating on the gore of the Cross. The more we fixate on the glory of God through the gore of the Cross, the more darker the things of this world may get. But God’s revelation to us is that the only true glory of God ultimately dispels the darkness. And so in heaven there will be no need of sun or moon or any other source of light because the brilliance of God’s glory will be the light of heaven (Revelation 22:5).

The more we fixate on the glory of God through the gore of the Cross, the more darker the things of this world may get.

The brilliance of the night sky comes alive when we move away from the lights of the city. Likewise, the glory of God becomes apparent when we turn away from all the things that detract our attention from God. In the past, we have been blinded by the problems and challenges we face. But when we focus on the majesty of Christ through the Cross by which Christ willingly gave himself up, paying one time for all time, for the sins of all people everywhere, then the darker it gets, the better we are able to see the glory of God. The words of the songwriter are fodder for our meditation”

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in His wonderful face
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace

Helen Howarth Lemmel

Scripture for our meditation

Look at the birds, free and unfettered, not tied down to a job description, careless in the care of God. And you count far more to him than birds.

^27-29 “Has anyone by fussing in front of the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? All this time and money wasted on fashion—do you think it makes that much difference? Instead of looking at the fashions, walk out into the fields and look at the wildflowers. They never primp or shop, but have you ever seen color and design quite like it? The ten best-dressed men and women in the country look shabby alongside them.

^30-33 “If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don’t you think he’ll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

³⁴ “Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

matthew 25/26-34, The message bible