The image of a child

 The imagination is a wonderful tool that can and should be developed in the very young. Unfortunately our society's norms suggest that we drum out such imagination through education and by feeding the younger generations an amorphous mixture of bland and 'pc' computer games / apps / etc. There is a reason for Christ to tell us to suffer the little children (Lk. 18:16) because they stimulate the imaginative side of our lives by the way they play and interact with each other. Faith requires us to have the imagination of a child. I and I am sure many of you also have been in churches where any form of disruption caused by kids racing around during the service is frowned on, rather than accepting the joy and love they project. If we cannot accept the imagination of a child it is very difficult to accept the concepts embedded in the faith journey as ably illustrated by the rich man (Lk. 18:18-23).

In our education we too often chase out the imaginative process so that we are left with a dry wrinkled prune of a life that is devoid of the touch of grace that comes from God's presence in our lives. Children epitomise for us the ideal of the imaginative life that is required within our faith journey. It is when we become stagnant within those lives that we begin to deny the exuberance of Christ's joy found in the rambunctiousness of  a child. Christ calls us into newness of life that is filled with joy and laughter but we so easily destroy that when we educate children and ourselves into the world's folly to conform with society's idea of the perfect life. In baptism we ask parents and sponsors to bring the child up into Christ holding the values of truth, honesty and imaginative purpose that brings difference and grace into the lives of the community. Our faith journey is one that is forwarded by the imaginative process rather than the rationality of science and the secular world of today.

The child's imagination is the world that we need in faith

Joel's prophesy tells of a future for the Israelites in terms plenteousness (2:23-34), a future that for the Israelites was abundant to the extreme requiring the imagination to engage beyond that which they would normally. A plenteousness that requires the insurance of abundance for all as the scriptures dictate. Christ mentions the main law to the rich person and receives the response that he has fulfilled all the requirements of the law and yet he lacks for he has not fulfilled the potential of ensuring that others receive more than they have (Lk. 18:20-22). The consideration of the other which is present in the prophesy of Joel is lacking in the imagination of the young man as for him this is beyond his understanding. The child willingly, unless taught otherwise, will share if encouraged to do so. They have the imagination to see this sharing as being beneficial to them as they receive love, attention and companionship. In doing so they fill the void found in the adult world where sharing brings hardship and thus hoarding is preferable. Yet, as Christians we are enjoined to follow the childish approach of sharing. The approach that we, inadvertently or not, steer our children away from by the way we behave and model. 

Our society has engrained within us the giving up of "childish" whims to become 'adult'. In bringing up children as Christians we are asked to overturn this in the life of the child to bring them up into a contrary manner to society. We are to encourage them to have faith in their imaginative processes so that they can see sharing and friendship of the other are the norm. Where peace and justice is a requirement of our lives and where the imaginative process engages with God and a Spirit filled life that emulates Christ. Yet, it is reasonably obvious that we fail this as we ourselves are devoid of the imaginative moment in our lives and therefore cannot transfer that to those that are young in faith. We fall back on the rhetoric of science and modern insight rather than our own imaginative processes. In order to overcome those things that denigrate our lives and our society we ourselves need to have the imagination to overcome the dullness of our lives and live to our fullest in Christ.