Imagine by John Lennon
Imagine there’s no heaven
It’s easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there’s no countries
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world
You, you may say
I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one
I hope some day you’ll join us
And the world will live as one
Last night just before the ball dropped in Times Square O.A.R. sang John Lennon’s Imagine. I immediately came to the computer to jot down this thought… beginning my first blog for 2015.
This song started me thinking about what we imagine or do we imagine.
I remember being in downtown Greensboro around the age of 8 or 10. My brother and I were going to the Carolina Theater. On that trip we saw signs that reads “Whites Only” at restaurants, bathrooms, even water fountains. I must admit that I wondered about that but I did not imagine what it really meant, that it was wrong, or that I should be living my life in a way where segregation of races would not be a time honored tradition but against the law of the land and the rule of love and brotherhood. It took many years, loss of life, and a lot of strife before people stood up and imagined no more.
Imagine all the people sharing all the world…. If we would stop long enough and go deep or wide enough to allow God to influence our imagination, we could allow God to change the world through us. Lennon said: “Imagine a brotherhood of man… all the people sharing all the world.” All the things Lennon is mentioning are things that, wrongly used, come between love and acceptance and create a world where hate is elevated to a higher level.
Our religion can foster division if it does not allow room for God to move, speak and create. Our philosophy of life can be so exclusive that it doesn’t allow room for all people who are different from us. Solidly holding on to a static philosophy allows us to label people and dismiss every good thought about them.
Perhaps this year of 2015 we can give our imagination to God – really give it to God – and allow God to use us to change the world to where we actually do become a brotherhood of man… all the world over.
I remember a story told of a young seminary student who was coming home to preach in his home church. He worked tirelessly on his sermon. Finally he came downstairs to get his grandmother’s approval. She read his manuscript throughly and laid it down. He said: “Grandma, what do you think?” She answered: “Keep working on Love, son. Keep working on love.” That is the imagination we need in 2015. Imagine us working on love till all of us realize we are brothers and sisters of the same Father.
Dear Lord, help us Imagine Your love covering the whole wide world in and through Jesus. Amen.
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The Journey 