“The sum of the whole matter is this: that the most important work for us to do from year to year, from month to month, from hour to hour, is to combine earth and heaven, time and eternity. This is the role of the sacred imagination: to help us remember the curve of oneness from which we have come. It will strengthen us in the sacred work of seeking true relationship with one another, and the earth.”
Alexander John Scott
The Celts were—and are—an imaginative people, with a certain colorful creativity as their enduring legacy. They would paint swirls and designs on their skin and their manuscript pages, and carve them into their stonework. Storytelling was prized. Artistic sensibilities celebrated. Songs and poems were woven into the fabric of work and play and battle alike.
It’s no wonder, then, that when Christianity arrived in the Celtic world, the Celts saw the God of the Bible—the Trinity—as the natural endpoint of their creative spirituality. Paganism linked arms with Christian theology, certain patterns fit neatly together, and a whole new way of seeing the world was born.
What theologian Alexander John Scott called “the sacred imagination” is the sense of childlike wonder that typifies Celtic thought. The same imagination that allows a child to see magic everywhere is not contrary to Christian devotion, but the foundation of it. Without this sense of mystery, we lose our God-given ability to see what C.S. Lewis called “the deeper magic” underlying everything.
To see God’s face everywhere is to use the sacred imagination to its fullest degree.
Sometimes I think we all act a little too grown-up when it comes to faith, religion, and belief. We like to be seen as intelligent, wise, authoritative, and “in the know”. But this need to perform seriousness can get in the way of our ability to relate to one another, because we lose the ability to relate to our Creator when we try to posture and preen before Him. He is not impressed by how grown-up we seem, and we shouldn’t be either.
In order to see God’s face in nature, in daily life, and in each other, we have to become like children. Creative, playful, and open to experiences. We have to exercise the sacred imagination like a muscle; otherwise, it atrophies and eventually dies.
And this can be done in a dizzying amount of ways. Whatever brings you joy can be a route to the sacred imagination. Even the drudgery of a day can be made beautiful. In the old days, it was common to sing rhythmic songs while working. In Scotland they had waulking songs, sung while fulling cloth. In Holland they would sing spinning or weaving songs. In the Americas, there are old songs for churning butter. But those are only a tiny fraction of examples of a phenomenon the world over. Humans like to weave delight into their work. This is the origin and echo of art throughout history.
So how can you find the face of God today while caring for children, tapping away at the computer, doing your chores, or idling in traffic? How can you seek the sacred imagination in the all-too-grown-up world that surrounds us?
To combine earth and heaven, time and eternity. This is the most important work we are called to do. And to do this work is to experience the true meaning of art.
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I loved this so, so much!!! @The most important work for us to do ... is to combine earth & heaven, time & eternity.” - YES! Exactly!!!! That’s it. Right there.
I love this! Thrilled to have others to pursue imagination alongside.