Imagination: Identification with the Divine

"Reality is for people who lack imagination!"

Imagination is a soft glowing fire burning in the hearth... imagination is the softly pillowed sofa, circle rug, throw pillows, and cuddling blankets... imagination is the wine and conversation... imagination is a kiss, an embrace, and hands pulling into the slow dance of love... imagination is the welcoming knock at the door and the invasion of beloved friends... imagination is the play of children and the lazy dogs before the fire... imagination is the suggestion of a new project of community service... imagination is someone pulling a book of Rumi from the shelf and reading a poem or two... imagination is the free-flow of feelings, ideas, and dreams... imagination is the deep sharing of heart, of struggle, of dreams, and of every aspect of life... imagination is someone taking from their pocket a poem written during the day... imagination is the gathering song... imagination is falling asleep with lovers and friends, living deep in the very core of life, living fully engaged with passion and bliss...

Imagination is the pathway of the Sacred: it is the ballpark and playing field of the Divine. Sacred Imagination is the mystical embrace of the Holy One as "Beloved Friend", as "Beautiful One", and as "My Love"... Sacred Imagination is the breathing of every breath as one of surrender and adoration... Sacred Imagination is the Holy Bridge  uniting a particular "unit" of human consciousness with the One "Source" Consciousness: the One Love Consciousness imagined "What if?" and answered Her First Thought with the Second, "Why not?" This very same "Why not?" is the Divine Shakti, the Sophia-Wisdom, the Mystic Tao: the Blessed Mother of Creation: Endlessly...

Listen, somewhere within the wild, untamed, spaces of your heart to these words from the mystic, Mechthild of Magdeburg: "And the Holy One said to the soul: I desired you before the world began. I desire you now as you desire me. And where the desires of two come together, there love is perfected... It is my nature that makes me love you often, for I am love itself. It is my longing that makes me love you intensely, for I yearn to be loved from the heart. It is my eternity that makes me love you long, for I have no end." Between "What if?" and "Why not?" is the endless flow of Sacred Imagination...

How does the modern seeker enter into this Mystery and truly Activate her share in Imagination? Life is normally a condition of "forgetfulness": we learn to identify as separate selves. We learn to function as individualized beings. Very often as highly individualized beings, we pursue our pleasure and power with little regard for others -- except insofar as they serve our ends: exploitation, oppression, greed, prejudice, and power are oftentimes institutionalized in both secular and religious domains. "Remembrance" is the mystic path of awakening into our true condition as intimate with the Divine: meditation and contemplative prayer open vast interior pathways, steadily clearing our mental fields; activating compassion through works of mercy and justice "caress" our hearts into becoming vehicles of endless expansion; gathering with other seekers into "sacred circles" for exploration into mutual-aid and community service, rooted in mindfulness, meditation, play, and adoration... 

The path of remembrance is the gift of Sacred Imagination: to awaken from the deep slumber of idolizing our separate selves, gives incredible delight to the Divine: the Divine Mother has one hunger: Us! awakened into our divine possibilities as Lovers-without limits! The Divine Play of creation is meant to be a partnership of "beloveds", constructing the solidarity paradigm of One Love: a communion of mutual aid and liberation, where justice, equality, harmony, kindness, and compassion are the evident practices and intentional goals of both persons and policies... The "reality" that power and greed are selling to humanity is unworthy of our divinely human dignity: it is only for those afraid of Imagination: we are living in a Universe without limits, why then do we submit to the boundaries of very little men manipulating markets and hiding behind their veils of power? We are Infinite in Love: it is time to be discovered in our freedom and our bliss! Indeed! Reality is for those who embrace their Imagination!

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