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Creativity, imagination and Jesus’ relationships

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 13 2020

I have never before thought about the connection between imagination and equality in relationships. I love Cheryl Forbes’s insight about this: “Jesus’ relationships showed his imagination at work. A shepherd doesn’t favor his male sheep over his female sheep. Each is important him; he knows each by name and they know him.” [1]

In her book Imagination, she gives lots of concrete examples:

“Jesus reflected the same respect toward women and men. Mary and Martha, Mary Magdalene, the woman at the well, the woman taken in adultery, his own mother were all treated as individuals who matter as much as did Peter and...

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Creativity, imagination, Jesus, and prayer for people we love

Lynne Baab • Thursday August 6 2020

Sometimes when I’m praying for family members and friends, I try to think of one word to summarize what I long for in their lives. Recently one of my favorite words is “shalom,” with its broadest meaning – well being in every area of life. For several friends and family members, I find myself praying the word “joy.” For several friends who struggle with anxiety, I simply pray “peace.” For my intrepid granddaughter, when I feel anxious about her safety, I pray the word “protection.”

From my recent reading about Jesus and imagination in Cheryl Forbes’ book Imagination: Embracing a Theology of...

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Creativity, imagination and empathy

Lynne Baab • Friday July 31 2020

I have long believed that imagination is required for empathy. In order to enter into another person’s feelings and thoughts about their life, I have to be able to imagine someone else’s reality. Here’s the definition of empathy, from a communications textbook, that I use when I’m teaching listening skills:

“Empathy is the cognitive process of identifying with or vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, or attitudes of another. . . .When we empathize, we are attempting to understand and/or experience what another person understands and/or experiences.” [1]

Notice the verbs in that definition: identifying with, vicariously experiencing, understand, experience. Imagination plays a key...

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Creativity, imagination and Jesus

Lynne Baab • Thursday July 23 2020

I invite you to ponder this statement: “Through his parables, Jesus was trying to expand the imaginations of his followers.” [1]

Do you agree? Would you say expanding the imagination of his followers was the major purpose of the parables? A secondary purpose, related to the central purpose of nurturing faith in his followers? Not his purpose at all – why would Jesus care about our imaginations?

The quotation comes from Imagination: Embracing a Theology of Wonder by Cheryl Forbes. My favorite portions of the book relate to Jesus’ use of imagination. Forbes writes, “You cannot turn a page in the Gospels without reading...

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