Don't Lose Your Imagination

how storytelling keeps us connected to truths of the Kingdom

“As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again…”

I’m willing to bet there aren’t many in my demographic that actually know this reference so let me help us all out and say this is always and forever the most famous scene from Gone With The Wind.

The young Scarlett O’Hara has traveled across Civil War battlefields back to her childhood home in Georgia where she finds the structure itself has not yet been destroyed. Standing atop a small hill overlooking the massive southern plantation, she pukes up a rotten carrot and then defiantly declares “as God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again.” It’s all rather Hollywood and ridiculous, but so many of us have seen it and imagined holding our own figurative rotten carrots and shaking our fists in defiance of whatever. There is something utterly relatable and powerful about Scarlett’s blend of naïveté and rebellion. Too bad she never seemed to channel it in the right direction, but for that one moment she had us, didn’t she?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Who the Heck is Tara?

As a little girl I watched this scene with my feet propped up on the TV console while laying on a palette in the living room next to my sister. We would camp out inches from the rounded screen and carefully switch out VHS tapes at intermission. I couldn’t have been more than ten years old so the history of the Civil War and certainly the realities of slavery and Southern life were completely lost on me. I was in it for the dresses—the massive hoop skirts with ruffles and velvet bows.

The evening we finally reached the end of the four-hour movie, I said something that has lived on in family infamy for all these years. I popped up from my palette and in utter earnestness declared: “I just have one question, who the heck is Tara?” Those are the exacts words that will haunt me forever. How often have I been lovingly teased with…Hey Emily, who the heck is Tara…followed by much giggling? The answer is many.

If you’re confused, allow me to explain. Tara was the name of the infamous Southern plantation that the O’Hara family built their lives and legacy around. It is mentioned repeatedly and thematically throughout the storyline as the driving force behind Scarlett’s survival and resilience.

“Tara! Home! I’ll go home to Tara!”

“Tara is the only thing that matters.”

“Tara will always be there for me.”

“I can’t think about that right now. I’ll think about that tomorrow, but I must get back to Tara.”

Photo by Dirk Spijkers on Unsplash

I fully acknowledge that these quotes make it a bit obvious, but as one who didn’t realize people used to NAME THEIR HOUSES, this essential detail to the narrative was lost on me. I remember wondering why we never saw Tara. Was she just this illusive grandmotherly figure that everybody really missed? Why wouldn’t they introduce us to the character that everyone seemed super in a hurry to get back to? I had no context for the naming of Southern plantations so not only was I totally lost in the storyline, but I couldn’t ask questions that would lead me to understand what was happening either. I didn’t know what I didn’t know.

Imagination First, Reason Second

Learning through story requires imagination. We have to enter into the story with some developed context otherwise it loses the meaning it’s meant to communicate. Or it may never hold any for us at all.

I’m currently reading the book The Saturdays aloud to our six year old twins. This is a darling story set in New York City during the 1940s. It follows the journey of four young siblings scheming and maneuvering their way through Manhattan on their own little adventures. Midway through the first chapter I realized my kids had absolutely no clue about brownstones, governesses, or public transportation. I had to pause multiple times to give them some context so the story would make sense in their minds. These tiny pauses—for questions and descriptions—are necessary. They’re the moments when imagination development gives way to critical thinking, creativity, and hope-filled curiosity like…one more chapter, please Mom?

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

I think this is what Jesus is doing when he teaches in parables. So often we find him in the Gospels drawing out the imagination and curiosity of his listeners before he nudges them toward reason. He paints a picture first and that’s what compels them toward the point.

A concerned shepherd searching for his lost sheep. (Luke 15:1-7)

A beloved son returning home to the embrace of his father. (Luke 15:11-32)

A house sitting tall on a sturdy rock so that a storm cannot destroy it. (Matthew 7:24-27)

A vineyard filled with a diverse group of workers who have trickled in all day. (Matthew 20:1-16)

In Matthew 13 his disciples help us all out by simply asking Jesus why he uses stories to teach the crowds. His response is simply that it helps those with no context for the Kingdom to understand how the Kingdom works. The stories allow more people to enter in. I love how the Message translation smooths out what can feel a bit clunky in our more traditional translations:

¹⁰ The disciples came up and asked, “Why do you tell stories?”

^11-15 He replied, “You’ve been given insight into God’s kingdom. You know how it works. Not everybody has this gift, this insight; it hasn’t been given to them. Whenever someone has a ready heart for this, the insights and understandings flow freely. But if there is no readiness, any trace of receptivity soon disappears. That’s why I tell stories: to create readiness, to nudge the people toward a welcome awakening. (Matthew 13:10-15, emphasis mine)

A Nudge and A Question

Jesus is never forcing the Kingdom on anyone, but he is nudging us that direction. Rather than give us the entire plot summary, he’s dropping a few spoilers here and there, leaving room for discovery and delight. But I still have one problem. What if I have no context for the story being told? What if I don’t know a thing about the life of a shepherd? Or wage labor in vineyards during the first century? Or the naming of southern plantations during the Civil War?¹

The reality for many of us as we approach scripture is that we simply don’t know the context and because of this we greatly risk missing what Jesus is getting at when he’s laying out the essentials of his Kingdom. We also live in a time when there’s no shortage of people who want to tell us what they think that means and often their interpretation says it’s all foolishness.²

But rather than settle comfortably into disillusion or disinterest, what if we took on the curiosity and earnestness of a child who longs for just one more chapter or who with no sense of pride blurts out questions like who the heck are you, God?

In his commentary on Jesus’s use of parables, Matthew Henry says “a parable is a shell that keeps good fruit for the diligent, but keeps it from the slothful.” In other words, the meaning of the story is made evident only in our participation with it. If we don’t understand something, we must keep digging. If we think we get it fully, perhaps we should mediate on it again and again.

This essential work is modeled for us by Jesus the Great Storyteller who knew well how to borrow the things of life to give meaning to the things of true life. He knew our faith cannot be held together by reason alone. Our imaginations must participate in the process in order to fully embrace the work of apprenticing ourselves to Jesus and living a life poured out for the sake of others.

Ways To Practice

I’ve given some thought to how I might do this in my own life—tell my story, engage my imagination, stay curious toward the things of God—and so I offer up this short list as an encouragement for my practical readers who want to know what to do next. I hope you find it helpful and slightly out of your comfort zone.

• Read the parables of Jesus in a child’s Bible like The Jesus Storybook Bible

• Research the context of something first-century, like wine-making or feasts or Jewish culture, so that you might better understand the lives of Jesus’s original hearers. Holman Illustrated Bible Dictionary is a super simple place to start.

• Write a poem or reflection based on your reading of a Psalm or parable.

• Read poetry by Malcolm Guite, I’m currently reading this one.

• Listen to the Bible Project series on the Sermon on the Mount, it will make your brain hurt and your heart burst.

And of course, I’d love to hear what you are doing to engage with storytelling and imagination so please share you reactions or ideas in the comments!

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Next week I’ll be leaving your inbox alone while we take our TEN YEAR OLD 😭 to our favorite city in the world. You better believe I will be keeping my notes app handy so I can capture all the delightful So I Won’t Forget moments that are sure to come.

Happy Fall….surely soon!

1. Clearly not a reference to Scripture, but you see how I’m tying it together, right?

2. “For the messages of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:18, NIV