IMAGINATION
​
Quotable Quotes
Imagination is the true magic carpet.
—-Norman Vincent Peale
Reader's Digest, March 1986
​
​
IMPERFECT - CRACK
​
Emerson said, "There is a crack in everything God made.
​
​
INCLUSIVE LANGUAGE
​
Uncommon —Not Unscriptural Nor Heretical
by Guinn Blackwell-Eagleson
​
J RODNEY BEAL’S discomfort with feminine imagery for God led him to make some harsh and unsupported accusations in his September 10 letter to Monday Morning. I agree that many who try to pray “inclusively” do so with awkward and confusing
phrases. Some are practicing what is new for them. Others forget that those who lead worship prayers are charged to lead
the congregation, not startle or preach to them. There are better times to experiment.
However, feminine imagery for God is neither unscriptural nor heretical. It is simply uncommon. Read with eyes to see and you will find a feminine God in more than one place in our Bible.
Jesus’ parable of the lost coin portrays God as a careful woman, anxious lest one of her precious coins be lost forever.
Similar in many ways to the story of the good shepherd, Jesus’ tale depicts God’s great joy when one who was lost is found.
Thus, it would be scriptural, if startling, toaddress our prayers to “God, Most Diligent Homemaker, who searches after the lost and does not ignore their value.”
A less clear passage is Hosea 11. The Hebrew here is unclear, but often has been translated to portray the anguished one as a woman bewildered and hurt by the betrayals of a child she suckled and raised: God the Mother!
Such passages do not mean that God is female, any more than masculine metaphors should be interpreted to prove God is male. But they are aids to our understanding. They provide images to help us grasp some part of that divine reality too vast for human comprehension. Surely we would be wiser to explore the variety and richness of biblical imagery than contenting ourselves with a few choice bits and pieces. To do otherwise is comparable to reading only one chapter or book of Scripture because we like it and are comfortable with it, and then ignoring all the others. If some images challenge us and we squirm with discomfort, perhaps it is time to endure a few growing pains.
Meanwhile, I am grateful for having a mother and father who have shown me such love that I see why either image is an appropriate one for expressing the love of God.
​
Guinn Blackwell-EaglesonPastor, La Marque Church, La Marque, Tex.
December 3, 1984 edition of Monday Morning Magazine
​
​
INTERRUPTIONS/DISTRACTIONS (Joke)
Recently, I was diagnosed with A. A. A. D. D.: Age-Activated Attention Deficit Disorder.
This is how it develops:
I decide to water my garden. As I turn on the hose, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.
​
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mailbox earlier. I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the garbage can under the table, and notice that the can is full. So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the garbage first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first. I take my checkbook off the table and see that there is only one check left.
​
My extra checks are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the study to my desk where I find the can of Coke that I had been drinking. I'm going to look for my checks, but first I need to push the Coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the Coke is getting warm and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the Coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye; they need to be watered. I set the Coke down on the counter and I discover my reading glasses I've been searching for all morning.
​
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers. I set the glasses back down on the counter, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone left it on the kitchen table.
I realize that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the den where it belongs. But first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill. Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:
* the car isn't washed
* the bills aren't paid
* there is a warm can of Coke sitting on the counter
* the flowers don't have enough water
* there is still only one check in my checkbook
* I can't find the remote
* I can't find my glasses
* and I don't remember what I did with the car keys
Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realize this is a serious problem and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
​
https://www.timegoesby.net/weblog/2007/03/elder_joke_memo.html