A Practice in Building Our Imaginations for Another, Better Way
by Holly Porter Phillips
Most religions, including Christianity, ask us to have faith in what we cannot see. They ask us to believe in new possibilities. Faith calls us to imagine another, better way of living together.
In my Christian practice, the building of our imagination begins in childhood. The Bible has some of the most beautiful stories within its pages, like the one of a garden tended by humans living their days alongside God, or a star that lingers over the stable where a tiny baby is born, guiding visitors from the east. It has stories of a small, gentle boy who defeats a bronze-helmet-wearing giant, and a brave queen who uses her voice to protect her people. Of course there are terrifying stories of floods, plagues, and death, but there are also stories of multi-colored coats, burning bushes, waving palm branches, and emptied bottles of perfume that awaken our senses.
Each evocative story builds our imagination, and this doesn’t stop as we age. When we spend time engaging with theological concepts like incarnation (God putting on flesh), resurrection (restoration to new life), and the Imago Dei (created in the image of God), we continue to imagine new ways of being. Even as our faith evolves, we are using our imaginations to create something new.
Traditional theology holds that the whole of humanity is created in the Imago Dei (Genesis 1:26–27). This is sometimes expressed another way: that we each bear the very image of God. God who created the world and named it very good. God who loves unconditionally, without judgment or condemnation. God who lived in a flesh and blood body on this earth—laughing, napping, healing, crying, and loving this world. We bear the image of a God who continues to create and cultivate and permeate the world.
I believe as we begin to both view ourselves and others as image bearers, we expand our imaginations toward new and compassionate ways of living together in community. The two, though, cannot be separated. We cannot believe this about ourselves without believing it about others, and we cannot believe it about others before we believe it about ourselves. The belief that we are all created in the image of God is our starting point for this new, better way, and we are invited by God to continue to use our imaginations to hold this truth more each day.
I hope you’ll join me in this simple spiritual practice that expands our imagination of ourselves and those around us, calling us to believe we are beloved children, created in the image of God.
A Spiritual Practice for This Moment:
Begin by finding a moment to pause. You might choose a chair near a window, a quiet morning walk, or the final moments before drifting off to sleep. Take a few deep breaths and notice what is around you. What do you see? hear? feel? Notice the presence of God around you.
Gently place a hand over your heart and repeat these words to yourself:
I am a beloved child and
was created in the image and likeness of God,
who calls all creation (including me):
“good, good, very good.”
Return to this practice as often as you need the reminder of these words. Use it to expand your imagination about yourself and who God says you are.
A Spiritual Practice for Out in the World:
When you have done the practice above enough times that you know the words by heart, offer the practice as a silent blessing to the image bearers out in the world. While you’re waiting in line at the grocery store, stuck in the school pick-up line, or sitting in a pew on a Sunday morning—cover your heart with your hand and silently pray these words over those around you.
You are a beloved child and
were created in the image and likeness of God,
who calls all creation (including you):
“good, good, very good.”
Return to this practice as often as you need the reminder of these words. Use it to expand your imagination about those around you and who God says they are.
Holly Porter Phillips is a pastor, writer, and trained spiritual director (Anam Cara). She loves the slow pace of her work and the gift of walking alongside others. She writes on Substack at Alongside You, has written for Vita Poetica, Nevertheless She Preached, and is a contributor to Volume 1 of the Take More Retreats anthologies. Holly serves as co-pastor at a small church in Austin, TX, where she lives with her musician husband, their three kids, and a backyard full of birds. You can connect with Holly at www.hollyporterphillips.com.
