I Never Imagined

The one who walks with God always gets to their destination.

—Henrietta Mears

I Never Imagined

Once again, I tried six times to make this video via Substack’s video option.

I felt the message was strong enough to keep going and so here is my heart on my iPhone video.

As I walked and thought about the significance of this day—Palm Sunday—I thought to myself, “I never imagined that I’d be outside the four walls of a church on Palm Sunday.”

Yet, here I am.

All the reasons aren’t necessary for today, but the continuing thoughts as I walked home are.

When we find ourselves in places “we could never imagined being,” I wonder if it isn’t wise to begin reimagining God’s heart for our lives.

What Does it Mean to Reimagine?

Burnout is often as much about the resistance to making these changes as being worn down by what we cannot see to change.”

—David Whyte, Consolations 2

Let’s break this down for a minute.

First, to imagine is “to form or have a mental picture or idea of something.”¹

To reimagine is “to have a new idea about the way something should be.”²

So, reimagining involves “forming a new mental picture or idea of something.”

As I interpret this, it means I have to see what I can’t see.

That is where God enters the picture.

Burnout Calls for a Courageous Claiming

Burnout calls for a courageous claiming, I need to recognize that I do need a holiday, a break, a pilgrimage away from the familiar—and for much longer than anyone else will allow me.

—David Whyte, Consolations II

I just love David Whyte’s words here: Burnout calls for a courageous claiming.

It’s not a “name and claim” claiming.

Claiming is “asking for something you have a right to.”³

As a child of God, I have a right to ask for new vision (Ephesians 1).

So, today, on this Palm Sunday, I am asking for new vision—specifically for help in ways in which I cannot “see” how to change—vocationally and relationally.

I invite you to join me on this pilgrimage towards the aria of Easter.

In this “I never imagined” space may we reimagine new possibilities.

1. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/imagine

2. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/reimagine

3. https://www.thefreedictionary.com/claiming