Smallritual

Imagination

From Grace service Acts of imagination

the cosmos was a seed once
god showed it to a woman in a vision
she saw a thing like a hazelnut in his hand
it was so tiny that only god’s love kept it from vanishing
what is it, she asked
it is all that exists, said god

imagination is a seed, almost nothing
only our love keeps it in existence
it is waiting for a place and time to open
a future packed into a suitcase

some seeds are scattered like sand
most will die but it doesn’t matter, as long as one or two live

some seeds are single and armoured
their strength is in waiting and hiding, until conditions are exactly right
maybe it will take years

a seed does not grow by simply getting bigger and bigger
until it crowds out everything around it
nor does it live forever in its first form
to expect this shows a lack of imagination
and yet that is how we expect most human things to grow

the economy of god is different
seeds split, divide, reach down, reach up
become something totally unlike their first selves
give food and beauty and shelter
and recreate themselves in seed before dying
then they die, so their seeds can live

god took her imagination
and squeezed it into a ball no bigger than a hazelnut
sustaining it with her love
and suddenly all that exists came bursting out
until there was us
each bearing a tiny seed of imagination
what will you do with it?

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