regaining imagination

Yesterday morning my husband and I's debate began by my asking him what he had done the previous evening (I was hanging out with my girlfriends). He told me that he had watched the film "Glory"- the 1998 civil war film highlighting the bravery of the African Americans who fought in the 54th Massachusetts volunteer infantry. His comment "the self sacrifice they displayed is the most powerful force in the world" sparked my agreement that self-sacrifice is indeed the most powerful force on the planet, but my dissent in the context of war being the best way to display it. Of course he wasn't arguing that war was the best way to embody this truth, but for the sake of the discussion that so often ensues in our bed late into the night or early in the morning, our practically nonexistent point of disagreement was highlighted to heighten the spiritedness of our conversation.

Most of my points were inspired by my recent completion of Shane Claiborne's Jesus for President. Although the first half was similar in focus to Rob Bell's "Jesus Wants to Save the Christians," my favorite section was near the end where Claiborne highlights communities who are resisting evil and violence with creative imagination. One of the most memorable stories he told was of a Christian community in Belize that was constantly plagued by armed bandits who were stealing money from families homes. Rather than contact the authorities or arm themselves they decided to change their currency to a form that would not be recognized anywhere else than in their community (I guess they didn't need to rely on their country's monetary system much). There was one particular man, however that repeatedly robbed a family of their possessions and was eventually thrown in jail. The community decided to get together and build this man (a person who had no house of his own) a house within their community. When he was released from prison they were there to greet him and present him with this gift and invite him and his family to live among them.

I don't have the creative imagination needed to envision this sort of nonviolent, loving response to aggression, but when I hear stories like this I am inspired to hope that this is possible, and believe that Christ's vision for the world extends beyond my limited practicalities. Perhaps as a community of believers we can together believe in the power of Christ enough to imagine that building the kingdom of God is possible.