Spiritual Wisdom from a Six Foot, Three and Half Inch White Rabbit

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Harvey – a great black and white movie starring Jimmy Stewart, is one of my favorites. Elwood P. Dowd’s best friend is a six foot, three and half inch invisible white rabbit who accompanies him throughout his day helping him. The movie also has some great spiritual lessons too:

Ponder these delightful quotes from Elwood:

“Well, I’ve wrestled with reality for thirty-five years, Doctor, and I’m happy to state I finally won out over it.”

“In this world, you must be oh so smart or oh so pleasant. Well, for years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.”
“I always have a wonderful time, wherever I am, whoever I’m with.”

“Harvey and I warm ourselves in these golden moments. We came as strangers – soon we have friends. They come over. They sit with us. They drink with us. They talk to us. They tell us about the great big terrible things they’ve done and the great big wonderful things they’re going to do. Their hopes, their regrets. Their loves, their hates. All very large, because nobody ever brings anything small into a bar. Then I introduce them to Harvey, and he’s bigger and grander than anything they can offer me. And when they leave, they leave impressed.”

God accompanies us in our daily walk too. Now I am not saying God is an invisible tall rabbit, but though others cannot see him with earthly eyes, we see him and know he is with us.

What a wonderful offering to us from God – the gift of imagination. Using our imagination can help us recognize where God is touching our lives.

Active imagination is a “tool in which a bridge is establish between one’s conscious and unconscious self through the use of imagery.” (Alan Jones)

Imagination helps us find the language to express what our souls and mind find as inexpressible. Encounters with the holy are often rooted in symbols and images.

“Imagination is the creative task of making symbols, joining things together in such a way that they throw new light on each other and on everything around them. The imagination is a discovering faculty, a faculty for seeing relationships, for seeing meanings that are special and even quite new.” (Thomas Merton quoted in The Celtic Way of Prayer by Esther de Waal)

How can we use imagination in our search for healthy spirituality?

1. Take a well known Bible story – The Good Samaritan, Peter walking on the water or the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, for example. Quiet yourself and reread the story slowly. Imagine yourself one of the characters: the beaten victim left to die, one of the disciples sitting in the boat watching Peter, the unnamed person walking with a friend toward Emmaus. What are you feeling? What do you see/smell/ taste/ hear? Imagine with great details – the dusty road, the salty sea. What does Jesus say? Imprint his face, his eyes in your memory. Journal about your experience.

2. Try a guided imagery experience. Either have someone read it for you or have one already recorded in a CD player.

3. What is your image of God? A judge? Someone sitting far away. A companion? A friend? Earlier this summer I could easily imagine God as a gardener and now lately I see him in an artist smock painting the tips of the rapidly changing leaves with crimson and gold.

4. When we enter a time of silence in prayer, see in your mind’s eye Jesus sitting next to you. Often I sit in one chair and “see” Jesus in the other chair listening with me, praying for me, healing me with his touch and loving me with his eyes.

How have you used imagination in your spiritual walk? How you used any of these methods to help you feel closer to God?

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Comments

  1. blankLeeAnn@Encouragement Is Contagious says

    Oh how I love your idea of imagining God as an artist and painting the tips of the fall leaves in crimson and gold. I love to create and paint myself, so this image is really special to me. Thank you for putting this image forever in my mind Jean!

    Your posts are awesome!

    Lee Amm

  2. blankKaren says

    Good story as an example of this truth. I like to quiet myself and peruse the verses. Let them settle into my mind, as a current event.

    Good post, Jeanie