Let me unpack that statement. I watch my boys play, either together or apart and the things they do make sense. Kyle, our youngest is still a little too young for this but our oldest, Elijah does what this blog will be about so well.
I've noticed that when Elijah plays he has a grand imagination. The way he captures me and his mommy as his audience goes to show that he does not imagine for the recognition or any kind of glory but simply because he himself is captivated by story.
When I watch him play with his "super heros", which the majority are bad guys or VEDOM, (Venom from Spiderman) he carries the story so well. To be completely honest with you he's hardly ever violent either. These are some of the things I witness when he plays...
That's just an example and one of the better pictures I have of him playing but you get the drift.
I only wish I could be inside his head as he plays. To see the story that drives his play. To see who he will rescue and why he does it. To see the outcome from his eyes. This is the power of the narrative. The power of story. We need to keep our kids dreaming. We need to challenge them with math but remind them to be mystics. To keep wonder as close as a whisper. Imagination can be a beautiful thing but when suffocated our children no longer are our children, they are our co-workers, our pastors, our teachers and yes, even our Presidents.
The power of story reminds us of who we are and what we were meant to do. To tell a story. A true story about a God who loved a people who were so lost. A story about a cross and an empty grave. A story about a King and a Kingdom. A story about struggle, about pain and about hope for those people. A story that makes sense.
Get involved with story. Tell a story. Imagine with me. Appreciate beauty because it is soon followed by wonder...
