"In the Kabbalah, the medieval Jewish mystical work, we are instructed that 'the fierce power of imagination is a gift from God.' To call imagination a 'fierce power' is to warn us that we are wrestling with wild forces when we enter the arena of creativity A wrestling match not unlike Jacob struggling with an angel can be anticipated. . . .
"Just how fierce is this power of imagination? Consider that a few years ago in a county in New Hampshire the fundamentalists were elected the majority in the school board. Their first decree was to declare that henceforth no teacher in a public school in that district was allowed to use the word 'imagination' in the classroom. Fear. Fear of imagination. Fear of its fierceness. When I inquired of some citizens of the area what it was that the fundamentalists were afraid of, they responded: 'Satan. Satan lives in the imagination.' Well, that is certainly true. Satan lives there. God also lives there (if we let Her), and everything possible and impossible. Being and nonbeing dwell in our imaginations. Thomas Aquinas say the human mind is 'infinite.' That's the wonder and the power of the imagination — it contains all things. It is huge. It is bigger than the cosmos. But we need courage to combat the fear that faces the fierceness of imagination and wants to shrink from the wild reality of it all.
"Notice that the Kabbalah counsels us that imagination is a 'gift from God.' That is saying a lot. It is telling us not to fear. Our powers come from Divinity itself. Grow up. Take responsibility. Get strong. Become adult about it all. Develop adult prayer and cease wallowing in childish (as distinct from childlike) projections that produce anxiety and fear. Yes, wrestle with the demons-don't give them so much power that they put an end to the best of human and Divine powers. Understanding that our capacity for image-making is a gift from God derives from the teaching that we humans are made in the 'image and likeness of God' (imago dei). It raises the question of our intimate relationship to the Divine."
