The Importance of Imagination

I'm working on a couple big posts currently; however, this is a big week for the American teachers at school because we are beginning an English club -- one of those big posts to come. So to show that I am still alive and kicking, and to give you something to think about, I want to offer an excerpt from a blog post I just read yesterday. This except comes from a post on Banned Books (last week was banned books week) by Sara Zarr. Sara Zarr is a YA author, currently serving as a judge for the national book award. Here you are:

"Imagination is a prerequisite for…everything. Without it, there is no chance for change, growth, hope, faith or peace. If those who have religious reasons for challenging or banning books want to raise up a generation that has religious faith, they’d better be on the side of imagination. If you have a faith, as I do, that centers on a in a God you can’t see, touch, or hear, you’d darn well better have a limber imagination or else that faith will be dry, impersonal, and academic. Which will make it easily lost in the thick of life. If you want a Godless generation, the surest way to achieve that is being anti-imagination, being scared about thinking about things beyond your direct experience.

Books that are about people exactly like us—who believe like us, live like us, love like us, think like us—don’t require very much engagement of the imagination. Sure, they might trigger self-centered fantasies that since we’re sort of like the girl in the book, maybe we could have that boyfriend, those clothes, that social status. And there’s nothing wrong with that. Entertainment is good. But it’s not the same as deep engagement of the imagination, which is the first and most powerful stepping stone to empathy, compassion, and the beginnings of creative problem solving, and thereby hope for change where change is much needed. In the world or just in our own little spheres and communities. "

If you would like to read the whole post, go to sarazarr.com. She also has other fantastic posts that I encourage everyone to dive into -- one recent post about faith that gives links to some other interesting posts.