As I continue this journey to understanding the Holy Spirit, I have found myself taking a pause to consider a word we hear alot these days....Fantasy.
Why do we fantasize anyway?
For one thing, the truth of real life is something we all like to avoid at times...because it often includes the ugly and the unpleasant. The realities of life can bring sadness..and anger...all coming from disappointments and tragedies we face. Fantasies can conjure delightful settings that are like discovering an oasis in the deserts of our lives.
Fantasies can bring some light-hearted relief....a Mickey Mouse or Bambi as we have watched over the years in the World of Disney. The power of fantasies seem to find root in our lives when we are in times of scarcity, decline, or the feeling of hopelessness.
Fantasies can bring a fresh hope...even if they are false in nature, which are able to distract us from the mundanes of everyday life. The beauty of fantasies is it has the capability to divert the thought we are personally responsible..for misdeeds, for unpleasant situations, for the lifestyles we have chosen, or for plain stupidity. In a fantasy, we can put the blame on someone else, the world, our environment, the way others have treated us, or the "gods", and give us a hopeful thought that we can rescue ourselves...through a new "story line"...the way things are suppose to turn out in life...instead of what is actually going on.
Oh yes...what would we do without fantasies? Do we need them? Is there a way to create good fantasies?
Reality...a word that often leaves one with negative implications. Reality can cause us to have to work hard, be patient with life, and demand self-sacrifice. In regards to our social realm, reality has codes that involve limits, create boundaries, and appears at times to make us feel we are walking through the journey of life in an almost circular motion, doing the same routine...day in and day out.
Reality also reminds us...Death is real. We are unable to go back in time and change the past, and there are those times that "all good things...simply come to an end". Reality reminds us how fragmented we are...and conflicts are real.
So, what do fantasies do for us?
Fantasies have the power of thought to create a sudden transformation and actually reverse the hardships the journeys in life we have encountered. Fantasies also enables us to by-pass the elements of hard work and self sacrifice...all in one stroke! Fantasies allow us to enter a total different world...with a promise of "adventure"! In a fantasy, the boundaries...are no longer there!...codes in life are no longer needed!...and Death?...Death can be totally avoided! Everyone can get along in a fantasy...an experience that seems to produce a mystical union of our souls.
So, what's the problem? Fantasies strength lies in the fact...it is always distant...containing the power to allure...so simple and problem free! Even reality can be thrown out...just follow your fantasy...maybe...maybe...maybe some day.
There is a musical group calling themselves "The Flaming Lips" that wrote a song called "Bad Days". One excerpt from this song goes:
" You're sorta stuck where you are, but in your dreams
you can buy expensive cars, or live on Mars, and have it your way.
You may hate your boss at your job, but in your dreams
you can blow his head off...In your dreams...show no mercy."
As morbid as these lines from this song might be, we do in fact have power take our life's struggles...and dream how we would change them...or
we can submit our hearts to the Lord Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten our thoughts...teach us how to create thoughts that can be brought into our realities.
In looking up definitions of fantasy, the word fantasy is described as: a product of imagining the impossible or improbable things. Fantasies have no basis in reality and often have an almost mythological or folklore theme. The Urban Dictionary describes a fantasy as " a strong addiction usually with something not real ...and most likely never will be".
So, what do the Sacred Scriptures say about fantasies? Is there such a thing as a "Christian fantasy"...or is this phrase an oxymoron?
In 2 Peter 1:16, Peter makes one thing clear: " When we told you about the power and of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling some made-up story or stirring up some daydream with the result of "wishing on a star". No, we are laying out to you...the real facts of everyday life, for we saw Him...with our physical eyes...we saw the majestic splendor of His glory!"
More to come on this.....
Why do we fantasize anyway?
For one thing, the truth of real life is something we all like to avoid at times...because it often includes the ugly and the unpleasant. The realities of life can bring sadness..and anger...all coming from disappointments and tragedies we face. Fantasies can conjure delightful settings that are like discovering an oasis in the deserts of our lives.
Fantasies can bring some light-hearted relief....a Mickey Mouse or Bambi as we have watched over the years in the World of Disney. The power of fantasies seem to find root in our lives when we are in times of scarcity, decline, or the feeling of hopelessness.
Fantasies can bring a fresh hope...even if they are false in nature, which are able to distract us from the mundanes of everyday life. The beauty of fantasies is it has the capability to divert the thought we are personally responsible..for misdeeds, for unpleasant situations, for the lifestyles we have chosen, or for plain stupidity. In a fantasy, we can put the blame on someone else, the world, our environment, the way others have treated us, or the "gods", and give us a hopeful thought that we can rescue ourselves...through a new "story line"...the way things are suppose to turn out in life...instead of what is actually going on.
Oh yes...what would we do without fantasies? Do we need them? Is there a way to create good fantasies?
Reality...a word that often leaves one with negative implications. Reality can cause us to have to work hard, be patient with life, and demand self-sacrifice. In regards to our social realm, reality has codes that involve limits, create boundaries, and appears at times to make us feel we are walking through the journey of life in an almost circular motion, doing the same routine...day in and day out.
Reality also reminds us...Death is real. We are unable to go back in time and change the past, and there are those times that "all good things...simply come to an end". Reality reminds us how fragmented we are...and conflicts are real.
So, what do fantasies do for us?
Fantasies have the power of thought to create a sudden transformation and actually reverse the hardships the journeys in life we have encountered. Fantasies also enables us to by-pass the elements of hard work and self sacrifice...all in one stroke! Fantasies allow us to enter a total different world...with a promise of "adventure"! In a fantasy, the boundaries...are no longer there!...codes in life are no longer needed!...and Death?...Death can be totally avoided! Everyone can get along in a fantasy...an experience that seems to produce a mystical union of our souls.
So, what's the problem? Fantasies strength lies in the fact...it is always distant...containing the power to allure...so simple and problem free! Even reality can be thrown out...just follow your fantasy...maybe...maybe...maybe some day.
There is a musical group calling themselves "The Flaming Lips" that wrote a song called "Bad Days". One excerpt from this song goes:
" You're sorta stuck where you are, but in your dreams
you can buy expensive cars, or live on Mars, and have it your way.
You may hate your boss at your job, but in your dreams
you can blow his head off...In your dreams...show no mercy."
As morbid as these lines from this song might be, we do in fact have power take our life's struggles...and dream how we would change them...or
we can submit our hearts to the Lord Jesus, and allow the Holy Spirit to enlighten our thoughts...teach us how to create thoughts that can be brought into our realities.
In looking up definitions of fantasy, the word fantasy is described as: a product of imagining the impossible or improbable things. Fantasies have no basis in reality and often have an almost mythological or folklore theme. The Urban Dictionary describes a fantasy as " a strong addiction usually with something not real ...and most likely never will be".
So, what do the Sacred Scriptures say about fantasies? Is there such a thing as a "Christian fantasy"...or is this phrase an oxymoron?
In 2 Peter 1:16, Peter makes one thing clear: " When we told you about the power and of the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling some made-up story or stirring up some daydream with the result of "wishing on a star". No, we are laying out to you...the real facts of everyday life, for we saw Him...with our physical eyes...we saw the majestic splendor of His glory!"
More to come on this.....
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