Another 4 Corners prompted post before I go back to my reflections on Living under Empire, although like that series this draws on the wisdom of Walter Brueggemann... After my slightly frustrated read of his book "Out of Babylon" and because of the themes of Imagination and Generosity that stand behind this year's 4 Corners Festival, I have turned back to Brueggemann's inspirational "Prophetic Imagination" where he says:
"It is the vocation of the prophet to keep alive the ministry of imagination, to keep on conjuring and proposing alternative futures to the single one the king wants to urge as the only thinkable one."
For king we can read zeitgeist/powers that be/popular culture/tradition... But I believe that we as Christians have a responsibility to offer an alternative hope-filled vision to the pessimistic, apathetic and/or selfishly individualistic perspectives of much of the media and/or political parties at present.
And in terms of our wee city I believe that this year's 4 Corners Festival makes a small but significant contribution to that role of imaginative vision casting... Indeed when I look at some of what is going on I feel that my contribution is akin to Charlie Brown's in the famous cartoon strip from 1960:
In this case "Je suis Charlie!" But whether we are a Linus or a Charlie, whether we paint pictures of inspiring saints and sculptors, or duckies and horsies with our imaginations, let us continue to exercise them and have them enlarged by the skills and inspiration of others... Four Corners is an opportunity to do that...
Shalom
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