Imagination

Albert Einstein said: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.” With all due respect to Einstein, I am not sure this is right. Can you say that facts or reality are less important? That is the world in which we live. That is where many of us start.
And yet we need imagination. It is the world that puts facts together into meaning. It is the world of the bigger picture. And it is the world of what can be. Imagination can take us from reality to action. Consider this news contributed by Rev. Staci Marrese-Wheeler of the Lakeview Moravian Community Church in Wisconsin. The Glenwood Moravian Church on Madison’s west side held a food drive but noticed that many of the canned food contributions were not being taken by those who needed food. The reason was that many lacked even the basics, such as can openers. When they added can openers to the drive, people in need were served. Some people start with a vision.
What made it possible to serve others was a “jump” from the facts of the situation to doing something in a new and better way. It was an idea that made the difference. It put the two worlds together. Where do our “facts” lead us? If we use our imaginations, what new things are possible?