Pure Imagination

by Tracy Hubbard (c) Hubcatstide2025

A second-grade teacher assigned her students to draw a picture that inspired them. As she walked around the classroom watching her students draw and color, one of the little girls was sitting at her desk with her eyes closed and her paper blank. The teacher leaned down and whispered, “Suzie, are you okay?

“Yes, why?”

“Because you haven’t drawn anything?”

“I’m going to draw a picture of Jesus.”

“But, Suzie, nobody knows what he really looked like.”

“They will in a minute.”

The birthplace of science, of penicillin, of balloons and homemade cakes and pies, of architecture, bridges, clean water, Marg's moving art, orchards, musical instruments, poetry and songs, airplanes, and playing with grandchildren as we chase invisible dragons, climb castle walls to kiss the sleeping princess or ask Santa for glass slippers...the birth place for all these things and more, is imagination. Peace treaties between couples and nations are created out of imagining more of what is life giving and sustaining for the relationship. Our recycling has loving energy because we imagine our children's, grandchildren, and future generations of souls who will become human, living in a safe, peaceful, and reciprocal relationship with our planet, and with all who share space on our beautiful Earth that is constantly spinning in our galaxy while gravity holds us where we are in every moment.

When Albert Einstein was seven years old, he was sent home from school with a sealed envelope addressed to his mother. Imagine how scared he must have felt, how defeated, and different from all the other kids at school. He walked through the door with his head down and handed his mother the envelope. She opened it and silently read, “Mrs. Einstein, We have sent Albert home from school. This is a permanent decision by our faculty. Albert’s mind wanders and wonders all the time. We do not know how to educate a child with his mental deficiencies. We wish Albert the very best in his future.” Albert’s mother placed the letter back in the envelope and smiled at him. She knelt in front of her son and said, “Albert, you have such a beautiful mind and imagination. You want to know how things work, where we came from and where we are going. Your school is not equipped to teach a brain and heart as curious as yours. We will find you a new school who will help you become everything you dream of being and doing.” Albert’s mother’s heart and wisdom set him on a very different and life affirming trajectory that changed our world.

Einstein’s curiosity, his imagination, his constant questioning, and his relentless search for meaning, brought humanity logical and quantum answers for many things that were yet undefined. When I close my eyes, I can see him leaning back in a chair with his messy hair, which he never imagined could have been controlled by hair gel, saying, (my paraphrase), "After all I know is true, I now know that God exists, nature proves this. And no matter how far and wide our minds can expand, divine energy exists and holds all of the known and unknown together, and we will never understand it.”

For Einstein, the experience of the mysterious was at the core of both scientific inquiry and spiritual awe. It was this mystery—the vast, intricate, and often incomprehensible nature of the universe—that he chose to call "God." This sense of mystery was not about ignorance but rather about the acknowledgment that the universe is far more complex than humanity's limited understanding can ever fully grasp.

For anyone that has had surgery, especially a life saving neuro one, whether ten years ago, twenty, or fifty, at one time in our history, those surgeries, and certainly their possible outcomes, were science fiction.

Imagine if Ignaz Semmnelweis had not imagined why all the women were dying in childbirth. He looked for the answer, discovering it was due to surgeon's not washing their hands between surgeries. 

Last Wednesday, while I was preparing my home and some food to host some friends, I had on Grey's Anatomy. The episode was centered around looking for hope during the pandemic. An Indigenous woman was in labor, while her grandfather was in emergency surgery due to Covid complications. The woman in labor asked the attending OBGYN to save her placenta because she would take it home and bury it on her ancestral land so her child would know where she came from and she could always ground herself there. 

After Rosie, her little girl is born, the mother and father are able to talk with her grandfather via Zoom and introduce him to his great granddaughter. The grandfather introduced himself to Rosie and tells her his name. He says, "Rosie, you come from the Salish People We live on the Southern Coast Salish Land where we have planted, harvested, and worked together with Mother Earth. For generations we have swum in her waters, danced in her rain, and accepted her gifts of food, warmth, and shelter with gratitude. Right now, Mother Earth and all who inhabit her beautiful home are experiencing a horrific and devastating time, where hope is difficult to imagine. You will grow to learn how humans had to survive and wait for hope during our devastation, and it is difficult to imagine that we will be able to be together in harmony again. As you grow, you will also learn that your birth brought a new light, a new energy, and a new hope to us we could have never imagined without you. I promise to tell you this story and remind you of all your gifts and possibilities. I promise to walk with you as you create your own story that you will share with your great grandchildren. Our oral traditions of sharing what we imagined and then lived our lives creating are our richest gifts. Our stories of our imagining, our strength and who we have become, change the way we perceive what is happening, and living in this truth helps us evolve into better, stronger, and more loving energy. Thank you for coming and changing our world with hope" and I will add, bearing the gift of rose-colored glasses during a very dark time in our history. 

After I watched this scene, I returned to my kitchen island. I sliced into a lemon and took a moment to inhale its fragrance. I looked out my window and imagined the trees talking with one another in the wind and below ground with their roots. I watched Ruby's new friend, Rosie, the baby Marmot, creep up on her rock and stand up and run her hands together as she looked for Ruby to come to the window so they could stare at one another. Neither one makes a sound when they are together, they simply stay fixated on the other, sometimes thirty minutes communing without words. Boats and paddle boards holding people were floating on the surface of the Okanagan, while some were casting into her depths. A Hummingbird checked in on the feeder I have and then came to the window humming, wearing what looked like a smile, conveying her thanks for the refreshing cold sugar water during an extremely hot day. I closed my eyes for a second and imagined Ruby, Rosie, and Hummer sitting on the same rock, talking, and laughing with one of Elaine and John's cherries in their hands, paws, and feet. 

How lucky we are to slice lemons and smell their invigorating perfume. How lucky we are to be able to watch the waters of our Lakes flow in ripple dances and concentric circles. How lucky we are to be able to entertain friends, FaceTime our grandchildren, and taste the fruits our planet gifts to us. 

The world we live in today is shaped by human imagination – by the ideas, the dreams, and the visions that emerged from the minds of individuals throughout history. This miraculous force, the ability to conceive of something that doesn’t yet exist and bring it into reality, is what has driven every breakthrough, every invention, and every innovation that has changed the world. It is the single most powerful force for human progress, and it is something we can never afford to lose or diminish.

Creativity is not a process that can be automated, nor is it something that can be replaced by mere efficiency. Creativity is born from deep thought, from a willingness to ask “Why?” and from the courage to explore the unknown. It is through human imagination that we find new ways of thinking, innovative solutions to old, present, and future problems, and new paths to follow when the road ahead seems uncertain.

The greatest thinkers in history – the ones who have fundamentally changed the course of humanity – did not simply follow trends. They didn’t merely accept the world as it was; they envisioned – imagined- how it could be. They operated at a level that went beyond what was tangible and ventured into the realm of what was possible. The power to imagine, to think beyond the status quo, is the true miracle. It is what has allowed humanity to evolve and progress in ways that were once thought impossible.

When Michael Angelo was asked how he created the statue of David he replied, “I removed everything that wasn’t David.”

This month, the Visioning Team will begin our work which in time, will be presented to you for feedback, conversation, and then implementing what we have imagined with the Spirit forward. May we listen well, pray intentionally, and laugh loudly as we create the road ahead by walking together. We already know what we need and what Lake Country needs…every person needs to live into what makes them come alive. May it be so, amen.