One might be tempted to think that “reviving the Christian imagination” means to revive story-telling, painting, or music with virtue and a Christian worldview; to emulate Tolkien, Rembrandt, or Beethoven in our contemporary context. While this may be part of that revival, I believe it shows an anemic imagination to limit it in this way. Ekstasis helps me recognize that to revive the Christian imagination is to see everyday joys and sorrows in vivid color rather than monochrome tones, and to recognize that our life stories have depth and meaning because of the Author of Life himself.
A revived imagination enables us to see shades of blue and purple in the dark night of the soul, to recognize the detailed brushstrokes of the Painter in the apparent drudgery of day-to-day existence, and to hear the symphony of the Creator in the wind, birds, and cars outside our bedroom windows. Ekstasis invites me to love God with my imagination.
