from Lyn Cox, Interim Leader
I was raised to be a fan of science fiction and fantasy books. My dad would keep paperbacks around the house, so that’s what I picked up to read as soon as I was able. When my mother needed to nap before an overnight shift at the hospital, the library was our #1 destination for keeping the house quiet.
As a young adult, I had a chance to hear the author Terry Pratchett (of blessed memory) speak at a convention. He said that one of the challenges with writing fantasy novels is that you have to make the plot believable. Reality just has to happen and is under no such constraint. “Believable,” is, of course, flexible when it comes to literature. You can put gryphons and unicorns and talking trees in your books if you build the world with enough coherence to support those characters. Reality — at least in terms of political events and social trends — does not require coherence that is evident to the casual observer.
The good news about this is that we have examples all around us of the power of imagination. In our work toward a world in which love and justice cross all borders, we know that surprises are possible. Our human capacities for storytelling and creativity mean we do not have to accept things the way they are when the way things are causes suffering.
Imagination also helps us to question the stories that have been told to us, to imagine what happened in the gaps of the history books, and then to check our theories with primary sources. As I mentioned last November in reference to the Dunning School of historiography, sometimes it’s worthwhile to re-check what we’ve been told. Learning about the flowering of human rights in the early days of Reconstruction helps us imagine that expanding racial justice is possible, and to be prepared for the various kinds of backlash with which white supremacy responds. A better world is possible. The status quo is not destiny.
Imagination equips us with tools for liberation, with avenues for joy, and with the capacity for empathy. Imagination exists in harmony with observation and rationality. Imagination helps us to think outside the box, to construct new solutions to old problems, and to process our feelings through story when the direct route is too overwhelming.
Part of our work together during the Interim period is to imagine the WES that you want to become in the future. The Board is doing some of this work as they ask questions about the Statement of Purpose. The Community Relations Committee is doing some of this work as they ask questions about how members and friends relate to one another. Our endeavors for internal ARAOMC and external racial justice work are part of imagining the WES and the surrounding community of the future.
I look forward to a 2021 that brings us together in a creative interchange of mind and heart as we imagine the future.
Take care,
-Lyn