Musings from the Ozone

The Stuff that Dreams Are Made of (1858), painted by John Anster Fitzgerald

This word is fascinating! The very word, image, can cause one to dredge up even more images, although like a bird, hovering over an intensely interesting piece of food, I am wanting to land on a definition that will precisely express the meaning of image. Alas, I am on a slippery slope, for it appears that there can be no exact interpretation; this word even begins on the premise that it is an illusion. It can take on a mirage of meanings…..that is, no precise meaning. What a mumble-jumbled bit of nonsense, but that is the way we have to begin our analysis of what is an image.

The dictionary defines image with approximately 6 different meanings. It can be an actual picture, or it can be just a mental picture of something or somebody. The picture or image that we are most familiar with, is the mental picture we have when we think of images.The other definitions represent the word image; such as what we see when we look in a mirror, or what we see when we take a picture of something. However, the image in the mind is what we are most familiar with when say image and it is also what I want to write about. It is an enigma and a mystery to us.. An artist can paint an image that is in his mind, but doesn’t he have to have some idea of what this image will be like before he produces it on canvas? Reality is what we call the things we can see with the naked eye but philosophy teaches us that even reality isn't trustworthy. If we can't count on the things we see as being real, just how can we imagine things in our mind, and trust their dependability? How can we consider the images we conjure up about people and things, to be concrete or totally true? The very word appearance means the way somebody or something looks or seems to other people! We appear to others according to the way they imagine us!

The word imagination is linked, of course, to image. It is not strange how the word image became tied up with the word imagination. I imagine the word, imagination, grew from the word image! I can imagine many things, so just bear with me until I reach the end of my imaginations! We could use the word thinking, rather than imagining, but it doesn't have the same ring to it; thinking conjures up an image in your mind of your thought processes taking on a business-like tone. Imagining things has come to mean someone is thinking a bit irrational. We tag people who imagine things as being off their rocker, so to speak. We are also careful to not say we were imagining things, because it would appear that we were making up unreal happenings and assuming things which aren't really true. Take the issue of flying saucers; while there are many people who say they have witnessed them, there are just as many people who think those folks are crazy and had just imagined they saw flying saucers.

Imagination is common in children. A vivid imagination can be entertaining or it can also put a person in great fear. The person who is always hearing noises or imagining that someone is stalking them and ready to break in their house, can become paranoid just from their thoughts. On the other hand, an artist can use his vivid imagination to be a more creative person than the norm; his imagination becomes a great tool. There are many people who would rather read a book than watch a movie, for they say that their imagination runs free to conjure up images from the descriptions in the book, in a more fascinating way, than seeing them displayed for them. Movies take away that freedom, for the images in movies are displayed according to another person's imagination rather than your own. My observation is that movies have dulled the imaginations in people; people become  passive watchers; they are spoon-fed the images, rather than do the work of imagining an image.

Without going too far out on a limb, and not being able to retrieve my first thoughts or imagination about images; I might add that some people will imagine how-to change things in movies, societies, schools, work places, colleges, congress, and even the world. These people are called many things. They could get titles such as inventors, rabble rousers, doomsday prophets, sore thumbs, philosophers, democrats (sorry, it had to be said) liberals, far left liberals, conservatives, right wingers, revolutionists and on and on. Generally speaking these folks do not like the status quo, and they attempt to make remarks, write indignant letters, start revolutions, challenge societies, become public nuisances, etc., until someone else sees their image of change, and will jump on the bandwagon with them.

I wish to show some examples of uplifting imaginations. The wild ones we know, but what about the genuinely pure and beautiful imaginations? There has to be a plus side of imaginations, and we should all strive for the best ones. My mother was such a person who possessed a great imagination. She didn't need a career or busy lifestyle to make her happy. When our family was young, it was poor, but I never was aware of that fact until I was in my late teens. It was because my mother always kept us entertained with her love of beauty. She tried to live up to the image of beauty that was in her head. She made her artificial flowers out of crepe paper, and they were really beautiful! She could sew, and she could cook. We never knew what new thing she would do next, because she pursued the beauty that she imagined in her mind. Her creativity was that of a contented home maker and mother. She arranged things to be not only neat and orderly but also to be warm and inviting. Coats were supposed to be hung up, rather than slung over chairs. Newspapers were not in sight. She believed in cleanliness and kept the tresses of 3 daughters clean, shiny and curly. She always set her hair at night, even though it didn't seem like we went anywhere to be seen. She just believed in being beautiful! She would put cream on her face every night and kept her diet healthy. I felt that she did these things for her most important relationships; her husband and us children, and I was not wrong. We saw the image she portrayed and it was one of beauty!  She was very fortunate, because she was a beautiful woman. Not many women can live very poorly, and look beautiful, but she managed her beauty on a budget.

I can still hear her complaints though, to this day, for those things which didn't really meet with her conjured up images of how things should look! In Indianapolis we lived in the city limits. Houses were close together, and only a little fenceseparated our yard from another yard. We had a sloping back yard, and it seemed that all of the water from the neighboring yards poured down rain water on that tiny backyard and washed out any grass seed our good dad tried to plant. Finally, one nice summer, daddy found the right seed for the yard, and it took hold. Although the grass was a bit sparse, it pleased my mother, for she had imagined our lawn would eventually look like a regular lawn! Daddy worked hard to make my mother's dreams come true. Mother always made daddy feel like he could satisfy her images of beauty.

The essence of beauty has a start in one's imagination. I am always amazed by elderly people who behave romantically, and still appeal to their mates. Somewhere in their lives they have held high a standard of love and beauty which, by all accounts, started in their early images of beauty and love. There are people who possess the ability to portray an image of beauty, even though they wouldn't pass in any beauty pageants. They portray this beauty through good manners, wittiness, excitement of life, spirituality, enthusiasm and zest. While these adjectives are actually images and descriptions, they are meaningful and recognized by the majority of societies.

The personal image we show to the public is not a static image either; since life is not static. We look at old pictures (images) of ourselves when we were 20 years younger, and we can almost fall off our chairs, when we realize that we have changed so much --or just too much! Our hair seems thinner. Our waists seem thicker. Our more youthful image has disappeared as it were, in a puff of smoke. If we can change so vividly in a physical manner,  why would we imagine that we have stayed the same way in a mental an emotional manner? We certainly hope we have changed to become more mature and wise adults. Our self- image has had to change, or we would be pegged as childish. We can no more retain the mentality of a 20 year old when we are 60, than we can have a 60 year old mentality when we were 20. The brain changes! The body becomes totally changed every 7 years! Cells die, new cells take over, we want to think we are the same person all our lives, but that is a fantasy. Some people continue to dress as they did when they were more youthful, but the image they wish to portray as youthful, is not the image that people see. Instead, they see a fat old lady or man trying to play at being young. If a person has managed to keep their weight off, there are still other signs of age that they cannot avoid. Why not be more sensible about self-images? Why not ditch the unbecoming styles at any age? When the latest fad is tightly fitted clothes, a slightly obese woman or man should look at themselves un-objectively in the mirror and say; "I look like a tightly wrapped sausage when I wear this stuff!"

Christians are most blessed people of all, because they have an image of Christ to hold close in their hearts. Jesus Christ was the example of all the virtues we want to experience in our lives. The image of Christ can wipe out our old and unbecoming self-image. The image of Christ must grow within our persons in order for us to become Christ-like. No longer should we limit the abilities of God, or bring him down to a human size. He can become everything we want Him to become! Our unbelief in Christ can also limit what we find and see in our lives. When we have an image of Christ in our lives, we find that it is also connected to our faith in God. What we see, by faith, can also become a reality. What we imagine, can change our thoughts into faith and belief. What we believe in, strong enough, can change our very lives. We become a 'new one in Christ Jesus!' Our self-image is contingent on many factors; whether people like us, whether we like ourselves and how we see ourselves. A Christ-like image is a totally different concept and is contingent on what we will do for Christ Jesus, in order to please Him; it asks us to do things we heretofore would have rejected out of hand! Give our tithes and offerings to the church? Pray all the time? Dress modestly? Love my neighbor? Go the extra mile? Give, without expecting anything in return? Have a conversation that is heavenly? Give up anger? Give up sinful behaviors? Love my enemies? Help the needy and unfortunate? Pray for peace in the world?

These new behaviors are inherent in the Holy Spirit and are the very image of Christ within our hearts! He fills the hungry with good things! We do not fulfill Christ-like behavior with our own carnal ways of doing things; we truly must have the infilling of His spirit to change our imaginations. We must allow the Holy Spirit to take over the reins of our lives. Romans 8:29 behooves us to," be conformed to the image of His son,"….that, being Christ Jesus.