Hope and the Imagination
Hope and the Imagination.
“Hope is the thing with Feathers”
‘Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,
And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.
I’ve heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.” (Emily Dickinson, 1861).
In this short poem, she is using a figure of speech as she encourages readers to think about the quality of hope. Hope is like a bird, she says indirectly, that has found a resting place in each person’s soul. Hope is a bird that sings without a human vocabulary, without the words of intellectual analysis or straightforward logic. Hope is not something we have to define, Emily seems to be saying, but hope is something important that can be described as we chase down its meaning. Hope is a song that sings to our spirit and not directly to our intellect. Songbirds are able to sing triumphantly even in the midst of a windstorm, without words to explain exactly what the song is about. Her testimonial to the resilience and mystery of hope speaks to a bird’s ability to confidently sing at the darkest part of the night, just before dawn. The songbird sings with certainty that the sun will soon rise, that the new day will begin. The bird is completely filled with hope in what will certainly happen soon.
In this poem, Miss Dickinson is following her own advice that she has said elsewhere, “Tell all the truth, but tell it slant.” When we want to present truth, she is saying, come at it sideways and not head-on. A blunt statement of raw truth will not be readily understood, she says, and deserves instead a more indirect approach that will capture our attention. Truth is better able to be taken in by each of us from the side, through the imagination, through figures of speech, illustrations, stories, art, poetry. Come at the truth at different angles and not straight on, she is saying. So in her “Hope” poem she has come at it sideways, at a slant, through the helpful metaphor of a bird, helping us to better understand the nature of hope. One wonders if her ‘bird’ in this poem might been referring to the eagle, since biblically the quality of hope is so directly applied to the eagle.
“They who patiently hope in the Lord by weaving together aspects of their lives with Him, will find their strength renewed. Trusting in the Lord, they will be able to lift off and soar like the eagles. When they are running their race, they will never get winded or weary; when they are walking through life, they will never become tired or give up.” (Isaiah 40:31).
The Crucial Role of the Imagination. Actually, the fired-up imagination is needed to believe as well as artistically create and empathize compassionately. Faith is dead without works, but faith will never even be born without imagination. How else can we be “certain of what we don’t see?” How else can we “understand that what is seen was not made out of what was visible?” (Hebrews 11). How can we recognize God’s presence in this world, or follow his unseen path, without a vivid, sharpened imagination? In many ways, faithlessness is a failure of the imagination.
METAPHOR. Jesus loved to inspire the imagination through His clever use of metaphor. He knew that the Jewish mind was accustomed to the use of metaphor due to the dominance of the Hebrew Bible. Generations of Jewish people were raised in a culture steeped in the myriad of metaphors in their Scriptures. They knew that people are like sheep, that God was similar to an eagle, that kings resemble shepherds. So Jesus jumped with both feet into this particular part of speech… Faith is like a mustard seed; a teachable heart is similar to fertile soil; building a faithful life resembles house construction. The Jewish audience was well-trained to engage their imagination so they were able to make the connections between one thing and another thing that has similar characteristics. In the Gospel of John, Jesus successfully used metaphor in all His “I AM” statements. He helpfully connected qualities of an everyday common object to His mission and status as the divine Messiah. He unpacked His nature in ways that the imaginative people of Israel could understand: I AM the Bread of Life; I AM the Light of the World; I AM the Gate for the Sheep; I AM the Good Shepherd; I AM the Resurrection and the life; I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life; I AM the True Vine. These simple metaphors, as with other more complex ones, were brilliantly spoken by Jesus to deepen their understanding of who He was and what He did. Parables were extended metaphors, and in other cases He went in the other direction and used one-liners as well. Jesus was a true master of capturing the imagination by cleverly saying that one thing is like another. Jesus was the master of metaphor.
More Metaphors for Hope in Scripture. Biblical writers also tried to tell the truth about hope at a slant, indirectly, through metaphor:
“Hope is a Helmet” (1 Thessalonians 5:8), protecting the mind. The importance of hope has been resurrected now by neuroscience. Brain research has uncovered the importance of hope to the degree that there is now a branch of neuroscience that is called “the science of hope.” Here we are in the 21st century, confirming that in the 1st century St. Paul was right on target when said that hope protects the mind. We now know that the emotion of hope protects the brain, like a helmet worn on one’s head. Science has proven that our brain was made to function much more effectively when we engage in hopefulness. Creator God made our brains to run best on the fuel of hope. One neuroscientist puts it this way, “Hope is as vital to the human brain as the oxygen we breathe.” (Professor Terry Small).
“Hope is an Anchor” (Heb. 6:19). A hopeful view of the future will tie us to eternity with God. Our hope is an anchor for the soul. This anchor is firm and secure. This is interesting, because it’s upside-down. This isn’t an anchor that goes down from above to the depths below. No, hope is an anchor that is first lodged up above in heaven, and then tied to us here below. This anchor is actually secured in heaven, and so it keeps us connected to heavenly matters, to eternal virtues, to the everlasting person of Christ. The anchor up there keeps you tied to the will of God down here. Hope will connect us to an anchor in glory, keep us tethered to that which will not diminish and fall apart here on earth. Keeping our hope alive will us anchor to life eternal.
“Hope is a Springboard” (Col. 1:5). Once again, Scripture talks about hope with the helpful use of metaphor. St. Paul says that love springs from the hope that is stored up for us in heaven. Hope is a springboard for love. When we embrace the future with hope, we are able to embrace the present with love. Love jumps out of hope, and love for our neighbor, love for our enemy, love for the stranger, love for God. If we can imagine a diving board at the swimming pool. Imagine love right now, today, approaching that board. A little timid, a little unsure of what is to come. And imagine that love having the courage to walk out on the diving board of hope, and jumping into the water with confidence and assurance. Hope is that diving board for love. Confidence in the future because of God’s goodness produces love, eagerly and joyfully anticipating good things around each corner. Hope is like a resurrection of the heart of love. Hope is a springboard.
Yes, as Emily Dickinson believes, hope is like a bird. And as Scripture contends, it’s also like an anchor, a helmet, a springboard. Tell all the truth, but tell it slant. Looking at truth by engaging the imagination will help us to better understand the truth of hope.
“We were given this hope when we were delivered. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. For who hopes for what they already have?” (Romans 8:24).