Exodus Books Newsletter: Imagination Part 1 - March 2011

Method One: Keep Your Children Indoors as Much as Possible
or, They Used to Call It "Air"

Most of contemporary life happens within walls where children who are snatched from woods and fields end up too often in front of the computer or the TV. Neon lights and smog (both physical and mental) fill their visual fields and cloud their minds. Even if they could see the wonders of the world around them, they would be too bored to be moved by them. In this day of Google Earth and movies filmed in exotic locales, one can travel and explore the world without leaving the comfort of the armchair. But is it real? Do we really grow and develop as we sit and stare at so many electronic blips? Outside the walls we erect around our bodies and our minds is a genuine world waiting to be experienced. From the ants marching in a line though they have no drill sergeant to the sky which "startles us out of our dreams of vanity, silences our pride, and stills the lust to get and spend," the created universe will push us beyond ourselves. (read blog post)

Method Two: Never Leave Children to Themselves
or, If Only We Had a Committee

“People who can organize themselves and accomplish something as devilishly complicated as a good ballgame are hard to herd around....They become men and women, not human resources. They can be free.”

Children will simply not develop their characters if everything is always kept perfectly safe and fair for them. When we adults insert ourselves into their activities we will often over-manage them, emphasizing fairness and fun for all. By removing the risks, we take the joy of discovery out of it, eliminating any chance they had to grow and mature. Instead of just following directions they will have to work things out on their own—whether it's a game or a conflict—and the way they work it out will reveal to their fellows whether they are "Good Sports" or "Sore Losers." (read blog post)

Method Three: Keep Children Away from Machines and Machinists
or, All Unauthorized Personnel Prohibited

Give kids time, space and equipment to experiment whether it’s in the backyard (with rope, wood and a tree), in the garage (with wires, batteries and screws), in the garden, the kitchen or the sewing room and watch them acquire inquisitiveness, observation and a probing mind. If they can learn about The Way Things Work from people who truly understand and delight in their craft, their imaginations will grow all the more. Don't try to limit them to what they can pull out of the arts and craft drawer and spread out on the kitchen table (though that might be a good start for toddlers). Don't restrict them to hobbies that might be the beginning of a career path. So much of what looks like pointless tinkering to parents is developing our children into creative, dominion-minded people. (read blog post)

Method Four: Replace the Fairy Tale with Political Cliches and Fads
or, Vote Early and Often

"When you starve your child of the folk tale, you not only cramp his imagination for the time being. You help render vast realms of human art (not to mention life) incomprehensible."

Fairy tales are full of characters that are recognizable for their types: the damsel in distress, the knight in shining armor, the evil step-mother... The world they inhabit is a moral world where good is good and evil is evil. The two are at war but we know that good will always triumph. These stories and the people in them may be exaggerated or simplified, but they are like a child’s palette of colors, you know, the ones that come in the Crayola eight pack of crayons. To a child the sky is blue and trees are green. As he grows he will learn that the sky is sometimes gray and trees turn vibrant red, orange and yellow in the fall. His understanding of the basics will be a firm foundation upon which to build a deep appreciation for the variety, richness and complexity of life. (read blog post)

Method Five: Cast Aspersions on the Heroic and Patriotic
or, We Are All Traitors Now

"Learn to despise the place where you were born, its customs, its glories and its shame. Then stick your head in a comic book. That done, you will be triple armored against the threat of a real thought, or the call of the transcendant."

The past is like a secret room in an old house filled with ancient armor, antiquated odd tools, and books recalling words and deeds of men and women who now lie in their graves. We come into the presence of those who once were as we are and are now as we will someday be. When children go into such a room they will bring those people—larger than life—into their own lives. The past is simply there, never to change, and this constancy reflects the eternity of God. “It presents to the young mind a vast field of fascination, of war and peace, loyalty and treason, invention and folly, bitter twists of fate and sweet poetic justice.” When that past is of one’s own people or country or church, then it makes claims upon our honor and allegiance and fires the imagination all the more. “A man with a past may be free; but a man without a past, never.” (read blog post)