Lifting to a New Thought
An Interview with Angela Young
A while back, I invited a few friends to submit their thoughts based on their experiences with divine imagination. Angela Young is a friend and gifted with very strategic skills, especially in crafting and processing identity. She was the director of Intel for The Warrior Commission and has been involved in several groups I’ve led.
Byron: I’d like to chat a bit about imagination. What’s your first recollection of dealing with imagination?
Angela: As a kid growing up in church, I sang songs with hand motions. This was a fun way to learn Bible stories and scriptures. One of these simple songs emphasizes ‘be careful’ what you hear, what you say, what you touch, and where you go. ” The song’s repetitive verses warn us to be cautious of what we allow to enter our minds and hearts (good or bad). These influences and experiences shape us as people and affect our thoughts and imaginations.
Byron: The influences around us indeed affect our thoughts and imagination. I know as a child I was a dreamer. That’s how I began writing, but somewhere I became afraid of dreaming, and I stopped. Did these outside influences affect you? How did you respond?
Angela: There was an invitation to refocus, to receive a new image, and lift to a new thought.
Byron: OH, I love that idea of ‘lifting to a new thought.’ It’s such a powerful image that our thoughts are lifted to a new dimension by the invitation to imagine.
Angela: True, this song taught me to be sensitive to what I look at, what I listen to, and what I do, for they can impact the growth of my imagination. However, then and now, my mind and imagination are constantly bombarded by the world's influences.
Byron: As we continued our conversation, I was interested in discovering what Angela felt might be the negatives.
Angela: Technology (specifically smartphones and TV) is always flooding my mind with unnecessary information. This information overloads and sows worldly, unrighteous seeds in my imagination garden. These seeds may become weeds of negativity, sadness, hopelessness, fear, confusion, and division that clutter my imagination. So, my imagination landscape needs constant tending to remove the choking weeds. It takes time and work!
Byron: I know Jordan Peterson has talked about our thought life. Paul, the apostle, writes about our thought life. Any idea why he focused on this in relation to the effects of negative thinking?
Angela: This is the reason Paul wrote to the believers in Philippi, encouraging them in what to think and how to think. Their thoughts and imaginations had become cluttered and confused. His instruction was profoundly personal and for each individual to consider. The invitation was to refocus, to receive a new image, and lift to a new thought. Paul provides a framework on how we should direct our thoughts, which will help us create a healthy (weed-free) imagination.
He writes, “…..whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them].”
Byron: I have to do this daily. I will create a pattern for myself to help start my day on a positive note. The scriptures are a part of this. It’s never about how much I read, but about connecting with Jesus through reading, thanksgiving, and prayer. It paves the way for a strong possibility of a positive return on my day. How do you see Paul’s words of encouragement?
Angela: Paul’s encouragement and wisdom are timely for us today. We, too, are invited to assess and examine what we are focusing on and imagining.
Byron: I believe this will be the first of several conversations. I so appreciate your heart and thoughts in imagination. Do you have any words to encourage us as we look to lift our thoughts to new heights?
Angela: Let’s be inspired by the Word to imagine and discover “the pure, spiritual, heaven-born possibilities that have their foundation in the Holy being of God,” as you turn your heart’s imagination towards the righteous wisdom God is generously raining down in the!
Byron: Thanks, Angela, for taking the time to connect with us here.