Imagine     Teresa P. Thompson     © Copyright 2004 by Teresa P. Thompson

Imagine Since the dawn of time, the one thing that we can count on being passed from generation to generation is the human imagination. Mankind’s ability to use his imagination is perhaps one of the biggest attributes we were blessed with. After all, if you stop and think about it, it took an imagination in order for someone to even begin to prove that the Earth was round and not flat. If Columbus had not used his imagination to figure this theory out he would never have had the need to prove it true.

 It took imagination for our forefathers to make the decision to come to the new world. They had to have, at some point, imagined a better way of life and worship for themselves and their families in order for them to become motivated enough to climb into ships and make such a dangerous trip to a world they knew nothing about.

 It takes the inside of a great imagination when a writer sits down to create stories as well as when an architect draws his floor plans of a New York skyscraper. It took imagination for the medical profession to advance into such modern placement. With every idea or issue that is born, we can be certain that it first began in someone’s imagination.

 Yes, it seems that the beginning of every dawn has begun with someone’s imagination. That’s why it shouldn’t be so difficult for any common man or woman to explore many possibilities with their imagination. Perhaps the time has come for us to sit back and close our eyes and use our imagination to foresee what this world of ours could turn into within the next several centuries unless some things begin to change for the better.

 Now let’s imagine: It is the year 5004 and things as we know them today have long been forgotten and left behind. Throughout the generations mankind has become more intelligent and self-sufficient than ever before in the history of the universe.

 Instead of paved highways and gasoline powered vehicles, we now have special roads for newly devised electrical cars where the vehicle is electrically engineered to follow the path of the roadway without the driver’s help. The vehicles are programmed to stop at the touch of a button, miles before the vehicle reaches its destination.

 Each community is laid out to scale with every house being built the same as the one before. Everything has now become programmed and is released in a space-age type of manner. Even the food we eat is sprayed from cans right onto our plates in the form of foam that within seconds becomes a hot delicious meal.

 The traditional vacation is no longer a trip to Disney World or an overseas adventure. The family vacation has now become even more than just going a few hundred or even thousands of miles from home. With the use of space ships and the invention of the space station it is now the “in” thing to take our loved ones on a trip to outer space. After all, over the past couple of centuries, mankind has discovered how to build a complete new world inside this space station. It is now equipped with every possible convenience from motels to theme parks. We even now have the ability to make a person to person telephone call from there to our loved ones back on Earth.

 These are only a few of the possibilities that can become a reality with the advancement of modern technology and the imagination of our future generations. So far everything seems so modern and has advanced for the better of humankind. But while we are seeing all these future possibilities, it seems that we need to go one step farther and explore other more important issues that we may be leaving behind.

 Now imagine: You are walking down one of those city streets in the year 5004 and you are thinking about what the history books say about our world during the ancient years of 2004. Yes, you have heard the stories and just as today when we hear about the 16th century it becomes difficult to imagine a time such as this 21st century. Nevertheless, we have our knowledge of this ancient time that has been passed down through the generations and we shake our heads in disbelief.

 Suddenly you find yourself standing in front of an antique book store. The mystery of the all the ancient books overwhelm you to the point that you just have to enter this dim-lit shop. You walk along the aisles of the store letting your fingers glide across each spine of every book.

 It is difficult to imagine that people once had to rely on these bound creations in order to read a story or study for an exam. Today all our collections and recordings of information is placed on a microchip that is so small we are able to carry an entire book store’s worth of information inside our jacket pocket. You find yourself amazed at the fact that for so many generations before you, people had to carry these huge bound books around with them. How lucky you feel to be living in this modern age.

 Now imagine: You find yourself standing in front of an almost empty book shelf in the back of the book store. Almost empty, meaning there is only one book placed in the middle shelf and it is completely covered with dust. You begin to become curious about its origins and its contents. The book looks familiar; however you know that you have never actually seen it before. Perhaps you have heard about it from someone, but your memory fails you at first. Your fingers begin to clear off some of the tiny particles of dust. Then suddenly the title begins to shine through the last layer of dust and you are certain that you have been told about such a book. Still it takes a moment for you to recall what you have heard about the book’s contents.

 Perhaps it was a grandparent, a teacher from years ago, a mention of this book by a casual friend, or perhaps you have heard about it from some type of literature that you have read along the way. Although you can not recall how you have heard of this ancient book of recordings, you somehow know that you have.

 Images and scenes begin to float through your mind almost like the memories of a fairy tale from your childhood. You begin to flip among the book’s silken pages and it is almost as though you have entered a long forgotten century of the world’s ancient history and even perhaps the world’s distant future.

 As you skim through the book you recall a story of a time long ago, where there was only one man and one woman living upon the Earth. You then remember hearing about how the first sin brought certain death to all of mankind.

 You read deeper and you find the story of how the first murder was committed against one brother by another. Then suddenly you are intrigued by a tale of water that God sent down to destroy the world with the exception of one loyal servant, his family and two of every animal on the Earth.

 As you flip among the pages even deeper, you come upon a story about the birth of an infant son to a virgin mother. You are so totally engulfed that you just have to read on only to find that this same infant son grew into a man who was our savior Jesus Christ. Curiosity sends you deeper into the book until you are now reading of his death and resurrection from an icy tomb. You are mesmerized by the hope that this one man brought to mankind through the cross where he was crucified for everyone’s sins. Your eyes widen as you read on to discover that the man who betrayed this savior into the hands of the enemy, hanged himself by the neck the moment he realized what he had done.

 You pause for a moment to catch your breath and composure, wondering why no one has ever told you these stories before. You know that you have casually heard of this book, but its contents were so vague that you never gave them much thought until now. As you come face to face with the stories of the history of mankind, you wonder if there is a story of the world’s future recorded in this book as well.

 You find yourself skimming through the book until you are momentarily stopped at the last section of this record of the world’s beginning and end. You are suddenly lost in the tales of seven plaques without a cure and find yourself wondering why this book speaks of many wars. You become spellbound by the story of a devil bound in iron chains and descriptions of things that no man could ever explain.

 As you read deeper into John the Revelator’s vision you realize what the world is coming to and what its end will consist of. But more than that, you begin to realize that all this destruction has been slowly brought on by mankind throughout the centuries. You begin to feel sorry for yourself, along with the rest of the world, because you have never heard these stories before in such great detail.

 It is apparent that in centuries past this book must have been the most famous and read book of all time. But somehow along the way, it has been forgotten and buried in a pile of dust where no one could ever read its accurate details of the world’s fate.

 Now imagine: You are standing there wondering how it all happened that such a book of truth could have been so long forgotten. The tears that fall from your cheeks are for the entire world, but you realize there is nothing you can do. You are just one person and no one is going to take the time to listen to this or even believe it. You close the book, place it back in its pool of dust and turn to walk away a different person than when you entered this little book store.

 “May I help you with something,” The lady at the counter asks as you make your way to the door.

 You nod and continue to exit the store; however your thoughts are “we all need help, but not from you, mam.”

 Now imagine: That you were one of the writers of this great book of prophecy. You were instructed by God himself to record these miraculous happenings. You devoted your life to this project that was to be handed down to the world throughout the remainder of time on Earth. But somehow along the way, modern technology, mankind’s intelligence, and the work of the devil mentioned in this book has all played a role in its nonexistence. You are saddened that it appears that your work has been in vain to this last several generations of the world.

 Now imagine: That you are the God who gave these recordings to be handed down through time. You gave your sons and daughters a weapon through this ancient book that would save their lives and they threw it away. This book was not only a collection of recordings of past, present and future, but a voice from you—your word written in ink---and it has now been abandoned by the very people you love so much.

 You gave the life of your only begotten son to redeem the world and somewhere along the way, they stopped hearing about it. They closed their eyes and ears from what you gave them and what you were saying to them; and your word now lays upon a dusty shelf for no one to hear. Throughout the generations the word stopped being passed down until it was totally forgotten.

 You bow your head and speak the fatal words “Time is at hand.”

 Now imagine: That you are one of the millions of people living during that time—one of the millions who have never and will never hear those words of God recorded in that ancient book. You are going along with your life in this modern day world filled with wonders and suddenly destruction fills the air around you. The angels that you have never heard of begin to pour their vials upon you through the breaking of Revelation’s seven seals. You close your eyes, you try to run and hide, but there is no cover from this invasion of the God of the universe. You see the graves open and you look into the sky and see the face of the author of this great book. But you have no idea who he is or what is happening. You hear his judgment and you feel the fire as he casts you into the pit of hell where he says that you shall burn forever and ever along with the beast and the false profit.

 Now just imagine: ..................................
 

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