Here we see a pair of slipper socks, right? Those with a more imaginative eye might transform these same socks into sleeping bags for small, porcelain children.

According to Father Anthony DeMello, S.J. in his book Sadhana a Way to God, imagination can be a “valuable element in our prayer life, as it is in any healthy emotional life.” He tells the story of the Spanish Carmelite nun, St. Teresa of Avila who, “scaled the heights of mystical union with God” using fantasy and imagination practices.

“She had a very distracted mind, and couldn’t find any inner silence even for a few minutes. She lived to be grateful for the fact that her mind was such a scattered one, because she was forced to take her prayer out of the realm of thought and into the realm of affection and fantasy.”

Distractibility may be a condition familiar to many of us. As our pace of living accelerates and we stagger under competing choices and information overload, it becomes challenging to find some breathing room. Distractions for St. Teresa in the 16^th century were far different from our own. Yet, viewing distractions with gratitude as St. Teresa chose to do might have potential for invigorating our own contemplative practices.

Teresa selected imagery subjects from the natural world, so they remain accessible to us five centuries later. She imagined herself as a, “sponge soaked with the presence of God.” She visualized having a “fountain” or the “brilliant sun” in her heart-center “giving light to every part” of her being.

How might we cultivate our imaginative essence to bring beauty to our contemplative practices?

-Betsy Schussler

de Mello, Anthony (1979) Sadhana a Way to God: Christian exercises in eastern form. St. Louis, MO: The Institute of Jesuit Sources.