p. 109 | The Imagination by Jos. CLARKE

Pacific Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Oakland, California · Mar 9, 1876

The Imagination.

By Jos. CLARKE

THE imagination is said to be that power of the mind which “forms ideas of things, communicated to it by the outward organs of sense.”

Thus you may never have seen the falls of Niagara, but they have been described to you, and you can see with your mental vision a picture of this tremendous cataract, and you fancy that you almost hear the confusion and din, and awful roaring of this great waterfall; or you hear of a railroad accident, and you at once bring to your mind an image of the dire event; you see the train, as its weight crushes the frail timbers of the bridge over which it had almost passed, and as it tumbles, with all its freight of human life, into the abyss of waters below, you hear the cries, and see the helpless, doomed passengers, as they sink in the waters far from human aid.

Without the imagination, reason and judgment could not exist. Each power of the mind is dependent upon the other for its harmonious action; but it is when these powers become evil, or become subject to evil influences, that they produce mischief.

Now, it is said in Genesis 6:5 that the imagination of man's heart was only evil continually. It appears from this that the imagination of the heart was the inlet, or door, by which evil was communicated to the mind of man. If it was so in the days of Noah, it is not less so now. The imagination is first influenced, and soon the reason and will are led captive, while the conscience is lulled by the opiates of sin.

It was not intended by the Creator that the imagination should have control of the mind; but that the reason, and the judgment, and the will, should stand up and control the imagination and prevent the wild and lawless exercise of this faculty.

Habits become rooted by indulgence; and often the victim of evil imaginations becomes insane in pursuit of its beloved pictures; reason is laid aside, and the judgment is put in the background, and our hospitals and asylums are not the only places where such examples are to be found.

Robert Dale Owen, in his retreat, is a melancholy example of a diseased imagination, which had fallen in the meshes of Satan, and had ceased to be controlled by the law of God. That law is a noble gift to man. It has the wonderful art of producing harmony in the mind of man.

The imagination must be brought into subjection to the will, and the will must be enlightened by the reasoning powers, and directed by the judgment, which must be sanctified by the word of God and by prayer.

Age does not cure this malady unless religion accompanies the lapse of time: “Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life,” says the wise man. That is, control the thoughts and wanderings of the mind, bring it all into order and purity of thought, let all its travels be on good and wise and laudable employments and errands.

The man, the woman, the youth, the child who does this, has business for a lifetime; but it is a business that pays as it goes. It brings sweetness of temper and clearness of mind. It brings sound sleep, temperate passions, and healthy appetites. It holds old friends, and wins new ones. It lessens the wear and tear of every-day life, and brings happiness and peace to the social circle. It is the lawless imagination which feeds the fires of jealousy and envy; but when the imagination is subjected to the impartial law of God, it is robbed of its poison and becomes a strong and useful servant to the reason.

If, then, the imagination is the great mirror, in which holy conceptions are reflected and conveyed to the mind, how careful should we be to keep it clean and pure, so that the Spirit of God may not be grieved away from us.

Jos. CLARKE.