In 1971, John Winston Lennon penned a song for all seasons, “Imagine.”  Over the years it didn’t match my own beliefs so I had mixed feelings about it, but I’ve changed. The world has changed too - dramatically.  Returning to the lyrics, don’t they make a lot of sense?

Imagine there's no heaven

It's easy if you try

No hell below us

Above us, only sky

Imagine all the people

Livin' for today

If we could only all live for today, as if we need to look after all people and all the planet, now for today and for the next generations…

Imagine there's no countries

It isn't hard to do

Nothing to kill or die for

And no religion, too

Imagine all the people

Livin' life in peace

Need I say anything?

Thor Heyerdahl, the great Norwegian explorer, said, “Borders?  I have never seen one. But I have heard they exist in the minds of some people.”

These are the words of dreamers, dangerous dreamers who invite and challenge us to think. Humans like borders, boundaries, tribes, distinctions, divisions, comparisons. These concepts are not all bad, neither are they all good – it’s just that Homo Sapiens needs to think. Borders can be helpful, and they can become barriers. Boundaries are vital but can also be barriers too. As Peter Gabriel sings, “Jeux sans frontières.”

Imagine no possessions

I wonder if you can

No need for greed or hunger

A brotherhood of man

Imagine all the people

Sharing all the world

Will John’s vision ever come true? Personally, I think not – not unless we change our thinking. But maybe imagination can be a seed for something more noble, greater, better.  On our wellbeing journey this week, how could we live each day for today? On our pilgrimage of peace this week, how could we let down our personal barriers and defences, or extend an olive branch? And in this week ahead, how could we share? How could we diminish the weight of someone else’s burden?

As it says on the bridge over one of our motorways, “Give peas a chance.”

Lex

A Moodscope member

Credits: Songwriters: John Winston Lennon. Imagine lyrics © Budde Music France, Downtown Music Publishing