Imaginal Cells & Imaginative Wondering
In Sunday’s service, Ellen Dahlke shared in her welcome about the process of imaginal cells in the transformative process of a caterpillar becoming a butterfly–including the soupy state in the middle of the process. She goes on to share how this is a strong metaphor for what happens in personal transformation AND how we, as individuals, can act as imaginal cells in society.
Thinking on this concept and metaphor of imaginal cells is both deeply resonating to me and awakens a sense of wonder and inspiration in my heart and mind.
Likewise, as I came to one of the assigned passages for this coming Sunday’s service, I was caught off guard with a sudden sense of new wonder over the story of creation.
Usually, I have looked at the story of creation only as a narrative account of an event completed long ago, with me, a distant bystander. However, as I entered into the story this week, I felt like the Holy Spirit was inviting me to enter into the story–to imagine myself as the earth/the subject of the creating process taking place.
As I entered into the story, I was reminded that THIS is the work of God’s Holy Spirit, a model of what God is about in us individually, in our fellowship, the church, and, in our world. This is a progressive creative process that is full of love and care and fruitfulness.
Today, I invite you, too, to enter into this story with imaginative wondering. Picture yourself as the earth. Picture all this creation and life coming forth in your being as you read Genesis 1:1-2:4a:
“When God began to create the heavens and the earth,
the earth was complete chaos, and darkness covered the face of the deep,
while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
And God saw that the light was good, and God separated the light from the darkness.
God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night.
And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
And God said, “Let there be a dome in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” So God made the dome and separated the waters that were under the dome from the waters that were above the dome. And it was so. God called the dome Sky.
And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.
And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let the earth put forth vegetation: plants yielding seed and fruit trees of every kind on earth that bear fruit with the seed in it.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation: plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit with the seed in it. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the third day.
And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. God made the two great lights–the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night–and the stars. God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the dome of the sky.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, of every kind, with which the waters swarm and every winged bird of every kind. And God saw that it was good. God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.”
And there was evening and there was morning, the fifth day.
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of every kind and the cattle of every kind and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Then God said, “Let us make humans in our image, according to our likeness, and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over the cattle and over all the wild animals of the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth.” So God created humans in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the air and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” God said, “See, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is upon the face of all the earth and every tree with seed in its fruit; you shall have them for food. And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the air and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. God saw everything that he had made, and indeed, it was very good.
And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished and all their multitude. On the sixth day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation.
These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created.”
Now, I invite you to take a moment to meditate on how God is doing a similar creative work in your life.* Right now, it may feel like the mushy goop in the middle of the caterpillar becoming a butterfly; however, this is a crucial step to the process. Don’t be discouraged by the lengthy, perhaps bewildering way God works transformation. –Melissa Logsdon, NCF Associate Pastor
*For more on the subject of God’s creative work, I invite you to listen to a podcast Kathy KG recently shared with Renée and me entitled “New Creation Breaking In”. In this Biologos Language of God podcast, Jim Strump has a discussion with NT Wright on the way Jesus’ resurrection models the pattern God intends for the restoration and renewal of all creation (episode 208, published May 7, 2026).