Imagining a New World by Barry Hughes

After all these days of walking, I am still occasionally surprised at the changes that appear on these streets from one day to the next. Sometimes it is as simple as a lawn being mowed or trees getting a trim. Sometimes it is as dramatic as piles of demolished lumber and sheet rock appearing at the curb from a remodel. Today it was the addition of a fort.

This captured my attention because this yard had been the same, day after day, until now. Also, my best friend has a child who is, at this moment, a world class fort engineer, an aficionado of design and engineering who practices their craft on a regular basis during this pandemic. Most of all, this scene took me back into my own memories of childhood.

The home of my childhood backed up to acre upon acre upon acre of woods. This was my playground. I spent every possible hour roaming these woods. Through the years I created hand-drawn maps of large portions of the land, highlighting landmarks and naming various trails and sections. And at various spots, strategically located of course, were my forts.

I loved to create these little kingdoms. My imagination was always running at full speed. Part of it was that my father was a veteran of WW II, and I was interested in the military life, and I often imagined I was defending my land for a great and noble cause. Growing up without public parks, swimming pools or recreation centers, part of it was just having something to do. But as I walk and reflect, I think part of it was that I liked being able to create a different world, a world according to my liking.

Now that these many years have gone by, I still want to be a part of creating a different world. If only it were as easy as finding a box and gathering up a few bottles of water, a lantern and a few toys as my neighbors did this week. I am, from time to time, told that my imagination still runs at full speed. But a different world is a dream worth holding on to and a dream worth working toward, isn’t it?

Nowadays the world I would create is a world of unity and inclusion and peace. It is a world where everyone has enough, and where kindness and compassion are the hallmark of life together. What a wonderful world it would be where love is the standard by which we live and hope is abundant in every heart.

I know, this kind of thinking is as make-believe as a cardboard fort. Or is it? Some child imagined that and brought it into being. I’m not willing to give up on my dream, knowing that it begins with my heart and my actions and the way I choose to live. My faith teaches “Behold, I am making all things new.”

Maybe God will use us to create a different world. Maybe it begins today.

Peace.