Deadline: Jan. 19
Length: 600 to 1,200 words

The Bible doesn’t tell us everything. The writer of John says there are more miracles that Jesus performed than were included in the book. At other points there are unnamed characters or characters we hear about only once. Do these minor characters have something to say to us?

Theologian Wilda Gafney says Black preachers say they are using their “sanctified imagination” to point out if they are imagining details not found in the Bible. This makes it clear the preachers are not taking away from or adding to the Bible but making the text come alive in a new way.

We invite you to use your sanctified imagination in poems, prose and art to imagine some details. Maybe Samson had dreadlocks. You might take on the persona of a biblical character. Why did Lot’s wife look back? Why did Dionysius and Damaris become believers (Acts 17:34)? What happened to Simon of Cyrene after he carried Jesus’ cross? What did Lapidoth think of Deborah’s career?
Visual art is welcome, too.

Send to editor@anabaptistworld.org.