Imagining a Better World.

• Author: Lueders, Bill
• Position: BOOKS

In his new book of essays, Scott Russell Sanders celebrates the power of imagination as an agent of positive change. "Imagination," Sanders writes, "breaks the shell of the status quo, summoning up objects that do not yet exist, actions that no one has yet performed, and wiser ways of living that have yet to be realized."

The Way of Imagination: Essays By Scott Russell Sanders Counterpoint, 272 pages

Publication date: August 11, 2020

He sees imagination at work not just in art, science, and politics, but also in the oh-so-slow bending of the moral arc of the universe, writing "the ideal of human equality arose not from observing an existing order but imaging a better one." Imagination, he believes, "can give rise to compassion, by providing insight into the feelings and thoughts of other people."

The Way of Imagination is Sanders's tenth collection of essays, to go along with about as many works of adult fiction and a handful of children's books. It presents his writing from the last several years, including two pieces originally published in The Progressive. The most recent of these, from 2015, appeared in the magazine under the headline "From Plantation to Planet"; it appears in the book as "The Suffering of Strangers."

The essay describes Sanders's visits to former slave plantations, now tourist attractions, building into a critique of racial bias, militarization, and planetary destruction. It leads to his affirmation, consistent with the book's larger theme, that "we are creatures capable of learning, capable of imagining and caring about others, capable of changing our minds and our ways."

Such an essentially optimistic message is typical of Sanders, now seventy-four and a professor emeritus at Indiana University, where he taught for thirty-eight years. His own life is a testament to the human capacity for transformation.

The son of an alcoholic who helped build tools of destruction, Sanders embraced the cause of peace and learned to imbibe warily and "listen for the turning of a key in my brain." He became an ardent environmentalist, humanitarian, and advocate for civil rights. His work rings with authenticity, caring, and a deep sense of hope.

"As with any human faculty," he acknowledges at one point, "imagination can be corrupted by selfishness, fear, greed, or the craving for power. But when guided by generosity and compassion, imagination can lead us toward a life that's worthy of our potential as reasoning, caring, and moral...