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One of the things that mark out those born with a streak of genius is the ability to imagine the unimaginable.  Most of us look at a jumble of numbers or a plot of unused land or a worn out machine and see nothing but what’s in front of us.  Those rare few come along and see the potential for a medical breakthrough, a football stadium or a new invention.  To have that kind of mind you have to be able to see possibilities and to believe that they can come into being.  It’s a can-do optimism that believes that something can come out of nothing:  a leap of imagination that can put the most unlikely things together and find a pattern.  Edward Jenner was a country doctor who took notice of an old wives’ tale which said that milkmaids who caught cowpox wouldn’t catch smallpox, one of the worst killer diseases of his time.  William Harvey, another physician, famously said, ‘Don't think: try’.  Jenner’s courageous experiments led to successful vaccination against smallpox and eventually to its virtual eradication.  People at the time were afraid of the unknown.  Cartoons showed people turning into cows when they were vaccinated, but despite public fears Jenner persevered.  He never patented his vital discovery so that the results of his leap of faith could be financially within reach of the poor.What would happen if we had the courage to think the unimaginable and act on it?  Could we eradicate poverty, disease, crushing inequality and endemic violence?  Could we become the great peacemakers and healers of our time?  Imagine if we could...Creator God, inspire us to dream big dreams and develop a passion for the possible so that we can achieve a world as you would have it.  Amen.