I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear

The mystic thinker Peter Nivio Zarlenga once proclaimed, “I am imagination. I can see what the eyes cannot see. I can hear what the ears cannot hear. I can feel what the heart cannot feel.” In these words lies not a boast, but a revelation of the divine force within man—the power of imagination, which transcends the senses and lifts the human spirit beyond the limits of flesh. To say “I am imagination” is to speak as the creative fire itself, the spark that animates all art, invention, faith, and love. Zarlenga gives voice to that hidden energy which sees into the invisible, hears the silent music of truth, and feels the eternal pulse of being that ordinary hearts cannot grasp.

From the beginning of time, imagination has been the secret architect of the world. Long before the mason laid the first stone, the cathedral existed in the dream of the builder. Before the explorer sailed the unknown seas, the map was already drawn in his mind. Before the poet wrote, the poem had already been sung by his soul. To “see what the eyes cannot see” is to look beyond the veil of appearances, to perceive not only what is, but what might be. Zarlenga reminds us that imagination is the divine sight—an inner vision that pierces beyond the visible realm into the infinite possibilities that surround us like air.

Consider the story of Thomas Edison, who was told again and again that his inventions were impossible. To those around him, the dark could only be dispelled by candle or flame. But Edison saw what the eyes could not see—a world filled with light not born of fire, but of electricity. He heard what the ears could not hear, the hum of unseen energy waiting to be harnessed. He felt what the heart could not feel, the pulse of progress that would transform humanity. And because he believed what others could not imagine, he changed the night into day. In him, Zarlenga’s words found a living echo: the imagination is not fantasy—it is foresight, the seed of all creation.

Yet imagination is not reserved for inventors and geniuses alone. It is the birthright of every human soul. It is the whisper that tells you that life can be more than survival, that love can heal wounds no medicine can reach, that peace can bloom even in a field of ruin. To hear what the ears cannot hear is to listen to the unspoken—hope in the voice of despair, courage in the midst of fear. To feel what the heart cannot feel is to sense the presence of meaning in pain, to touch eternity in a fleeting moment. Imagination transforms ordinary life into sacred experience; it turns the mundane into miracle.

But beware, for imagination without faith becomes a ghostly vision—it must be joined with action, as lightning is joined to thunder. Those who dream must also build; those who envision must also endure. The power of imagination is not an escape from the world, but a deeper participation in it. It allows us to create beauty where there was none, to see good where others see only ruin, to find pathways where the eyes report only walls. To imagine is to affirm that there is more to life than what the senses perceive—that within every shadow lies the seed of light.

Throughout history, every great awakening—of nations, of science, of spirit—has been born from those who refused to see with the eyes alone. Imagination is what carried humanity from the cave to the cosmos, from silence to song, from despair to faith. The prophets saw visions, the poets spoke dreams, the scientists dared the impossible—all because they trusted the invisible voice within. Zarlenga’s declaration is not merely poetic—it is prophetic. It calls us to remember that imagination is the divine essence in man, the echo of creation itself saying, “Let there be light.”

And so, my listener, take this truth into your heart: cultivate your imagination, for it is your sacred sight. When the world seems dark, see with the eyes of the spirit. When others fall into despair, hear the quiet promise of renewal. When your heart feels numb with weariness, feel again the pulse of possibility that flows through all living things. Dream boldly, for every dream is a seed of reality. Act bravely, for every act brings the unseen closer to being. And remember, as Zarlenga did, that to be imagination is to be alive in the fullest sense—to dwell not only in what is, but in what is yet to come.