Dream on

The Bible is full of dreamers!

 

Abraham dreamed of a Promised Land

Moses of a land dripping with milk and honey

 

Isaiah dreamed of a time when people would beat the instruments of death into garden tools.

Ezekiel dreamed that hard hearts would become soft and warm.

Joel dreamed that the Spirit would be poured out on all humanity, and all would become awake to the presence of Sacred.

Micah dreamed that people would act justly, and love mercy, and to walk humbly with God."

 

Jesus dreamed of a new heaven and a new earth and the Kingdom of God.

Peter dreamed that we would see others the way God sees them (don’t call unclean what I [God] call clean).

Paul dreamed that people would be so awake to God they would become new creations.

 

I believe we to are called to be dreamers.

 

Of course it is important to have the right dreams!

Holy dreams.

 

Some people dream of the power to control, or oppress.

For the ability to achieve retribution.

Not a holy dream.

 

Some dream about wealth.  Not a holy dream.

 

But some dream about equity, and justice.

Some dream about a world where people are concerned for others and seek the common good.

 

The thing about dreams is that they shape how we live!

How we see others.

How we speak.

How we feel.

How we act.

 

If we dream of power, we will seek power, use power, abuse power.

If we dream of justice we will seek to create justice.

If we dream of the common good, we will work to make sure that all are clothed, feed, and housed.  That all have healthcare.  That all can vote.

 

We must dream!

We must have the right dreams.

We must live toward our dreams.

 

But what do we do when we seem lost a wilderness of hate, fear, and falsehood?

What do we do when we do not seem to be able to find the promised land?

How do we keep living toward our dreams when so often it feels hopeless?

 

Paul says that we should not “tire in doing good…  don’t give up!”

 

But I am tired.

So tired!

 

I guess this is where HOPE comes in.

Hope, and trust.

We have to trust that God will (as Mary so beautifully put it)

Scatter the proud,

exalt the humble and the meek,

and fill the hungry with good things.

 

And we have to keep living toward that hope, that dream.

 

We have to join Abraham, Isaiah, Jesus, Peter and Paul

We have to join Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr.

 

And proclaim, “I have a dream.”

And then live it.

No matter what!

No matter what those who violate that dream say or do.

No matter that the dream is slow in becoming real.

For if our dreams are God’s dreams, they will come true.

Believe it!