Weight of Dreams

My hand landed on a dog’s head and I naturally started petting it. That’s what you do when the dog’s head is right below your fingertips like Olaf, my sister’s mini-horse-sized dog whose head is always at perfect hand height. The head at my fingertips was enough to stir my sleep and evoked the natural response; obviously this must be Olaf since our dogs aren’t tall enough to reach bed level. I continued to stroke his head as a reward for not barking at the other dogs that were gathering to try and get out of the rain. But then I started to wake up a little more gradually trying to piece together how the extra dogs got into our yard, and even how Olaf was at our house. I woke up to find there were no extra dogs from neighbor’s yards, not even Olaf.

I don’t remember dreams that often, but this vivid dream added the sensory element of touch. Logic longs to take its rightful ownership of the brain, and the element of sense brings me back to what’s real. However, it was enough of a struggle that now I was wide awake and it was only 12:30am; a long time before the alarm. I checked e-mail, and wrote back to my niece that I was indeed awake and saw no way that this dream and early hour privacy could even have the consolation of spurring Positively Indecisive. Then I checked in on the blog “Real Life Preacher” whose post read “God Love the Dreamers.” I needed no spurring to read on. I can’t elevate my dream to a stature of importance, but the greater value is considering the weight of dreams.

The book, “God, Dreams and Revelation” questions what has happened to dreams in our modern world that we remember played key roles in the scriptures. Gordon Atkinson (Real Life Preacher) recognizes that our night-time dreams are too difficult to understand and our day-time dreams are too difficult to follow. He was inspired by another post of a young woman dreaming of moving to Uganda and opening homes for children, but not without mingled doubts and fears.

Oh how could He have made me for this? How could something so crazy be accepted by so many hearts? Would people tell me if they really thought my dream was un-attainable? I really can’t do this. It is impossible in every way. I need people to surround me and hold my hands up when they begin to tremble. I need people to speak destiny over my lack. I need people who will begin to pray before my lips form the request. I need hearts that will be strong when mine is breaking. I need people to share this dream with other dreamers. I need Him to break into hearts and catch them alight with His vision. I need Him to replace our eyes with His. I cannot do this as an island. http://handsbuiltformercy.wordpress.com/2009/10/12/703/

My prayer for the congregation?

Holy God, You are wondrously made. In the wonder of our dreams we may delve into a world where we step out of routine into atypical situations. In the wonder of Your dreams, logic is restrained and the uncommon is plausible. Help us to readily dream with You: for others, for growth, for spurring to action. Help us encourage Gabi and others who dream to live in your world where children laugh, the poor are fed, and the unloved find a place out of the rain.

Discovery of Promise

“Following the light of the sun, we left the Old World”
– Christopher Columbus

Even though in the south we don’t have the same regard for Columbus Day as in the northeast with their parades, speeches, and festivities, we still know the story of Christopher Columbus and the poem that made remembering this date for a history test a sure thing.

In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.

In some ways, it is similar to the story of Abram’s spirited venture into an unknown land to greet the adventure of a promised land. Going forth without a promise of what the land would look like, a promise of an easy life, nor a promise of timeliness, but still following a promise with purpose and intention. It’s always been a testament of vision and courage at any age.

If we are called to discover our promised purpose, what could that mean to leave the Old World of comfort and beliefs and be bold enough to risk falling off the edge of that flat world for a multi-dimensional life of promise? The question, “If money was no object, if talent was no qualifier, if time was no inhibitor, what could you envision to help grow the glory of God?” may help decide a direction towards your promise. Maybe it means learning a new skill, trying a new approach, or forfeiting a fear. Maybe it means reconsidering what it means to be born in the image of God, not as a gender or a shape, but as a possibility of greatness.

What could one discover if freed from conventional ideas about planning and living and were bold enough to leave without knowing a final destination? Discover what it means to find your voice, gifts, and purposes. You aren’t alone. You have tools to direct: scripture, prayer, community and God’s promise to you. If you follow the light of the Son, a New World awaits.

My prayer for the congregation?

Dear God, You promise us worlds of potential yet we remain steadfast and inert. We are restless to discover new ideas, new lands, and new people but are contented to remain in our normal routines. Stir us to feelings of impatience and discontent towards our immobility and to seek a remedy by moving closer to You. Let us discover new ways to see, new ways to act and new ways to believe. Our old world offers a launch site; the new world offers new life. Let us sail with the winds of purpose and the stars of hope. You are there to guide and welcome. Amen