Wouldn't it be amazing?

Have you ever noticed that hopes and dreams which we live by are likely to be downplayed, poo-pooed, and disregarded as valuable by others and even ourselves sometimes?  Dreams have power to propel human beings to move beyond expectations and to challenge ourselves past the things we know into the things that might be.  When people chose to follow their dreams, they risk being looked at strangely and having their judgment questioned.  They also risk finding out that their are more possibilities than they first thought or that they are capable of meeting a challenge that once seemed impossible.  


Lately I have been listening to a new album by Rachel Marie.  Her song called "The Peacemakers" is one of my favorites.  It epitomizes, for me, how dreams can inspire us to do and live out amazing lives!  One line song reflects a conversation during a Church World Service sponsored CROP Walk, she sings, "Wouldn't it be amazing if we could really stop the hunger!"  There is hope in dreams and vision beyond the cynicism of our world.  It can be hard to see past all the hurt and difficulty of history and imagine a different world.  But then again as Christians we believe that God has done something unique and amazing that confirms another world is possible!  We have what we need to see the world become a place of love rather than hate, of compassion rather than judgment, and life rather than death. 


As I work on planning worship for Z Tree, beginning November 27, 2010 at 5pm, I found a quote from St. Francis of Assisi, he said, "“Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” (www.thinkexist.com)  Dreams are the things that keep us hoping and looking forward to something new.  But we rarely can go directly into our dreams without much smaller steps that lead us into places where the "possible" becomes probable and the "impossible" is only a few more steps away.  So maybe the power of our dreams is the little bit of foolishness that allows for us to believe in what we can't know and to live into a hope that we can't see.  


Don't get me wrong I don't believe dreamers are fools, matter of fact I count myself  among the dreamers.  Dreams have the ability to move us in a direction that some would never imagine and that some would never pursue.  As we begin the life of a new congregation, we aren't sure exactly how everything will look, work, or turn out but we do know that our dream to be a place where all people feel safe to come and explore relationship with God through Jesus Christ is a dream worth pursuing.  It is sometimes scary, often unpredictable and always amazing to see how our dreams are inspired by God's call and molded by the relationships we share.

So it seems to me, that one of my dreams is to be part of creating a community where dreaming is the norm and where we find energy in the hope of what is to come by taking steps to live it out right now!