Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Dreamer


Dreams swell like hot air balloons, colorful, whimsical, magical with basket to carry me away. Others try to set boundaries saying, "You can dream this far but you must reign in your imagination." Imagination running loose can be the ride of a wild bronco, out of control, dangerous, frightful to experience, sometimes even more frightful to observe. Where is adventure without the ride?

Dreaming has accompanied nearly all of my days, all the days with hope in them.

More is to be seen from hot air balloons in flight, horizons grow, perspectives broaden.

Where to land, where to land? Possibilities seem endless.

The skeptical think not. They long for the balloon to be anchored. Reality must bring you to balance.

Skeptics often become the voice of the enemy, bringing doubt, fear,and unbelief ... deflatable words ... the hindering woes ...

This is my reason for letting others spill their dreams into my lap. "Is there more? I often ask. "Could it be bigger? Don't imagine small things, could there be more to it?" I know they are fragile, I handle other's dreams with tender loving care.

When we play cards with friends and it is time for the bidding, one of our friends always says, "Don't send the boy!" Think big, take a risk. There are those who inspire dreams.

Time as my schoolmaster has consistently taught that dreams are inflated visions that in reality will look different than we first supposed. Lived out they will be squished down until they become the perfect piece that slips right into place in the 1000 piece puzzle of life. Holy Spirit, life, circumstance will bring it around to fitting into the place predestined for it.

When it comes to the things of God, our imaginations are small. We believe Him for little. Jealousies arise when we see His fingerprints produce the dreams of another, because we don't believe that He can do the same for us.

There are those who despise dreamers. I've met them along the way. I am sad for them. They hurt inside. Somewhere in time, their dreams were devastated, it would be too daring for them to dream again. So they walk from day to day, empty.

Dreaming with purity of heart, seeking the will of God, longing to please Him, knowing Him better as you go, never letting your hand slip from His, that is the secret to dreaming big. He will only harm what is not of Him. I really don't think He is offended if we let the dream get too big, far fetched, beyond real, He will turn it into the perfect piece that fits as bone and marrow in the puzzle of our lives.

Dreams that descend with great fanfare, exploiting the heart, palpating the soul, often dissipate like the wispy clouds of morning. Unexplored and soon forgotten, like the friend you meet on the plane. Behold the net of God.

So, I exhort you, my friend, dream big! Big as the sky, and deep as the ocean ... while thinking on good things.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Hope and Faith

"Hope is the ability to hear the music of the future ...
Faith is to dance to it today."
Theologian Peter Kuznic.