And I am, Caldwell.
I dream about travel to new places, to cities and museums all over the world.
I dream about eating street food on busy streets in cities I’ve never explored.
I dream about long contemplative walks on shaded greenways.
I dream about times of silence and solitude in old churches and monasteries, in lush gardens and quiet parks.
I dream about an end to global warming and wildfires and drought.
I dream about an end to war, gun violence – and violence of every kind.
I dream of relationships across political, religious, social, racial, and other artificial boundaries that are characterized by grace, kindness, love, and gentleness.
I dream of beloved community where disagreement, dispute, and discomfort are handled with tenderness and compassion, along with a commitment to ongoing, deepening connection, rather than disconnection and disdain.
I dream of safe and brave spaces where all people truly feel welcome, where the focus is on creating belonging within the context of beloved community.
I dream of Christ-honoring faith communities where prayers for peace, unity, healing and wholeness, and feasting on the Word of God are at the foundation of all that happens.
I dream of living into the fulfillment of Isaiah chapter 11, verses 6-9 which tell us that “the wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder’s den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.”
That is quite the dream, isn’t it, Caldwell? The world we are living in right now doesn’t look anything like that.
But what if these verses at the end of Ephesians chapter 3 are also true? “For this reason I (Paul) bow my knees before God, from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through the Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, for ever and ever.”
What if we can be rooted and grounded in love in this unsettled and weary world?
What if the love of Christ surpassed everything we think we know?
What if we are already filled with the fullness of God?
What if God really can do far more than all we can ask or imagine???
How big are your dreams? How big are our dreams?
What if we imagined and dreamed and asked and prayed bigger and wider and deeper and higher – and then watched in awe as God accomplished abundantly more than we asked and imagined?
What kind of dreams do you have for yourself, for your family, for your friends, for your sphere of influence, for Caldwell and beyond?
What world are you dreaming of and asking God to bring to life?
What might that look like?
What will that look like???
I had breakfast this morning with Rob Hammock and we talked about the challenges we are carrying and dealing with these days. We talked about how overwhelming the world feels right now. We talked about how our hopes and dreams are being drowned out by so many messages that point to the impossibility of our dreams coming true. We talked about the challenge of remaining open to the great possibilities that are contained in God’s imagination and God’s dreams for us in a world where there is so much negativity and so much adherence to “either/or” thinking. And we confessed that, as individual followers of Christ who are participants in this family of faith at Caldwell, we often find ourselves looking for “yes/no” answers to complex questions. We find ourselves looking for “either/or” answers in a “both/and” world.
Then Rob asked this question – “How do we live as a community in a ‘both/and’ world when we want ‘either/or’ answers?”
Great question, Rob.
Great question, Caldwell.
In this summer of questions, I leave you with two more questions, my beloved Caldwell family.
What are you dreaming about?
How do you, how do we, how will we live as a community in this “both/and” world when we still long for simple, quick, “either/or” answers?
As John Lennon sang so beautifully – “You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one. I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.”
Caldwell, please join me in dreaming.
Once again, feel free to hit reply and let me know what you are dreaming about these days.
Together, let’s dream about how we live into the dreams that God has in mind for us.
Let me know the questions you are continuing to wrestle with.
And together, let’s dream about how we live into the answers to these questions.