I’ve dreamed my entire life. Not away! The reality is that I “know” I’m dreaming when it happens, and it’s not a daydream nor night terror, but when I’m sleeping, my mind seems to be constantly working. If dreaming is nothing but rearranging memories in your mind, then I must have a lot of rearranging to do! I dream all the time. Seldom do I remember them but as snatches of fleeting moments… Was it real? Memorex? Or am I making it up?
Recently, I’ve remembered my dreams, conversations, personalities, even, I think, made-up phone numbers. For hours the next morning, they are like a portion of reality. By mid-day, they’re gone. Tonight, another dreaming session.
Do dreams mean anything? Perhaps. From settling issues to creating opportunities, I’ve felt that what happens in my mind when sleeping gives me solutions and possibilities for when I’m awake. It’s my creative mind at work that seldom sees the reality of the light of day. I never know where my mind will take me, but I’m sure it helps me see possibilities better than others.
Name Your Last Dream
This morning I remember my dream. It’s about finding a new property for our church. It’s in a familiar place. I see the landmarks. In reality, real estate does not exist, but in my nighttime of dreaming, I recognize businesses, traffic flow, even signage. Conversations are often with people within my congregation and the real estate agents helping us understand the possibilities. We talk contracts, parking, what gear gets left behind, and square footage. You know, all the important things you talk about to decide if this is the best piece of property for your needs.
Walking the property, I find nuggets of opportunity. I see how we will arrange it, and even where certain folks are certain to sit. I worry about the location, and it will draw people or cause them to look elsewhere.
All of these I dreamed of over the past several hours. Then I awake and realize the phone numbers of the realtors were from a different state, but they are now local to my current state. Does it mean anything? I’m not sure.
MLK
Last week was the celebration of Martin Luther King’s famous “I Have A Dream” speech as he spoke on the National Mall before the Lincoln Memorial and aimed toward the Washington Monument. It was August 28, 1963. I was 8 years old, and the next day my sister would turn five. 250,000 people spread out before him, and he delivered his speech that MLK rarely shared. He had debuted the phrase, “I have a dream,” in his speeches at least nine months before the March on Washington and used it several times since then. His advisers discouraged him from using the same theme again. But as he spoke that day, Mahalia Jackson prompted him to “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” Abandoning his prepared text, King improvised the rest of his speech.
Notice The Differences
I “had” a dream. MLK says, “I have a dream…”
My dreams were figments of real conversations, wishes from the days leading up to the ethereal moment. Though entirely probable, it never happened. My subconscious milked the scenes for everything they were worth, and if I do nothing about the possibilities, they are regulated to a forgotten trash bin sitting at my feet.
MLK’s dream was a present-tense moment wished into the future. It was something he lived with, carried with him, and promoted in his every waking action and deed.
There are differences between having a dream of possibilities to the position of making the dream a reality. Except for the undoable, every dream we have can be made real. Yes, even the nightmares. It will take a lot of work or progressive bits of luck, but preferably a succession of “God Moments” for it to occur. That church building I dreamed about can be a future reality. In my lifetime? Perhaps.
Here’s My Thought
I have a simple thought today, but it rests heavily on my mind. What if my dream sequences never become a reality? Will that replacement car ever materializes, my present house sold, or that 4 feet of snow never fall? Who knows!
At the same time, I know I can do things to make my dream about a church become our reality. Paul says it like this:
I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
(Philippians 4:13 NKJV)
The bible is full of stories about dreams and visions. From prophets telling the reality of a king’s dreams (Daniel) or Joseph sharing the understanding of dreams his co-workers had, the one that calls to me this morning is about Jacob. He has only recently won the right of birth that signifies he’s firstborn and then fools his father into giving him the blessing it implies. He’s headed to his mother’s family to escape the wrath of his wrong actions. Night comes upon him, and he sets up a place to rest.
Then he dreamed, and behold, a ladder was set up on the earth,
and its top reached to heaven;
and there the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
(Genesis 28:12 NKJV)
He awakes, realizes this is a special place. Holy. He renames it “Bethel,” meaning “the house” (Beth) of God (el). The stone that was his pillow becomes sacred. He centers it and pours anointing oil over it to become a sacred foundation of God’s House.
Notice something special. He had a dream, maybe similar to him as my dream was to me. He recognized the possibility of the future and did something about it.
Dreams Help Shape Our Future
What if you dreamed of having everything you needed, and nothing was lacking? What would you do to make that a reality? Some would work their fingers to the nub. Others would gamble on uncertain futures. Sometimes the gamble pays off, and other times it never sees the light of profitability.
Elon Musk appeared to be a big gambler with his life:
“My proceeds from the PayPal acquisition were $180 million.
I put $100 million in SpaceX, $70m in Tesla, and $10m in Solar City.
I had to borrow money for rent.”
What would you have done? With what he had, he dreamed of an even bigger future. He leveraged his position into something you and I will never dream of.
In a recent conversation, I, who never saw the value of education when younger, stated, “I wish I had the money for a doctorate.” Do I need one? No. What would be the payback? Probably nothing. Should I pursue it anyway? I don’t know.
We limit ourselves and often talk about the framework of our future by not seeing the value of its completion. That’s where Faith steps in and says, “Do it anyway!” Elon Musk would never see the fruition of his opportunity, except he stepped into the future with a “why not me” attitude. This seems to be how he lived his life from childhood forward. Before you think he’s special, then you should hold your comments until you read about his life. (Link)
If it is to be, It’s Up to me. Yes.. I’ve written about these few words before. 10 years ago. There seems to be a common thread in my thinking, but does that same thread exist in my actions?
That’s the question for all of us.