DARE TO DREAM
Someone once commented that "One of the most powerful things in the world is a dream. Not those dreams that come to us while we sleep, but those we consciously pursue while we are awake." Think of how dreams have shaped our modern life. Of Martin Luther King whose famous speech began, I have a dream today." And of Robert Kennedy who said, "Some men see things as they are and ask "Why?"; I dream things that never were and ask 'Why not?'" Think of how children's lives are often shaped by their parent's dreams. I remember, for instance, that the mother of Moses was more influential to his eventual development than all the scholars of Pharaoh.
William Herbert Carruth once wrote:
"We are all of us dreamers of dreams;
On visions our childhood is fed;
And the heart of a child is unhaunted, it seems,
By the ghosts of dreams that are dead....
"There's no sadder sight this side of the grave
Than a shroud o'er a fond dream spread,
And the heart should be stern and the eyes be brave
To gaze on a dream that is dead....
"Let him show a brave face if he can,
Let him woo fame or fortune instead,
Yet there's not much to do but to bury a man
When the best of his dreams is dead."
Genesis 11:31-32 in the Hebrew scriptures may give one example of how dreams can get sidetracked or forgotten. Just two verses. But what a story. Terah, the father of Abraham, had started out on a journey for Caanan. He had enough religion to hear God's call and leave paganism. But he was attracted by the bright lights and comfort of Haran. Now, Haran (in what is now Turkey) was a good distance from his old city of Ur (in what is now Iran) but it's on the same side of the river. A fun place, perhaps, but not God's destination for his people. I heard a rabbi once say that Haran symbolizes a place of arrested development, forgotten dreams and unrealized opportunities.
Abram (whose name would eventually be changed to Abraham), was not satisfied with half-way, however. He moved on to Canaan to become "The Father of the Faithful." Hebrews 11:10 (in the Christian scriptures) describes him as looking for a city "whose builder and maker is God." A worthy legacy. And one which has influenced us all.
Think for a moment. What are the dreams that have shaped YOUR life. That determined your direction, or helped you to make it to this station on your life's journey? Have they empowered and called forth the best in you? Can they help you become the person you think God intended you to be? Do you still hold on to them, and nurture them? Important questions. I hope you can take some time this weekend to reflect on, and perhaps recover, "the power of a dream." But be careful what you dream! It may come true, and even if it isn't realized in your lifetime, it will affect you, and perhaps even the way people remember you,... forever.
CAPT J. David Atwater, CHC, USN
