Dream Weavers

This song from the mid 70’s popped into my head just before going to sleep last night. Although it transports me to middle school, I did not care for it then- and still don’t. So I am mystified yet trusting that perhaps I needed a “Part 2” on dreams.

I guess I thought that dreams were more fantasies detached from “God’s will for my life.” Yet I seem to be growing in my understanding that perhaps God does, in fact, work through them when they are realized and even when they are not.

My biggest dream as a child was to become the #1 tennis player in the world (yes, world). I proposed to my mother that she and I move to Florida so that I could practice year round. She attentively listened and did not discount my dream at all, yet gently reminded me of the inescapable facts that I was one of seven children and that she and my father had built a life in Clarke County, Virginia.

I could tell she “got it,” however, for she herself – completely against her father’s initial wishes – enrolled in the Julliard School of Music at the tender age of 16, after what I’m sure was a rigorous admissions’ process, in order to fulfill her own dream.

Whether fulfilled or not, dreams seem to be part of what makes us fully human, and oh, how we are captivated when others dream BIG.

I recently read an article on how Martin Luther King Jr.’s advisers attempted mightily to dissuade him from delivering his iconic “I Have Dream” speech- going to great lengths to persuade him that this previously used message was simply not original enough to enthrall the masses. King rejected the idea at the 11th hour and the rest as they say is history.

Jill Carattini writes, “Thankfully, Dr. King had the courage to believe that what we needed was not reinvention but, in fact, very old news. His acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize reflected a similar conviction: ‘I have the audacity to believe that…what self-centered men have torn down men, other-centered can build up. I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land…I still believe that we shall overcome.’ “

Lately I have been so impressed with UVA men’s basketball coach, Tony Bennett and his big dreams. You know he had them for this promising team, which not only won the ACC regular season title and the ACC Tournament but also secured a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament.

Beyond Bennett’s wildest dreams? Maybe, maybe not. All I know is to Whom and What he gives credit. He intentionally prioritizes this comment in a post-game interview on Sunday: “I am so thankful for my faith in Christ which…sustained us when we struggled.” He also gives credit to his players – not their skill as much as their heart – as well as the importance of struggle.  “We had to learn to lose together before we could win together,” said Bennett.

Isn’t that true for all of us? Perhaps dashed dreams are an integral part of dreaming bigger. What about you? Is life what you dreamed it would be- your family, your job, your geography? I would humbly say don’t give up, give in- to the “Dreamgiver.”

C.S. Lewis writes far more eloquently, “For broken dreams, the cure is, dream again and deeper…” And Irish “author, speaker, missioner” Ken Baker echoes that thought, “If you’ve given up on dreams, maybe it’s time to dream once more. Maybe it’s time to sleep sweet and allow God to speak through the tangle of your aspirations.”

He also cites a wonderful quote from Shel Silverstein: “Listen to the mustn’ts child. Listen to the don’ts. Listen to the shouldn’ts, the impossilbes, the won’ts. Listen to the never haves, then listen close to me…Anything can happen. Anything can be.”

Both Dr. King and Coach Bennett had dreams – big ones – yet they both recognized, publicly no less, the author of not only their life but by implication, of their dreams. If God seeks to give us the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4), to join His will to ours (a prospect I have only very recently contemplated) and to accomplish more than we can ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20), then maybe we should offer Him not only our desires, intentions and requests – but our imaginations too.

I have come to believe God can not only use lost dreams as building blocks by which we can reach high, but help us shape – or reshape – the dreams by which we can reach even higher.

So let Him in – and trust Him with your dreams . . . with His guiding hand and sweet grace, your life truly can become all that you imagined.

And so much more.

 – Caroline Watkins