I have a dream

Last monday was Martin Luther King day, a time when we celebrate the birth of Martin Luther King, and his work for the civil rights movement. There is a speech by Dr. King which can be heard all across our great nation on that day, and if there is one thing that every man, woman and child of this nation remembers and associates with this speech it’s this.... I have a dream! I have a dream, it’s a simple statement, four little words, yet words which resound with power and purpose; words which even now stir hearts.

Every time I hear those words my heart stirs as well, for you see I too have a dream. And no my dream will never earn for itself a sacred holiday, nor likely will it ever rest upon the hearts and minds of our great nation. But it is no less real to me, no less powerful, and with no less passion does my soul cry for it’s coming. For my dream beats within me like drums of war, it sings like the songs of angels, it tears at me like bitter agony. It yearns to be free, to be birthed into this world we know and effect it’s change upon her occupants, it yearns to be realized.

Yet like all great dreams my dream can neither be accomplished nor effect any real change upon my sole labor. Thru no amount of my own effort or desire, can this dream be brought to light; it is only the indomitable will of man, and the unending grace of our God which can see this thru. For you see dear friends, my dream is you.

You are the youth group I watched grow from it’s infancy, you are the members of Campus Crusade which cause me such frustration, yet in whom I hold such great hope, You are friends, neighbors and relatives, you are those I’ve never met, but who read my late night ramblings, you are Discover Hope, You are college professors, bosses, coworkers, you are the uncle I’ve not seen in years, and the Grandmother I haven’t seen in longer, you’re both men and women, old and young, you are my dream.

My dream is not to see a fifty member campus crusade group, or a three-hundred member youth group, my dream is you, specifically you. I want to see each of you experience a spiritual metamorphosis, I want to see each of you grow from what you are into what you are destined to be, I want to see change. I want to see each of you change from the simplicity of a caterpillar into the amazing complexity of the butterfly, I want to see you dream. You see my dream is not to be the next Billy Graham, or the next Mother Teresa, my dream is to see you become the next Billy Graham and Mother Teresa, to see you become teachers, and preachers, missionaries and evangelists. To see you sing and dance and live, for Christ Jesus, to help you realize the dream that God has for you.

And don’t you think even for an instant that God doesn’t have a dream for you to dream. For I have looked into your eyes, and listened to your hearts, I have felt your longings, if only in my dreams. When I look at you I do not see just another face in the crowed, I do not see a third string water boy, a drunk, an idiot, a homeless man. No I see soldiers, I see teachers, I see hands helping and hearts reaching for those teetering upon the edge. I do not see you as you are, but as you can be. I do not see you with mine own eyes, but with eyes above; and my friend you have no idea the difference.