To Dream the Impossible Dream - of God!

He was sobbing uncontrollably, and his wife was nudging him in the side trying to hush him up. The man, looking on was confused until he turned back to the stage and there was the character of Don Quixote, centre stage singing: To dream the impossible dream/To fight the unbeatable foe To bear with unbearable sorrow/To run where the brave dare not go To right the unrightable wrong/To love pure and chaste from afar To try when your arms are too weary/To reach the unreachable star This is my quest/To follow that star No matter how hopeless/No matter how far… He was singing of dreams to go where no-one dared go. As Tony Campolo reflected, ‘He was singing to the audience that the world would be richer because “one man bruised and covered with scars,” still strove wit hall the courage he had to reach an unreachable star. The man was crying because he had lost his dreams! Somewhere along the way he had lost his visions!’ Dreams and visions can be powerful forces that lead us and drive us towards new possibilities and hopes. They can lift us beyond the ordinary, the mundane or the hopeless. In the midst of struggle, confusion, loss and grief, such dreams can inspire hope within us and help us to stand firm against the storms and challenges of life. Such dreams have been powerful forces in the midst of human tragedy, fuelling resilience and community responses. There are dreams that have nurtured hope into action for downtrodden, oppressed and impoverished peoples such as Martin Luther King Jr’s ‘I have Dream…’ or the dream of Archbishop Oscar Romero in El Salvador. Dreams that have turned people and nations around bringing hope, peace and life. As I read stories in news feeds, there are many places of desperate despair and catastrophic loss. Such places a Gaza and Ukraine, but also Myanmar, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Syria, Afghanistan, Pakistan-India, Somalia, and many other places across this fragile world.  Other stories floated down through the pages of history, in particular, the city of Jerusalem.  I read 2 stories of the destruction of this troubled city.  The first came from around 2,600 years ago when the Babylonian armies descended upon the city and finally broke through the wall.  There was fighting and bloodshed and mass destruction of the city and temple.  The leading citizens and craftspeople were taken into exile across the desert to Babylon.  Their loss was complete, as was their grief.  They existed in a foreign land, lost, alone, bereft and their loss included the belief that their God It became the role of prophetic voices to interpret their situation and speak into the lives of deathly hopelessness with vision and faith.  Isaiah was one of those voices and he interpreted their world and drew them into a deeper vision of life and being that is the ‘Dream of God.’  This dream reflects the vision and longing of sacred grace that has been central to everything from the beginning, a world of generous inclusion grounded in love, justice and peace.  The collective works called ‘Isaiah’ speaks into pain, struggle, challenge and the lostness of a people cast out of their land.  The story concludes with a profound vision, an impossibly big vision (Isaiah 65:17-25): ‘The wolf and the lamb shall feed together, the lion shall eat the straw like the ox; and dust shall be the serpent’s food. They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain.’  The prophet spoke the profound words of hope, the dream of God for a new world, transformed and healed. It is a world where people live together in peace. It is a world where people have the right to live in their own homes without fear of someone more powerful forcing them out and taking it over.  It is a world where everyone has enough to eat, clean water to drink, clothing, shelter, relationships in caring community.  It is a world where young women can walk the streets without the fear of rape or violence and where they can be valued for who they are not what they look like.  It is a world where young men can express themselves creatively in the diverse ways without fear of rejection or the group mentality of peer pressure that pushes them into stupid, anti-social acts.  It is a world where people take responsibility for their actions and reach out to others to offer a hand up.  It is a world where the pandemic of depressive illness, anxiety, stress and the addictive mechanisms employed to cope with such stresses are no longer necessary.  It is a world where everyone has enough work, and no-one has too much – where there is a healthy balance between all the dimensions of our lives.  It is also a world where the earth is valued and creation enjoyed, nurtured and cared for.  It is a world where power, profits and greed are not the dominant forces or motivating factors.  Rather it is a world of sharing, equality and nurturing love. It is a world where competition occurs in truth and integrity and where we accept winning or losing in grace, enjoying the competition more than the result.  It is a world where justice, love, grace and peace prevail, and nations share and work together for the common good of the world’s citizens.  This is the Dream of God! Luke’s story this (Luke 21:5-19) also speaks into a world where struggle, challenge and suffering are part.  Jesus, some 55 years before Luke is writing, warns of the struggles of a world hell-bent on violence and power, where various figures will vie for control and for the hearts and minds of the populace, promising all manner wonderful things.  For Luke’s community they read these words after the Temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed in the Jewish-Roman war of 66-70 CE.  It was violent and bloody, and the early Christians were further persecuted in the aftermath.  The way of love, justice and peace, it seems, is fraught and requires courage – but it is the only way to flourishing life for people and all creatures (and the Earth itself!).  Luke uses Jesus’ words to engender hope and faith, calling people to follow in the way of love and grace, trusting in God’s Dream, God’s Spirit and the words and life of Jesus as the example.  We are invited to grasp and follow such dreams of hope and life that have inspired and nurtured flourishing life in the midst of deep challenge and renewal, the rebuilding of community in inclusive love!