to dream

Mar 10, 2023

.

If there is one Old Testament account that is a must for every adult and child of faith it is the great Exodus epic which begins with Joseph and his amazing technicolour dreamcoat.

The entire saga is a pre-Christian primer in discernment preparing us for a God who in Jesus is available, personal, powerful, and eager to carry us through any captivity and challenge through death to resurrection.

As I ponder Joseph the dreamer beginning this great Old Testament adventure I’m thinking of Pope Francis’s recent book Let us Dream: The Path to a Better Future.

Francis begins his book referring to our contemporary context in these early years of the third Christian millennium convinced that the Covid pandemic  is (as was Joseph being sold into slavery) a crisis that both challenges and changes us: “The basic rule of a crisis is that you don’t come out of it the same. If you get through it, you come out better or worse, but never the same.”

Such an ability to not only survive but to thrive through a difficult situation (and even a crisis) is the measure of human (and therefore of Christian) maturity.

While this thriving is a human desire, it is a divine achievement.

Francis often speaks of dreaming and discerning in the same paragraph: “when you lose the capacity to dream you lose the capacity to love and the energy to love is lost.”

Remembering this Old Testament Joseph, and Joseph the spouse of Mary Francis refects that neither settled for survival but both were dreamers aware that “dreams were considered a means by which God revealed Himself.”

While dreaming is usually considered a sleep-time activity, people of faith are also day-dreamers.

Now there’s a great Lenten penance – giving time to the divine activity of day-dreaming. This is a pretty-good definition of the contemplation that is the highest form of Christian prayer: day-dreaming with God.

The great thing about setting time for day-dreaming is that there is no programme, no right way and wrong way, it’s the ultimate in mind and heart relaxation. That’s why it’s such a good analogy.for prayer.

We are not in control.

God is.

While Jesus can break into our lives any place any time, when we set time to listen for the voice of Jesus letting our minds and hearts wander and wonder, Jesus doesn’t miss a chance to get through to us.

+++

FFF IN THE CAFE... Send your name and the name of a cafe or bar to john@fff.org.nz Scribble FFF on a table napkin, take a seat and wait.

DROP IN AT A GATHERING:

Monday 13 March 2023 (and every Monday)
10.00am at Moko (Kudos) in the Bush Inn Centre Christchurch (Directions) Trish

Tuesday 14 March 2023
10.30am at Zenders 44 Hopkins Road, Newstead, Hamilton (Directions). Christina

And watch this space for one coming up in Fairlie, South Canterbury.

2 Comments

  1. Michael on March 10, 2023 at 12:39 pm

    Inspiration to go and day dream, rather than go and “do”.. I love it !

    Reply
    • Lita vB on March 11, 2023 at 12:26 pm

      Thanks for this affirmation. I recall the primary school headmistress admonishing me for day-dreaming as the school gathered for an outdoor assembly at the end of lunch time. The marching music had sounded across the playground calling the pupils of this large Catholic school to gather. My class stood in the front row on one side. Before the messages began my daydreaming was curtailed by Sister. John your words have relieved me of my guilt. I will day-dream again, often.

      Reply

Submit a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest Posts

moving waters

moving waters

Bible questions still pop up regularly in quiz shows and they often cost otherwise sharp players much needed points.
I’m ready for a question asking for the two names for the last book of the Bible. The book often known as Apocalypse is perhaps more often referred to as the Book of Revelation.
It’s common (thanks to movies) to think of an apocalypse as a devastating and unwelcome time of destruction.

to dream

to dream

The pics I use on these daily posts are sometimes snapped by me, and often borrowed from free-use websites. I thought it might be interesting to move towards using only my own snaps, and then only those taken in the past 24 hours. We’ll see how I go.
I took the pic above yesterday morning on an early walk.

to really see

to really see

Perhaps we find the miracles of Jesus too difficult to understand. How can we cope with what we may not have seen with our own eyes?
Many people cope with the miraculous by reducing it to what they can understand. They say Jesus just increased the blind man’s psychological vision, or opened his eyes of faith rather than actually giving him physical sight.

the rich earth

the rich earth

Over the years I have celebrated hundreds of funerals, many well prepared with family and friends gathering to celebrate the life of the one they love. There are efficient funeral directors, beautiful flowers, glossy brochures, photographs and video presentations, eulogies and even artificial grass and sterilised sand at the graveside.

Patrick’s day

Patrick’s day

Most people who celebrate on St. Patrick’s day today think of wearing green and enjoying good Irish music, Guinness and perhaps dancing at an Irish pub. But it’s easy to forget that Patrick was a robust disciple of Jesus Christ who brought the Good News of the ultimate and eternal liberation through Jesus Christ to the people of Ireland.