Having Dreams….

 

 I heard a speaker today, talk about the importance of all of us keeping dreams going. She spoke of how we all need to have dreams that we put forth in the world, in order to keep them alive and to have hope for the future.  She told this story of how Dr. King was on stage at the March on Washington in August of 1963, and he was prepared to give his allotted 4 minute speech to the crowd. Mahalia Jackson was behind him and kept saying to him “Tell them about the dream.  Tell them about the dream!” The story goes that he then abandoned his prepared speech and gave the famous I Have a Dream speech.

Today’s speaker reminded us that we need to have dreams – and we need to keep them alive by watering them, picturing them, feeling what it will be like when they manifest, imaging the world embracing them, etc. It got me to thinking that there is nothing more important than having big dreams for our world – especially in these times when there is so much difficulty and divisiveness and worries about the future for our children and grandchildren.

It got me thinking that I would like to start each day with my dream for this world of ours.

• A world where we all recognize that we are related to the whole of everything.
• A world where we take care of each other and the earth.
• A world where everyone has enough food, and shelter, and medical care and love.
• A world where dialogue replaces violence and community rules over greed.
• A world where children feel safe and know that they will be cared for, and have a future that is guaranteed.
• A world where marginalized people are brought into the fold and belong and are included and where no one is left outside of the circle.
• A world where we realize that the earth is not here for the resources we can reap from Her, but rather where we can be in deep Gratitude for all we receive and thus return the favor by caring for Her deeply.

Sometimes I get caught up in fear when I see what’s going on in the world.  And I recognize that fear is a dream-stealer.  Because fear is a strong energy that blocks the recognition of our connection to each other, and it makes us hide and be wary of each other. Fear pretty much closes my heart and I get real protective of the wrong things. And I can’t really dream in that state of mind.

So I’m going to try holding a dream every morning. A dream of the kind of world I want to see. And when fear creeps in – as it is prone to do (and is fueled by the media pretty much constantly) I’m going to ask myself if what I’m thinking is promoting my dream or diminishing it.  And if it’s diminishing it, I’m gonna change the channel in my mind by sitting right down and re-turning to the dream.

So, I invite you to join me in dreaming big – about the kind of world you want for all of us and for the next 7 generations.

In Gratitude for Dr. King’s dreams and the inspiration he’s given to the world.

Sweet dreams to you all!