I heard this expression on a podcast discussing moral relativism, and it caused me to think of the term, head in the clouds- you know, describing a dreamer. I then reflected on an animated movie I recently watched – by myself, mind you – at the urging of another adult: Legend of the Guardians The Owls of Ga’Hoole, sworn in oath to make strong the weak, mend the broken and vanquish evil. When one of the owl sons was mocking his brother for dreaming of the Guardians of Ga’Hoole as well as discounting the reality of their existence, the father replies, “Just because you can’t see something doesn’t mean it isn’t real- it’s like feeling something with your gizzard. Through our gizzard the voices of the ages whisper to us and tell us what is right.”
The allegory was not lost on me.
Over the weekend at a gathering, I met a woman- wife, mother, grandmother, substitute middle school teacher. I was immediately drawn to her and something possessed me to ask her if she had a dream, even one which was unfulfilled. She replied, “No, I don’t really think about myself.” For some reason this broke my heart – perhaps because I saw a bit of myself in her. I wanted to take a wooden spoon and stir her soul, drawing on previous column title. I decided that I would pray for her to become the person she has not yet been and maybe, just maybe, this could be through dreaming.
I re-learned in the business development class I am taking that a goal is simply a “dream with a deadline.” I don’t know if my dreams will ever become goals, yet I find myself thinking about traveling to the Kamchatka Peninsula in far eastern Russia, mastering calculus, learning Arabic, adopting an orphan from Haiti and living in a tree house (or at least hanging out in one.
Ironically, I never dreamed of being a writer- if you had predicted that in high school, I would have thrown my head back in laughter. Nevertheless, perhaps we need to put our dreams on the altar along with our future and make a subtle addition to this prayer if you’re so inclined:
May our hearts…and our dreams…be changed to conform to Your will.
I encourage YOU to dream- just a little or really big! Especially if you have devoted your life to raising a family- or furthering a career for that matter. Not that it would launch you into mid air, disconnected or discontent with reality, but that it would help you become absolutely everything God intended.
In closing I’ll leave you with these words from Frederick Buechner:
Dreams are wishful thinking. Children playing at being grown-up is wishful thinking. Interplanetary travel is wishful thinking. Sometimes wishing is the wings the truth comes true on. Sometimes the truth is what sets us wishing for it.
– Caroline Watkins
