January 7, 2002

THE POWER OF A DREAM

One of the most stirring speeches by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is known as his "I Have a Dream" speech. In it he envisioned a society where all people were treated with equal respect and where race and skin color were not an issue. His dream was a picture of what might be, if we all dealt with our debilitating prejudices and learned to see other people for their essential value and character, rather than prejudging them based on external factors.

If a dream is just a wispy wish, it can leave us depressed when we feel helpless to change harsh realities. But the kind of dream Dr. King was talking about is a more powerful concept. It is a dynamic vision that sticks in our mind, that directs our lives, that prods us into action toward its fulfilment. It's the kind of dream that can really reshape reality. Dr. King's dream has had that effect on a whole generation of Americans and has resulted in some dramatic progress against institutionalized racism. Hopefully, the power of the dream will continue through future generations, because there are still many problems that keep us from treating each other with equal consideration.

Dr. King follows a long line of dreamers. Both the Old Testament Joseph (Genesis 37:5-11) and the New Testament Joseph (Matthew 1:20, 2:13, 19, 22) were regularly directed by dreams from God. And Daniel's dreams showed the strength of the God of Israel even when his people were in bondage under a powerful empire.

But my favorite Biblical passage about dreams and dreamers is in the words spoken by the prophet Joel and quoted by Peter on the Day of Pentecost:

"In the last days it will be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit upon all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams." (Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17)

I like the way that's put: dreams are the special gift of old men. You can have your prophecies and your visions; give me dreams!

As a gift of the Holy Spirit, dreams take the deposits of memories of a lifetime of observation, experience and insight, and shape them into a vision of the future God has prepared for us. This glimpse of the potential future gives us direction, motivation and strength for positive action in the present. In this way, a dream has the dynamic power to transform itself into reality in the life of a person of faith.

Dr. King was one of those Spirit-inspired dreamers (an honorary "old man" at 38). You may not be as famous, and your dream may never capture the attention of others, as his did. But if God gives you a dream, cherish it, cultivate it, be motivated by it, move in the direction the dream seems to be pointing. You may be an heir of the gift passed on by the two Josephs, Daniel, the believers at Pentecost and Dr. King.

(Other dreamers:
Henry Ford – "Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right."
Dr. Jonas Salk – "I have dreams and I have nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.")

–Pastor George Van Alstine