Revisiting the Dream Retreat

In the resurrection scheme of things, this has to happen: everything perishable taken off the shelves and replaced by the imperishable, this mortal replaced by the immortal. Then the saying will come true:

 

Death swallowed by triumphant Life!
Who got the last word, oh, Death?
Oh, Death, who’s afraid of you now?

 

It was sin that made death so frightening and law-code guilt that gave sin its leverage, its destructive power. But now in a single victorious stroke of Life, all three—sin, guilt, death—are gone, the gift of our Master, Jesus Christ. Thank God!

With all this going for us, my dear, dear friends, stand your ground. And don’t hold back. Throw yourselves into the work [the dream] of the Master, confident that nothing you do for him is a waste of time or effort.  (1 Corinthians 15:53-58  The Message)

 

 

As I strolled through the historic Key West cemetery, I was looking for some metaphor of life overcoming death. Mostly I saw rusted gates and concrete angels. Row upon row of family plots and cement boxes stacked on top of each other memoralizing lives now gone. Some were topped with crosses and others with plastic beads and silk flowers.

 

Then I came upon this plot, where the cement beds looked quite worn, the names of the deceased long eroded. Yet grass was growing up through the cracks. How can life flourish in the midst of death? That is the miracle of resurrection and Easter.

 

And that is the mystery of dreams.

 

Just about the time you believe your dream has died and been long buried, growth appears. An idea pushes up through the cracks.

 

I checked the church calendar today. It's the sixth week of Easter. Most of the candy is gone, the palm branch is drying out and the fancy clothes have been pushed to the back of the closet, but the pulsing life of Jesus still runs through my soul. It calls me to live and to dream big. To embrace the resurrection power. To claim a mind that is not daunted by fear, but filled with Spirit strength and love and sound thinking.

The dreamer's retreat has faded to the back of my mind, but I still pull out the notes I scribbled in my notebook, looking for those words that moved me and affirmed that I should keep moving ahead.

 

I appreciated how Holley Gerth  invited us to explore practical, tangible ways to handle our dreams: Write your dream on a card. Draw three intersecting circles and list your skills, your strengths and those people you want to serve. What connections do you discover?

I rediscovered that I am an encourager who loves to use words and creativity to draw out the beauty of our God-created identities, so together we can live generously and graciously toward one another, like God lives towards us. (See Matthew 5:48b The Message)

 

And that's the point. Holley said it well, "God is the point of the God-sized dream."