Transformation

The meaningful life is the one lived in pursuit of a vision. For the Christian, the vision is a dream really - a dream of how things can be - a dream of the Reign of God. The Christian’s vision is God’s dream.

God had a Dream. It was a dream of light and life and goodness. But dreams, being what they are, must be shared. And so, god created humankind. "Let us make people in our own image". We are created in the image of God. That means that we are dreamers too! God is a dreamer, wants to share the Dream, and so creates other dreamers - us. There is another side to "created in the image of God", however. God created us to be dreamers like God. But God also created us with another divine characteristic - free will. No one forced a particular dream upon God; it is uniquely God's own. By the same token God does not force that Dream upon us; merely offers it to us. Like Mary, who was called to share the Dream, we can either accept or reject God's Dream. It seems that people had their own dreams for the world and those were the ones which were pursued. As we look around today, we must honestly say that the world is not a better place for having chosen to pursue human dreams over the Divine Dream.

But God is a persistent dreamer and really believes in the Divine Dream. If that Dream is ever to be realized it must be shared. So God sat down with Abraham and said, "Abraham, I want so much to share my Dream with someone. I want to share my Dream so much that I am willing to strike a bargain with you. I know how badly you and Sarah want to have a son and how impossible that must seem to you. I will make you this promise: if you embrace my Dream - the Dream of a Land where people live at peace with one another, where the lion and the lamb can sleep side by side, where all of the people who I have breathed life into can live in harmony and equality - if you will but embrace that Dream, pursue it faithfully, and share that Dream with others; if you do that, then I will lead you to that land - the land of light and life and goodness - and I will give it to you. And not only that. I will give you as well, not just a son, but a whole nation of sons and daughters - more numerous that the stars of the heavens or the sands of the ocean. This is my unbreakable promise to you, Abraham, this is my COVENANT, made between you and I and your descendants after you, forever". And so, Abraham went with God in pursuit of a Dream. Thus Abraham became the first person of the "chosen ones"; those, who when given the choice between pursuing God's Dream or some other dream, choose God's Dream, the eternal Dream.

The story continued. The cast of characters changed repeatedly. Over time, fewer and fewer people were faithful to the Covenant; faithful to The Dream. More and more the various human dreams become preferred over God's Dream. Eventually the Egyptian dream becomes the most preferred - even among those sons and daughters of Abraham, the chosen dreamer.

So God went to Moses, and said, "Moses, I have this Dream - a dream of a world where people live in light and goodness, a reign where I can share with my creation all the good things that I have. I have a dream of a Land flowing with milk and honey. I will give you that land, just as I promised your ancestor Abraham, if you will embrace my Dream and gather other dreamers with you to pursue it. Go to the people and say, 'we must leave this place - we must follow a new Dream'. Go to Pharaoh and tell him to let my dreamers go". And so they went. But no sooner had they left Egypt than they began to question the Dream. Their commitment to and understanding of the Dream was shallow. Abraham had just gone - these people needed a map! So God took Moses to the top of a mountain (because that is where dreams are formed) and he gave Moses and outline of the Dream:

I, God, am the author of the Dream. Never forget that. Don't let anyone else come along and try to sell you a "better" dream.

Don't create for yourselves some false "shadow" of a dream to pursue. You have enough human history behind you now to see where that leads.

Don't frivolously or carelessly attribute things to me - "This is the will of God; God wants this or that".

If you do these three things in pursuit of my Dream, then you will inherit the Dream and the reign which will result from the Dream will look like this:

You will have a balance between work and play. You will have a time to rest and enjoy the Dream - and this will be a sacred time, a holy time.

Your mothers and fathers, and your wise people will be able to share with you their wisdom that you might better enjoy the reign - more fully experience the Dream.

People will not hate nor harm one another.

People will be committed to one another and faithful to the sacred trust that bonds all humans together.

People will not take from one another that to which they have no right - a person's dignity and rights as one created in my image.

People will not be dishonest, mistrusting, nor afraid of one another.

People will not be jealous and wish they were someone else or in some other situation. They will love one another and themselves and rejoice in being who they are.

This is the vision of the Dream that God gave to Moses. We call it the "Ten Commandments", but that really misses the point.

The story continues for many years. The people embrace God's Dream for a while and then loose it; then embrace it only to loose it once again.

From time to time a "Super Dreamer" like Isaiah, or Jeremiah, or Ezekiel, or Daniel comes along. But they are usually laughed at, or rejected, or just ignored.

But God has not given up. God still cherishes the Dream and longs to share it. God says, "I've led them in pursuit of the Dream and that didn't work. I gave them a blueprint of the Dream and that didn't work. What I must do now is EMBODY the Dream for them. I must INCARNATE - give life- to the Dream in the form of a person, so that they can SEE what it is like to live the Dream.

And so, Jesus is born - the living embodiment of God's Dream. Jesus is the Dream. He brings light to a darkened world. He lives passionately and loves compassionately. Better yet, he calls us to be the Dream as well. "The time is NOW - the Reign of God - the Dream is in your midst. BELIEVE.

But when it was all said and done, the Dream proved to be too much for us. It was too risky and too challenging for us. And since we couldn't embrace the Dream we didn't want to be reminded of it---so we killed the One who embodied it.

But covenants are forever. God would not give up. God still wanted to share the Dream. God said, "I've led them; I've blueprinted the Dream for them; I've even showed them the living incarnation of the Dream - and none of that has worked. I have only one thing left to do. I will put the Spirit of my Dream in their very hearts. I will put MY Spirit in them and dwell with them - and let the Dream dwell with them".

And so it was.

And so the author of I Peter writes: "...You who are believers (in the Dream)...are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set apart..."

We are a "chosen people". But I don't think that God chooses a person or a group of people as much as that some of us are more open to being chosen. Abraham allowed himself to be chosen by God for the Dream - he was "ripe" for being chosen. Why? Because he was painfully in touch with those deepest desires and longings within himself that are part of the Dream. Abraham was painfully aware of the frustration of continually turning from one god to another in an attempt to find peace. Abraham was painfully aware of the fear that was generated within him - the fear of hate, and violence, and rejection. He was painfully aware of his deep need and drive for faithful intimacy with others and of his quest for trust and honesty. Abraham was painfully aware of the destructive character of jealousy and envy, and of his need to love and respect himself and others. Abraham was deeply in touch with these needs within himself. So was Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Jesus. And so must all who would bear the Dream of God. It is this which enables a person to allow themselves to be chosen by God, and become part of a "royal priesthood, a consecrated nation".