Sweet Dreams

Here's another poetic offering, compiled and recreated over the past few years. It's my wish for a young boy, just starting to discover the world of make-believe. As I posted earlier, I believe that dreams are fuel for the engine that drives the hearts of men. They take us beyond the here and now -- beyond the reality we see around us -- and lead us someplace better, someplace holier, and, perhaps, someplace with greater adventure.


SWEET DREAMS

Standing on the beach, I watch the tide roll out
Sending the ships out to sea
And I wonder, young friend, how you're doing right now
Chasing your heart's deepest dream

'Cause right here on the shore, it is such a bore
I'd rather be out on the sea
Sailing away to some far away land
There's adventure just waiting for me!

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

In every boy's mind, there's a treasure to find
Of stories too good to believe
Of heroes and giants, villains and kings
Who play out a breathtaking scene

Maybe there are pirates! Maybe a storm!
Maybe a princess in need!
I'm never gonna know, if I never go
And follow my heart's deepest dream

So drift off away to a far away land
of paupers and prophets and kings
May God ever hold you in the palm of His hand
and fill your young mind with sweet dreams

Poem: Dreams

Just the other day I was thinking about the role that dreaming (dreams, desires, fantasies) play in the lives of men. I thought about how I am personally affected by the ambitions and dreams I have for my own life, or my family, or my church. Dreams can often carry a person away from reality and become a distraction when real problems need real attention. But without dreams, we never will go anywhere in our lives. We never will test our boundaries or set our goals higher than where we already are. Dreams keep a person going in the midst of an unsettling reality, because that person knows that things may get better in the future. And maybe they'll become more than better -- they'll become extraordinary. With these things in mind, I wrote the following poem over two lunches at Wendy's, my favorite lunchtime "think tank."


DREAMS

Close your eyes and dream with me
Of cotton sands and a turquoise sea
Where palm tress frame a place of rest

And I'm with you and you with me
Our ears are filled with the musical sea
As the sun shines down we are blest

And we dream away...

I did not think we'd have gone this far
When the waves were high and the valley dark
And emotions clouded everything we'd see

Yet we hoped that this would not be the end
For our love is constant more than the wind
And we hoped that better things were yet to be

So we dream away...

Some say dreams are but lofty notions
Meant only to distract and deceive
But I say dreams are fuel for the engine
In the heart of a man; to keep him going
When a valley is all that he can see

He's got to dream away....

The Heart That's Right

In studying the lives of King Saul and King David, there is a clear distinction between the hearts of the two men. Saul was a mighty warrior, a man of great stature and a commanding presence. He looked like a king. And when he was on top of his game, there was none better than Saul. David, by contrast, was the runt of the litter. The youngest of Jesse's sons, David was counted on to keep the sheep but little else. He was handsome in appearance but what attracted people to him wasn't his good looks. It was his heart. After all, man looks on the outside, the prophet Samuel declared, but God looks on the heart (1 Sam 16:31).

Saul's heart sought the Lord early in his kingship. He did the right things and said the right words. And the Lord blessed him with victory after victory. But on a hilltop in western Judah Saul's heart turned. Instead of waiting one more day for Samuel to arrive for a sacrifice, Saul did the deed himself and brought the wrath of God upon him. Samuel admonished the king, "Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD?
Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams." The prophet then went to anoint the shepherd boy of Bethlehem as king.

David sought the Lord early and often in his life. From the Valley of Elah, where he defeated the giant Goliath, to the caves of the Judean Wilderness, David sought the will of God and obeyed it. As king, David had a few hiccups but overall remained a man after God's own heart. In fact, David knew of the delicate yet important nature of having a right heart. After his sin with Bathsheeba, the king pinned the words of Psalm 51, in which he cries out, "For You do not delight in sacrifice, otherwise I would give it; You are not pleased with burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise."

David understood that what we do is not as important as why we do it. A right heart is one that seeks to obey the Lord and act in accordance with the Lord's will. Offering our time and energy must have as its motivator a heart seeking to obey the Lord. If we are just getting busy for busyness sake we have missed the boat. For the Lord delights in an obedient heart. A heart like David's. Not Saul's.

Be God's!

Hide and Seek

There's just something thrilling about a chase. Great movie scripts are written about chases, like Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid, Bonnie & Clyde, or The Fugitive. That last one best fits the chase I got swept up in this afternoon: the chase between King Saul and David, son of Jesse. Our pastor, Steve, is beginning a sermon series on the Life of David next Sunday and as the communications/promotions guy at the church, I have been swept away by the creative process. Just today I played around with the idea of making an old-fashioned newspaper frontpage chronicling the David-Saul chase. "Fugitive Strikes Again!" the big, bold headline read. The story would come from 1 Samuel 26, in which Saul receives a tip about the whereabouts of his nemesis David. The king himself marches 3,ooo men into the wilderness to find the young fugitive only to come home humiliated. You see, David and company snuck into the king;s camp at night, stole his spear and water jug, then woke him up to wave it in his face. Or so I read it. "Why are you chasing me?!" David exclaims. It's a great question. He had done nothing wrong yet was hunted down by a jealous king. Saul shakes the sleep out of his eyes and replies in humility, "I'm so sorry, my son. You were right, I was wrong. You have spared my life. I will spare yours." Of course, history records that Saul continued his pursuit of young David and many more adventures awaited them. All of them thrilling. All of them suspenseful. All of them adding up to the greatest chase of them all.

Christmas ... After the Storm

As I sit here at my computer at 1:37am on Friday, January 2, 2009, I think it has finally dawned on me that Christmas is over. And I'm sad. Christmas is my favorite holiday and the festivity surrounding it always lifts my spirits. So in honor of the holiday that just passed, I offer up my favorite things from the 2008 Christmas season.

-- Christmas lights. They always entertain me, though their purpose has been long lost.
-- Garland. I wish we all would be kinder to garland and leave it up year-round. Ribbons, too.
-- Opening Christmas gifts at home. There is little better than being with family when it is time to celebrate.
-- Saying "Merry Christmas" to as many people as possible. None of this "Happy Holidays" stuff!
-- Vacation Days. I have a bad habit of not taking time off the first 11 months of the year. So it all falls during the holidays. And, man, did I ever need it.

Turning 32...

Playing "Grandpa" for a Christmas play, 2004.

Not sure what to think of 32. I hardly got to know 31. Come to think of it, whatever happened to 30?

Isn't it funny how time changes as time progresses? Oh, I'm sure some nuclear physicist out there would set me in my logical place over that last sentence, but many times what is true of our experience doesn't match what logic and math tells us. I know that time doesn't change. But our perception of it sure does. One day we're young and we feel that way. Sooner than we want, we feel old. Sometimes those two feelings are a matter of days apart. Sometimes hours.

One truth about life is that every person is getting older and more frail. Even someone who is 12 years old. Our bodies gradually disintegrate until they can handle time no more and they lay down for a final rest. Not so with our souls, for sure, but definitely true of our bodies. And each birthday is a reminder of that frailty. And a reminder to me that I need to be focusing more and more on the spirit and not neglecting the spirit in favor of the flesh. Saint Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians that even though our flesh may be getting weaker and weaker, our inner man -- our spirit -- is being renewed day by day through the power of God's Spirit. So while we live in ever decaying bodies, our hearts can be getting stronger and stronger if we let God's Spirit work within us to mold us and shape us into the image of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.

That's what I'm thinking on this day, when I turned 32.

Four Dollar Grace

Megan and I went to a hockey game tonight and, even though we had a wonderful time, we nearly didn't make it back home because we both made an important omission. We didn't have any cash. Not even a dime (though we did see one flipping on the bottom of an escalator). It's easy to think that in the modern society cash is gradually becoming obsolete. I mean, with credit and debit cards and all, who needs the green stuff? We did. Tonight. You see, we took the local transit train to the sports arena and should have known trouble was brewing when the ticket dispensers could not read our credit cards (nor anyone else's). A transit worker told us to go ahead and get on board and so we did.

Grace number one.

When we arrived at the train station to ride back, the ticket dispensers there didn't even take credit cards. Just cash. That's right. JUST cash. We hurried around to find an ATM and I withdrew $40 in two 20's. Thinking our cash problem was solved, we arrived back at the dispensers to find that they didn't take 20's. Our fare was $3. Both freezing in the cold wind, we were frustrated and quite unhappy! So Megan did something impusive: she asked a few people waiting for a different train if they had change for a 20. One man looked at us and said he had some ones. We walked closer with the 20 and he reached into his wallet. Four ones. And some 20's. Nothing else. Drats! Then the man did something remarkable. He GAVE us the four ones. Just gave them to us.

Grace number two.

We were the foolish ones by not taking cash along. We didn't deserve four dollars. But he gave them anyway. We put three of them in the machine. Two one-way tickets came out. I retruned the dollar to the gentleman and said, "God bless you" to him as Megan and I rushed to board the train. I never heard the man's name. But if you, sir, somehow stumble across this humble blog: "Thank you." You blessed our lives tonight and showed us the grace of God through your simple sacrifice. We are in your debt.