DREAMING ON A WORLD

Acts 2

October 12, 2003

OK, now that Ahnold is governor, how do you think he will do out there in California?

It’s all pretty amazing isn’t it?

When he started running for office, and then when he actually won, I thought it was pretty bazaar that someone like him with no political experience could win….but then as I thought about it, and thought about all the experienced professional politicians and what bad jobs so many of them do….I thought, well, maybe Ahnold will do better than a lot of them.

Not that it mattered to anyone, but I was against the recall, and had serious questions about Arnold’s qualifications, but I was watching a recent mini-documentary about him that really left an impression on me.

It showed the little Austrian village where he was raised…and talked about how when he was very young, he used to tell people that he was going to be the greatest body builder in the world.

And he would tell people he was going to be a movie star.

And when he was still wet behind the ears, he would say he was going to do something great with his life, whatever that meant.

And mostly people just listened and said…well, he’s young…he’s a dreamer…he’ll get over it.

Well, it looks like he didn’t get over it did he?

Whatever you think about Arnold Schwarzennegger, the boy kept on dreaming, kept on working, kept on trying to actualize his dreams.

Sure enough he became the greatest bodybuilder in the world…..Mr. Universe.

Sure enough he moved to California in 1968 and became a movie star.

Then according to many he became quite a business man.

Then he married into the Kennedy family.

He started working very actively with the Special Olympics.

Within the last few years he lobbied both California and Washington for better after-school programs for children, ultimately seeing four hundred million dollars going to these programs.

And now he’s the governor of the most populous state in the Union.

All of this began with a young boy dreaming dreams.

This last week as I thought about this sermon this am, so many things went through my mind in regard to dreams and the subject of dreaming.

And one of the things I thought about was how our dreams can change as we move through life.

Some of you have met my daughter Suzy who lives in New Hampshire. She’s married and has the two most beautiful children in the world in my unprejudiced opinion. (ha, ha, ha)

Well, it’s fascinating for me to look at Suzy and see how in the process of time her dreams have changed so radically.

When she was younger she wanted to be a famous model and she went that way for a little while but came to the conclusion that that wasn’t what she wanted.

Then for a while she wanted to get several degrees and find a career for herself….so she went that way.

She got two degrees…started making her way in the world of work and was doing well…going for her dream

Then she got married and had a little girl.

Then she had a little boy about 20 months ago…his name is Cray.

So what’s Suzy’s dream now?

Well, I don’t know what all of them are, but one of them is just to be the best mother she can be….and in some ways that’s not easy because little Cray is blind and extremely disabled. He needs a great amount of care.

Now Suzy might have some of the same dreams she always had,  but the dominant one now has to do with her family and giving little Cray the best care possible.

As our lives change, oft times our dreams change don’t they?

Sometimes dramatic situations like what Suzy has experienced influence us to change our dreams.

And sometimes it’s just the slow change in our values and priorities…that influence us.

And the dreams and longings which occupied us at one time and seemed so important to us are discarded…and we replace them with other dreams.

What I would like for us to do now is to ask ourselves some questions about dreams and dreaming.

(Have congregation look at the questionaire)

The Questions:

What’s the dominant dream in my life??

Is it a dream about my vocation, my career?

Is it a dream about my children, my family?

Is it a dream about something beyond my immediate world of work and family.

Do I have any dreams about my church? Her ministries?  Her place in the community?

Do I have any deep longings and dreams about the greater world in which I live?

What am I doing to actualize my dream? My dreams?

In conclusion I would like for you to listen to a song with me by Tracy Chapman.

It’s a song entitled  “Dreaming on a World.”

You’ll find an insert in your bulletin with the words to the song.

The song is about hoping and longing.

It’s about us having our feet on the ground but also about us having our eyes on the stars.

One of the worst things that can ever happen in a person’s life is if they lose the ability to dream

And…one of the greatest things we can ever give to the children in our midst…is to provide them not only with an environment that tells them how special they are…but it’s also an environment that encourages them to dream…and to dream large.

(Tracy Chapman Song….”Dreaming on a World.”)

Let us Pray………And the people said……AMEN