Rise and Shine (Part II)

What is your dream? Do you remember?

Perhaps to dance, paint, sing, play music, write a book, write poetry, build a car, build a house, open a store, open a restaurant, open a shelter, open a church…

If you have pursued that dream, GREAT! Keep going!

If not…why not?

Why do we have dreams and aspirations, if not to chase them?

Somewhere along the line we bought into the notion that we had to dash those dreams, tuck them away only to look at them and say, “There was a time I wanted to…”

We’ve been told time and time again that these dreams are childish, silly, or not “rational.” Buckle down, put your nose to the grindstone and get to work!

How would we think God was any different? “Put aside your dreams, pick up your Bible and get to submitting to my will.”

Here’s a little test.

God = Fun
Jesus = Fun
Church = Fun

Do you chuckle like I did when I first looked at it? Did a little voice in your head say, “If only.” Especially that last one.

Why is that? Why wouldn’t God be fun?
Why wouldn’t Jesus be fun?
Why aren’t “Christians” looked at as being fun?

(I put Christians within quotes, because I dislike labels. Using the word Christian at times gets used in an “us vs. them” context. I wish not to do that here. We are ALL in this together…every single one of us)

Why are so many people flocking to other religions? Why did so many people get sucked into the fallacy of “The Secret?” For one reason, I think, like us we are all searching for meaning and truth. But furthermore, other religions, or theologies, or “practices” seem to allow for one to chase their dream. Somehow, someway, Christianity has come about as a religion that crushes dreams, beats them down into submission, until you become a nice, pious, Christian.

So why don’t we follow our dreams? Or a better question is why don’t we believe that God would want us to?
Maybe part of it is that we think it to be “worldly.” We are, after all, warned time and time again NOT to be worldly.

“I better not write that book. I might become famous and rich…and I shouldn’t want that, or accept that as an outcome.”

That is ridiculous.

Making money is not a sin. Being famous is not a sin. Having influence is not a sin. Yes, these can be USED in sinful (selfish) ways, but in-and-of themselves they are not sins.

If you really ask yourself about your dream is it more about CREATING something (yes a restaurant is creating something) or making gobs and gobs of money that you can burn it for fuel and rub it in everyone’s face?

I’m guessing it’s the former.

If that’s the case…what are you waiting for?