ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
August 1, 2025
Erma Bombeck wrote, “Dreams have only one owner at a time. That’s why dreamers are lonely.” I agree, yet I disagree. There is real truth to the dreamer who sees what others cannot see or refuses to see, and for that reason, the dreamer can feel very alone in that dreaming. But dreams are contagious, and because dreams are contagious, they often infect a handful of others. In that moment, the small group of dreamers can feel some loneliness as there is often pushback or outright hostility toward the dream, yet once a dream has taken hold, it’s hard to shake. I think about all the dreamers in the Bible who were mesmerized by a sort of holy illusion that others described as a delusion, yet they pushed ahead. I think of Moses who told the most powerful leader in the world to let the Israelites go. Pharaoh pushed back, even making the already miserable life of slavery a bit more miserable. Yet Moses was mostly undeterred for the simple reason that his dream was first God’s dream, and if God first dreamed it, then it is only a matter of time before it becomes reality. Don’t be alone in your dreaming, especially if it feels like it is a dream rooted in God’s dream for this world.
O Giver of Dreams, continue to nudge us, especially when we are feeling alone in our dreaming, often second-guessing the validity or possibility of such far-reaching ideas. If it has come from you, then we must believe that you will be both patient and persistent in seeing the dream to fruition. Amen.
