When Push Comes To Shove

The most fearful step toward any dream is the first one. The initial leap into whatever has captured your heart and tempted your fancy is downright daunting.  For most our dreams are merely machinations of the mind that create wishful thinking.  We’re really not serious about losing weight.  We’re not that committed to a career change.  We’re not absolutely persuaded to quit the habit.  The desire is there but the discipline is not.  For the spiritual, God’s dangerous, murky and relentless Will is the most daring call of all. To follow God without condition, care or comfort is a fearful thing. It’s how dreams become nightmares.

So Joseph went after his brothers and found them near Dothan. But they saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him. “Here comes that dreamer!” they said to each other. “Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams.”  (Genesis 37:17-20)

True destiny begins with a single step and sometimes God pushes you off the cliff. Joseph’s dreams led him into the desert one day.  The first step in becoming a prince.  If I may speculate, let me suggest Joseph heading out of town on business was a rare event (confirmed by his brothers immediate plot to remove him from power).  Maybe he handled the operations from a plush home office.  Maybe daddy didn’t want him getting his hands dirty.  Maybe Joseph refused to go on the road to support the family business.  Regardless of the reason, something happened that forced Joseph to “go after” his brothers one day.

It wasn’t his choice but somebody had to deal with the problem.  What Joseph didn’t recognize was God was about to push him off a cliff. You’re a homebody?  Fine.  How does Egypt sound for the rest of your life? You think your career ladder is counting sheep?  How does prison and slavery sound? Think about it. Would Joseph have left the comfortable surroundings of his doting dad if he knew the next chapter in his life was a pit? Would he follow his dream to the palace if he knew it meant years in prison first? I think we often miss a significant character flaw in Joseph. He had a wrinkle in his personality that God needed to iron out. Like many dreamers, there’s a danger of pride. You’re something special. You’ve got the blessing. You’re the answer to everyone’s problems.

Proverbs 16:18 says pride comes before a fall. It’s a tragic reality play, but often the “coat” that appoints and anoints is the same fabric from which we falter and fail. Was Joseph so optimistic and innocent that he couldn’t hear his own brothers plot to kill him? Was his head so in the clouds that the rest of him missed the obvious? A brother doesn’t kill his own kin without reason. Nor do your siblings plot an assassination without ample cause. Maybe it was Joseph’s pride that drove him into the desert near Dothan to find his brothers.  He’d have preferred to stay by daddy’s side, but something happened to push him toward his professional desert and pride fueled his ego that he alone would resolve the situation.

The difference between confidence and pride is a thin line. The real question is in whom does your confidence reside? God or man? God or yourself? For Joseph, his dreams are about to explode. Fortunately, we know when life grows dark and dank, the boy in the coat of colors will faithfully follow God through pit and prison. Joseph doesn’t allow his circumstances to circumvent his calling.

What’s the price of your dream?  What’s holding you back from finally falling forward? What keeps you safe and secure when you hear in your heart the call of the wild?  Dreams don’t happen by chance but choice.  We become what we let go of.  Sometimes it just takes a push to get us moving.  Sometimes its in the shove we finally fall free.  And sometimes we never experience either because we’d rather hunker down with our pride.

The enemy of progress is in the mirror.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON DREAMS:

The problems of this world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were. (John F. Kennedy)

We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter’s evening. Some of us let these great dreams die, but others nourish and protect them; nurse them through bad days till they bring them to the sunshine and light which comes always to those who sincerely hope that their dreams will come true. (Woodrow Wilson)

Father, you know our dreams. Some are selfish. Some are divine. Some are silly. Some are great. Regardless of the vision that fires my heart and captures my mind, I ask simply that my confidence lies alone in You. Forgive my pride. Overlook my selfish desires. If it be Your Will, let my dream come true. Not for my glory, but for Yours alone. Amen.

I Am Legend…Really, I Am!

It was one of the 2007’s hottest flicks and remains a rental hit. I Am Legend, starring Will Smith, is a sci-fi thriller about the last man on the planet—an Army colonel and scientist named Robert Neville. The apocalyptic mutation of a viral cure for cancer has decimated 90% of the world’s population. Of the survivors, the virus degenerates man and beast into terrifying monsters that live only in darkness and thrive on flesh, especially human.

Neville is convinced his life’s calling is to create a cure for the beasts, to save them from themselves and return society to normal. When others persuade him to abandon this aspiration, including his own wife and child, Neville resists. “This is ground zero,” he says of Manhattan Island and he will die for his dream to save humanity.

It’s odd, I know. But legends tend to rise from ashes. The great men and women in history lived larger lives than even they imagined. Those who dare to dream are few and when a dreamer shares his vision you can bet your last dollar there’ll be criticism and complaints, rebukes and resistance. Dreamers are only silenced when they no longer speak.

Then he had another dream, and he told it to his brothers. “Listen,” he said, “I had another dream, and this time the sun and moon and eleven stars were bowing down to me.” When he told his father as well as his brothers, his father rebuked him and said, “What is this dream you had? Will your mother and I and your brothers actually come and bow down to the ground before you?” His brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the matter in mind.  (Genesis 37:9-11)

Just ask Joseph. His dream painted a rosy picture where even his parents would bend to his will. Joseph was destined to be an A-lister, top dog, commander-in-chief, head honcho and the big kahuna. ‘Lil Joe would one day own the Ponderosa and be Hoss’ boss. Dreams like that don’t go unnoticed nor do they attract affection or affirmation. And there’s no indication how the dream impacted Joseph overall. Maybe he hated it as much as is brothers. Maybe the weight of the vision was too heavy for a teen. Maybe he used the dream against his brothers. We really don’t know what Joseph felt, but we do know his legendary dream invited jealousy, anger, pain and rebuke (from his father no less). We also know, in retrospect, his heroic vision would mean years in prison, unfair accusation and character assassination.

That’s why legends rise from ash piles and garbage heaps. Legends are built not born. Legends are uncommon, unbelievable and undeniable—whether it’s a nomad cattle kid becoming Pharaoh’s finest leader or a lone army doc bent on crafting a cure to save a savage society. When the credits finally roll in both screenplays, Joseph and Robert live their dreams (though with radically different twists and conclusions).

Legends give hope. Legends offer salvation. Legends never die. It’s why our culture hungers and hates heroes in the same breath. Legends remind us of our immortality, of our unmet destiny, and our unfulfilled desires. Legends reveal God and how we have missed the mark. They also tap into our deepest need to make a difference and leave the world slightly better than how we found it.

Are we legend? Yes, in a way we are. If only we can believe it.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON DREAMS:

You see things; and you say, “Why?” But I dream things that never were; and I say, “Why not?” (George Bernard Shaw)

I have learned, that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours. (Henry David Thoreau)

Hope is a waking dream. (Aristotle)

Father, we all possess a legendary dream. Perhaps we have forgotten it. Perhaps we have buried it. Perhaps we run from it. We seek your Strength to value the Vision You have placed in our heart. We invite your Wisdom to separate the wheat from the chaff, the eternal from the temporary and the truth from the lie. Jesus, we thank You for being a Legend for all time. Because of You, nothing is impossible. Amen.

Dare To Dream!

On December 27, 2007, the world lost another dreamer. Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated by a coward’s bullet and bomb. Bhutto was a revolutionary leader who lived her dream for a democratic Pakistan in the shadow of terror. It’s an epitaph for a life lived under a calling. Great dreams can be deadly.

Ultimately, everyone will dream. But I’m not talking about nocturnal nightmares that chill the skin. Nor am I addressing daydreams that casually slip a mind into autopilot. The truly terrifying dreams are dangerous, daunting and daring. They run counter-culture, cross-stream, up hill and against the grain. It’s why true visionaries rarely outlive their dreams.

Dreams tend to consume the dreamer. President Lincoln was murdered only days after the Civil War ceased, haunted by nightmares of just such a fate. Camelot died along with JFK on a downtown Dallas street in November 1963. A few years later Martin Luther King’s dream for racial reconciliation violently shattered on a Memphis hotel balcony. John Lennon imagined a world of peace and was brutally shot one cold New York night in 1980.

Daring dreams are dangerous dreams. Visions that alter history and force societal change are conceived in times of trial and trouble. No real dream is void of opposition. Critics condemn many dreams as delusions. Family and friends finger them as fantasy. Sure, some dreams do seem far-fetched at first. Fly in the sky? Never. Walk on the moon? Insane. Transmit image over air? Keep dreaming. Many a dream is discounted not for possibility but rather the many mounting obstacles against it. Get a college degree? Good luck. Snag your dream job? That’s nice, honey. Leave a legacy? I won’t hold my breath.

Joseph had a dream, and when he told it to his brothers, they hated him all the more. He said to them, “Listen to this dream I had: We were binding sheaves of grain out in the field when suddenly my sheaf rose and stood upright, while your sheaves gathered around mine and bowed down to it.” His brothers said to him, “Do you intend to reign over us? Will you actually rule us?” And they hated him all the more because of his dream and what he had said. (Genesis 37:5-8)

Joseph was an idealistic visionary who neither allowed others to define his dream nor mar his mission. He wouldn’t allow even his closest family to denigrate his dream.  Joseph’s vision is one of servitude and submission. It radically suggested that he was something special.  His brothers would not only one day gravitate to his power but even bend the knee.  It was a sick suggestion that naturally fueled animosity and anger among his siblings.  In a Hebrew family the oldest held the power and promise, not the youngest.  It was a slap in the face to family tradition and cultural norms for Joseph to envision his lordship.  He may eventually get a piece of the power pie but not before his brothers got their slices.

Nevertheless, Joseph saw what he saw. It may not have been culturally hip, socially acceptable, family tradition or personally desirable but give the boy credit.  He didn’t pack it in.  He didn’t run.  He didn’t remain silent.  Joseph dared to dream out loud.

Visions are carefully packed with innate value and voice. They speak into the heart and animate the spirit of the dreamer. Those who oppose a dream may eventually discover they’re fighting against God. That’s why many dreams grow anorexic and die from malnutrition. Visions must be fed, nurtured and sheltered until the historic moment is ripe.  When the sheath rises in the field of dreams, it’s time to reap.

Consequently, a dreamer will patiently wait for his (or her) date with destiny. But here’s the catch (as noted in Joseph’s life): Dreams may take years to materialize and often come at great price. Dreams that change and charge a world mature within adversity, struggle, pain and loneliness. Joseph would eventually live his dream but not before years in pit and prison, as slave and sentry.

Dreams drove Joseph to eventually lead all of Egypt. Where will your dreams drive you? Where will your visions lift you?  Regardless of the sacrifice, dream on.  Even if it hurts, dream on.  Whether family or friends understand, dream on.  Whether  you truly want to accept the assignment, dream on.

Dream on.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON DREAMS:

All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. (T.E. Lawrence)

You may say that I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only one.  I hope someday you’ll join us and the world will be as one.
(John Lennon)

You can often measure a person by the size of his dream. (Robert H. Schuller)

Father, it is You who sows the seer with dreams. It is You who protects and provides, anoints and affirms, motivates and matures the dreamer to live Your dream. Thank You for your Revelation and we simply ask for courage, strength and wisdom to become and accomplish what You have ordained. Amen.

The Gift That Gives and Takes

Now Israel loved Joseph more than any of his other sons, because he had been born to him in his old age; and he made a richly ornamented robe for him. When his brothers saw that their father loved him more than any of them, they hated him and could not speak a kind word to him. (Genesis 37:3)

I love Christmas no matter the month. It’s the most wonderful time of the year. The festivities, egg nog and carols, holiday lights and yuletide spirit always conceive a spirit of hope, peace and joy within me. Of course, my language of love is “giving and receiving gifts” and so December 25 is perfectly suited for St. Nick and Rick. Do you think the old elf will ever retire? I’d love to work just one day a year, I dig cookies and kids, and I do look pretty sharp in red.  Maybe I should apply to be Santa?

You know, I think the patriarch Jacob was a lot like Santa.  He was a “gift guy” and knew how to package the perfect present.  In the opening scene of Joseph’s life we find his father’s love wrapped within a “richly ornamented robe” that would become the gift that kept on giving . It was a robe of relationship sewn with favored fabrics of affection, attention and affirmation. When it was exactly given to Joseph we don’t know. Maybe a special birthday present. Or a gift for a sacred holiday. Or maybe it simply showed up on an average day in an ordinary box.

It really doesn’t matter how Joseph got the coat.  It does matter how it changed perceptions and familial relationship.

Joseph’s coat was a give and take, and it took a lot in the end.  This robe manufactured an odor that reeked with family discord, distaste and dysfunction. The coat was a blessing the other brothers desired but never enjoyed. It’s like one kid who scores a holiday haul in parental presents while the rest of the siblings settle for lumps of coal. Consequently, every time Joseph wore his favored fashion it meant different things to different people. To father Jacob, it represented special affection. To Joseph, it symbolized kind blessing. To the rest of his brothers, it revealed unfair favor. It’s no wonder they raged with hate and made life for Joseph a living hell.

The parent in me must confess Jacob blew it. Even if the sons aren’t all saints, it doesn’t mean you love them less nor shower one kid with special attention and affection. Furthermore Joseph is perfect.  He does seem the type to flaunt.  As we’ll soon discover, Joe has no problem sharing daring dreams to bait his brothers. And jealousy doesn’t jump from one lousy coat alone. I’m sure ‘lil Joe liked pushing his bigger brothers’ buttons (that’s only human nature). He knew their feelings about him and dad. A sensitive son wouldn’t let dad’s eccentricities egg his brother’s egos.  Nevertheless, the journey of Joseph to an Egyptian palace begins with a Hebrew robe.  It’s out of the ordinary that God will build the extraordinary.  It’s in the common fabrics of life that dreamers weave visions that change the world.  It’s in the messiness of human relationship that salvation would come for this nomadic dysfunctional family.

Ultimately, this ancient family portrait reveals how one gift created blessing and burden, favor and fighting, pride and prejudice. Life is like that sometimes. Sometimes you get the robe. Sometimes you give it. And sometimes the robe gets you.

It’s how you wear it that truly determines its worth.

NOTABLE QUOTABLES ON GIVING:

We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten. (Ralph Waldo Emerson)
It is possible to give without loving, but it is impossible to love without giving. (Richard Braunstein)
The fragrance always remains in the hand that gives the rose. (Heda Bejar)
He who obtains has little. He who scatters has much. (Lao-Tzu)

Father, it is You who knows how to give good gifts to your children. Thank you for Jesus! We pause every day of year to remember the Christ His Purpose. You gave and so would He. And so we’re grateful for the salvation that comes only in His Name. Amen.