WATCHWORD:
God says, ‘In the last days I will send My Spirit on all men. Then your sons and daughters will speak God’s Word. Your young men will see what God has given them to see. Your old men will dream dreams.’ Acts 2:17
4 Pharaoh sent for Joseph at once, and he was quickly brought from the prison. After he shaved and changed his clothes, he went in and stood before Pharaoh. 15 Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I had a dream last night, and no one here can tell me what it means. But I have heard that when you hear about a dream you can interpret it.”
16 “It is beyond my power to do this,” Joseph replied. “But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.”
17 So Pharaoh told Joseph his dreams.
25 Joseph responded, “Both of Pharaoh’s dreams mean the same thing. God is telling Pharaoh in advance what he is about to do. Genesis 41:4, 15-17, 25
Meditation:
Imagine
I have said many times that a good round of golf, sets me up for disappointment for the next round. That makes sense, doesn’t it. We get our expectations pretty high at times, and that sets us up for a bit of disappointment when those expectations aren’t met.
But dreams, and goals, and expectations are good. We draw a lot from the “way it was” when life was good, the kids were great, the sun was shining, God was in His Heaven and all was right with the world. Right? So, there is your touch point, there is that image of what you wish to experience now. Does that set us up for disappointment? Impatient for the “way it was”? Yes, it probably does, to a certain extent.
We grew up with the Beatles, and John Lennon’s song, Imagine, was big hit. #1 on the charts for a very long time. It carried a message, some we agree with, some we don’t. One part does describe a dream, maybe even Utopia:
Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world,
You may say 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
Having a dream, an imagined goal is a good thing. I don’t think any of us are obsessed with perfection, or that mythical land of Utopia. But, we all have our wishes, and, as they say, if wishes were fishes, no one would starve.
Beth responded to last Friday’s Watchword, Utopia, Plan B with this – “Yes, but by steering toward Utopia, you are making a path to the better if not the perfect. The reason I liked the quote is because so many see only darkness ahead of us, that our world is collapsing, that only fools look for the bright side or imagine that it is possible that the pain and chaos we are experiencing will be birthing a better, more fair future. How will we know what that brighter future looks like if we cannot imagine it?”
I can’t argue with Beth, but much of our worry and stress results from wanting things to happen now, before their times have come. In a recent Jesus Calling, He tells us to “ask Him to show you the path forward, moment by moment. Slow down and enjoy the journey in My Presence.”
Bulletin Board:
A funny from Art — I was at the bar last night when the waitress screamed “Anyone know CPR?” I said, “Heck, I know the entire alphabet.” Everyone laughed. Well, everyone except this one guy. [Art. You were in a bar?]
Closing Prayer:
An inclusive re-vision of Thomas Merton’s great prayer. It seems apropos for the times we are in.
My Lord God, we have no idea where we are going. We do not see the road ahead. We cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do we really know ourselves, and the fact that we think that we are following your will does not mean that we are actually doing so. But we believe that the desire to please you, does, in fact, please you. and we hope we have that desire and all that we do. We hope that we will never do anything apart from that desire. And we know that if we do this, you will lead us by the right road, though we may know nothing about it. Therefore, we will trust you always, though we may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. We will not fear, for you are ever with us, and you will never leave us to face our perils alone. Amen.
