The Significance of a Dream

Much has been made in the last few days of the significance of a dream.  With the fiftieth anniversary of the march on Washington this past Wednesday, we have heard the echoes of past dreamers, like Dr. Martin Luther King.  The late summer of 1963 brought nearly 250,000 people to Washington in search of a dream of equality and fairness for all people.  The late summer of 2013 finds the partial realization of some of those dreams and the reality that there is still much work to do. 

Dreams are the kindling for the fires of change that bring needed transformation in our lives and in our society.  As stories have been told of Dr. King's speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, one that I find interesting is the encouragement of a voice in the crowd that perhaps spurred Dr. King to the words that inspired a movement and a nation. Gospel singer Mahalia Jackson was the last singer to perform before Dr. King rose to the podium. Bob Dylan, Joan Baez and other well-known performers had addressed the gathering congregation on the mall that day.  Jackson, however, sang two powerful spirituals that stirred the crowd and certainly reminded them of the roots of faith at work in their movement. As Dr. King rose to speak, he had a prepared text that he had been working on for quite some time.  He had listened the day before to advisors who encouraged him to focus on certain aspects of the civil rights movement, but he left them to retire to his hotel room that evening to pray and prepare further for what he believed God would have him say.  Through the first part of the speech he stuck to his prepared remarks, delivering the carefully crafted words as had been planned.  Then a voice was heard from the crowd immediately surrounding Dr. King..."Tell them about the dream Martin...tell them about the dream."   It was the voice of Mahalia Jackson.  Dr. King had spoken of his dreams in other speeches and perhaps Ms. Jackson was recalling those words.  For whatever reason, however, her challenge to Dr. King elicited a different approach, and extemporaneously, he began sharing the last part of that speech where his dreams portended a much brighter future for children of different races.

 

The Bible is full of dream stories.  Biblical writers often attribute the movement of God's Spirit in the context of dreams. We also speak of our hopes and aspirations as dreams that we hope to see fulfilled.  So, what are your dreams?  What is stirring your slumber or filling your daylight thoughts with possibility?  What might God be saying to you in your dreams and be prompting you to do as a result?  I cannot answer that question for you, but I can encourage you to listen for the voice of God in the midst of the dream, then dare to open your heart and day mind and act on that dream. The possibilities are breathtaking.

 

Finally, perhaps you and I, like Mahalia Jackson, can gently prompt a friend or loved one to share their dreams.  "Tell them about the dream Martin...tell them about the dream."  Who knows what God might do?

Jim Abernathy