The Dawn Treader

"I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life."

~ The Apostle John

I recently had the honor of addressing the students at Faith Christian School in Roanoke in their weekly assembly.  My title was "Faith & Wishing".

Here is a synopsis.

President Obama warned Wednesday that failure to act immediately on his economic aid plan "will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession."

 "A failure to act, and act now, will turn crisis into a catastrophe and guarantee a longer recession, a less robust recovery, and a more uncertain future," Obama said in his prepared remarks.

President Obama says Congress must act "without delay" on his economic plan.

"Millions more jobs will be lost. More businesses will be shuttered. More dreams will be deferred," Obama said, as Senate debate continued on amendments to the stimulus package.

 "These criticisms echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care; that we can somehow deal with this in a piecemeal fashion and still expect our economy and our country to thrive," he said.

 "I reject those theories, and so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. So I urge members of Congress to act without delay."

Hmmm.

Impending catastrophe unless you agree with me?  Act now.  Don't think.  Don't delay. Americans support me.  After all, we drummed you in November.

Hmmm.

“Yes, we wrote the bill. Yes, we won the election.”

Is it me, or is a recurring theme beginning to emerge in Washington ... no matter what administration is in power?

Don't call it cynicism, friends.  Call it reality.

Source : CNN, Blooomberg.

"Catastrophe, mind you. So much for the president who in his inaugural address two weeks earlier declared "we have chosen hope over fear." Until, that is, you need fear to pass a bill."

~ Charles Krauthammer, Washington Post

I enjoyed a nice breakfast at IHOP this morning with a friend.  He is a few years older than Mr. D.  His fiftieth birthday is right around the corner.  My forty-fifth trip around the sun was not too long ago.

As I was sitting back and sipping my coffee, I asked him, "so what are your dreams?"  An invigorating discussion ensued.

All of you twenty and thirty something folks are dreamers.  I know because I was one of you once ;-)

You young guns may be wondering, do folks in their forties still dream.  Answer: we do.  We may not spend as much time dreaming as we used to, but we still dream.

In my own case, my dreams have changed.  In my twenties, I dreamed of starting a company and becoming a person of influence.  In my thirties, my dreams shifted.  I began to think more in terms of how I could use my giftedness in ways that would have the biggest impact for the kingdom of God.

Now, in my forties, my dreams have shifted once again.  My dreams are simpler now.  I always thought that mature folks had simpler dreams because of the corrective nature of reality.  In other words, you begin to realize that by forty, certain things are no longer possible.  But I have personally not found that be true.

My dreams are simpler.  But it is not because I don't think things are possible.  I think my dreams are simpler because I see the sublimity of simplicity.   I know that sounds bizarre, so allow me to unpack it.  I think we tend to over complicate things in life.  In our desire to make a name for ourselves, and an identity for ourselves, we set out to accomplish things.  Even Christians fall into this.  We want to do great things for God, right?

What I have found in life is a deeper truth, however.  Our identity does not come from what we have accomplished, or how much influence we have, or how much security we think we have.  Our identity comes from relationships.  Ultimately, it is our union with Christ that identifies us -- or our lack of union with Christ as the case may be.  All else is chaff.

That has really simplified things for me.  My dreams now center around one thing, primarily.  That one thing is relationships.

My dreams are for my relationship with God, my relationship with my wife, my relationships with my kids, and my kids relationship with God.  I dream for each of them to have a healthy marriage with a fellow follower of Christ.  I dream for each of them to know how wonderful it is to be married to someone who you can really trust.

Simple, huh?

So what are your dreams?