Us: The dream killing cynics
Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
Well Hello, I realize I fell off the blogging wagon… AGAIN, but here I am. I spent the weekend in Tampa, and it was challenging, lonely, fun and beautiful, and I took 20 pages of notes (no exaggeration) at the conference I was attending. Obviously I am still digesting all of it, but this morning I started to put some thoughts together on the concept of hope. I’m processing as I write, but here is where I’m at right now:
We live our lives afraid to hope or dream because we’ve been taught by either experience, others, the world, the church, evil etc that it is foolish and we’re just going to be disappointed, so why bother to hope?
The problem here is our core being, our hearts were wired to hope. We cannot turn hope off entirely, so we kill it as it sprouts- experiencing small deaths every time hope rears its head at breaking ground. We don’t want to experience the pain of full blown disappointed hope, so we kill it as soon as we sense it, thus creating the illusion we are in control. We manage our hope by not being entirely present in our relationships, ministry, dreams, and life by numbing hope so we don’t really feel much pain, or much of anything for that matter.
The issue with not feeling is that pain was meant to be our prime teacher. CS Lewis says “Pain is God’s megaphone to wake us up.” If we don’t feel pain, how can we make good judgment- the lines begin to blur between what’s right and wrong. Hope is the capacity to dream redemption for ourselves and others. Talk about “unrealistic”- that sounds like an illusion, but to not believe in redemption is to minimize the Cross and say it was not enough- don’t do that.
To dream (or hope) creates a sense of purpose and self that opens doors for revolution. We’ve bought into the lie that we are so-so, average, not too good, not too bad people who are therefore not really much of a threat to kingdom of darkness. When did we start listening to the whisper in our ear telling us our life isn’t beautifully unique? Does this upset you?!
The sneaky progression of becoming a cynic, and not allowing ourselves to feel joy or pain is that when we stop hoping, we lose a sense of self. When you lose your sense of self, or minimize your role on earth, you lose a desire for justice. We stop believing in redemption. Pain, our own or others, motivates us to justice.
Awe and gratitude can change our hearts. Gratitude starts when we embrace the awe that is ours- our unique face resembles the King of the universe. It reveals a piece of Him that none other ever will or has before and represents a role that was cut out in this time of eternity for you- only you. Steps to repentance could mean identifying and facing how you’ve hated and tried to kill hope in your own life.
We all carry stories. They are ours forever, unique to each one. I’m sure there is heartache and injustice in yours. There is in mine. But if we lose a sense of pain, we cannot empathise with others. If we lose the desire for vengeance, we have no heart for justice, and if we don’t get angry about this we cannot be strong when others are wronged. I don’t know if Christians are angry enough. We can sure be mean, but how strong are we? What kind of wars are we fighting for justice? Is there any sense of sorrow or grief for the hurting? What about the widows? Orphans? Poor? HELLO!?! I’m angry over this. I am part of a “Christian culture” and we prefer the “comfort” of living as apathetic cynics.
Nope, not me. Call me a fool, but I am a dreamer. I will hope and dream for the impossible. So impossible only God can do it. We’ve got to be willing to bleed for our dreams. We’ve got to dream so big we’ll assuredly fail with out the Lord.
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Chello!
Today I am at the 
didn’t see the little boy until I realized the heavy mirror had fallen on his little leg! I lifted the mirror off him and checked to make sure he was okay. I brushed him off and instructed him to be careful because the glass was sharp… FINALLY his mother casually strolls around the clothing rack with her cart and says to her 4 year old son “Was that you? What are you doing? Do you have money to pay for that… I hope you do.” And she just continues shopping.
