Dreams are necessary for both our physical and psychological health. This is also true regarding our spiritual health. If we want to know what life is like without the benefit of dreams, we need not go very far. The poverty experienced by many who live in this region, not just in the struggling urban centers to the north of us, but down our street as well, touches far more than the pocketbook; it starves the soul too, and makes dreaming nearly impossible.
People oppressed by lack of good housing, fair employment and the healthy normalcy of a drug and alcohol free environment have little time to dream as they simply are trying to survive. However, the opposite of this human devastation, over-abundance and indulgence in clothes, cars, bigger and bigger houses and the relentless pursuit of personal amenities, can leave people without dreams as well.
Perhaps, you remember that pop song "Dream a Little Dream with Me." Dreaming together with others allows us to dream big, not small. Isaiah shows us the way. He gives us God's vision of how the world is not just meant to be, but how the world WILL be when God is finished. You and I are invited to dream this dream with God. In doing so, we participate in the coming of God's mercy and justice. Everyone is asked to trust in this promise even if our experience is that of promises broken, dreams unfulfilled, and visions grown cloudy.
A good reflection for this Advent week is: "What in my life – what attitudes, feelings, perceptions, or actions are holding me back from dreaming God's dream? What am I doing or allowing others to do to me that is obstructing my vision of the world as God sees the world?"
In dealing with these questions, we are led to seek a solution for the question below: "Now that I have an idea of what holds me back, what can I do to move forward into God's bright vision? How can I allow God to work through me to bring His dream closer to reality?"
Remember, Advent has a two-fold purpose. First and foremost, to prepare us all for the glorious coming of the risen Christ who comes to bring God's judgment, that is, to bring God's dream to completion. Secondly, by preparing us for this coming of Christ we can be prepared to celebrate with humble joy, not bombastic display, the coming of God as man in Jesus.
The incarnation of God, as man is the fulfillment of Isaiah's vision and Christ's further incarnation in his faithful people: you and me. This is the means by which the dream moves towards its fulfillment. Consequently, our participation in this bright and cheerful vision is much more than gift giving, baking, decorating, and reveling. It is allowing ourselves to take on Christ as he took on our flesh. It is to work with this child that was born to us to bring God's dream to fulfillment.
Father Dobrzynski is the pastor of St. Michael the Archangel in Schererville.
