07.27.19 - week 13
on dreams.
does god still do miraculous things? (yes)
is he really happy with his word and what he left us as a guide? (yes)
do we have a tendency to ask for a big sign instead of obeying the directions we have already been given? (yes)
i have never been much of a literal dreamer.
it’s maybe once in 3 months that i wake up with any memory of something happening. but i’m also an impossibly romantic metaphorical dreamer. i have been unpacking stuff in a new office and found a treasure trove of old notebooks. they are filled with hopes for the future, statistics from my (then-future) nfl and nba careers, lists of kids kristen + i would have, sermon series at momentous occasions, lots and lots of dreams.
scripture often fuses literal/metaphorical dreams together, in many intriguing ways.
maybe my favorite is in genesis 37, joseph and his incessant need to insult his brothers by what he dreamt was coming in the future. his brothers hated him for it, a perfect teenage cocktail of hubris/hope/enthusiasm makes that at least understandable from my view.
but never-the-less, everything joseph dreamed about was going to come true. he just couldn’t see how much X (pain, loneliness, betrayal etc) it would take to get there. because if he had, he probably wouldn’t have been able to endure it.
that’s why god often only reveals one step at a time. it’s all our fragile hearts can handle.
so have big dreams – sure. but understand that they are (like a friend once memorably preached): different, harder, take longer, and will ultimately be better than you thought.
Cup of Leadership
sociologists often describe our statements of identity as an intersection of desire, community, and behavior. ‘i’m a bear fan’ is composed of, I find watching football relaxing (desire). I like watching football with my friends (community). I watched every bears game last season (behavior). that can be applied lots of ways and of course on close analysis the categories can overlap.
one of the reason millennials drive their elders nuts is because they choose identities based on desire without requiring behavior to match up.
i’m a filmmaker.
oh cool, can i see one of your films?
i haven’t made one yet.
(heavy sigh and turn on fox news)
but once you see this construct its very helpful. take ‘god loves cheerful giver, not someone giving reluctantly or under compulsion.’ a person can give (behavior) but not really want to (desire) or from the right motives (community) and it not be ‘generous’ in god’s eyes.
you are only something from an identity perspective when it’s all aligned.
you are only teaching people how to be something when it’s all aligned.
#cupofleadership
Book Review
i missed this one. perhaps tired from all the causes clamoring for my money + attention, i didn’t see this book or catch the wave of bryan stevenson’s work until last year. i heard him speak at a conference in that pre-lunch spot where they always put the best they have. i was astonished.
i picked this book up and read it over christmas and honestly, was moved to tears.
in an age where everything seems to become political, dr. stevenson is trying to reform criminal justice for humanity. and i believe in this work. and there’s ways in which that’s complicated inside my christian values. but sometimes we have to understand higher laws. can a system that can’t reliably deliver impartiality for a large segment of its population justly punish anyone from that group? that’s a scary question, but here’s an even scarier one. if it doesn’t directly affect me do i have a responsibility to care? or wait for it, should those claim pro-life be at the front of the line demonstrating their (100% justified) care for life continues into old age.
i don’t have the life experience or wisdom (yet) to answer these questions with conviction, but this book powerfully pushed me to think in ways i haven’t before. i challenge you to let it do the same for you.
Favorite Paragraph This Week
3 Things I Really Liked This Week
1. spotify started this new thing ‘your daily drive’, its perfect. news updated throughout the day, songs they already know you love + some new music. i’m really digging it.
2. i love mere + jacob, always have, always will. this song from mere’s new project has been floating around for a while, it feels really fresh to me, watch the video.