Or watching JGL. Whatever floats your boat
However, many would not identify dreams as highly important beyond a movie concept or topic of conversation.
I am writing this to explain the value of dreams in our lives.
The Evolution of Dreams
I believe the main reason why people do not view dreams as important is because the meaning of a dream has changed over the course of time.
Biblical Times
Back in the day, people were far more literal. When they said "an eye for an eye," they meant it. That being said, dreams were not just some fantastical thought. If someone could see it, then it had to be real somehow.
God used dreams to talk to people. They could see a potential future or speak to an angel. Dreams were an experience that people took seriously.
Thank God Pre-modern times did not have iPhones...
God used dreams to talk to people. They could see a potential future or speak to an angel. Dreams were an experience that people took seriously.
The Old Testament is filled with dreams. In these dreams, God was able to show his prophets what was to pass and tell them what to do. Because Joseph was able to interpret dreams, he went from a prisoner to a powerful man in Egypt. People took dreams seriously, and they were anxious to know exactly was to pass because of these dreams.
Modern Times
We are far less literal today. In our modern society, we search for deeper meaning and focus on the future. Our scientific research is mostly focused on things that cannot be seen by the naked eye, but make the biggest difference in our overall health. The past and present are far less important than our futures.
As a result, dreams, at least the traditional sleeping ones, are seen as our subconscious explaining something to us. God no longer is part of that equation. Because of this, God had to find a new avenue for speaking to us.
So a new method of dreaming came to pass.
These new dreams are our passions. What would have been a message from an angel in Biblical times has turned in to a life goal. This could be a career, a relationship, a home, whatever we could possibly desire really. Once we have succeeded, we feel a sense of peace. This is our way of connecting to God's plan in our day to day lives.
Our dreams are God's message to us.
So we need to live them.
My Story
I never wish to sound "preachy" to my Dear Readers, so I like to put my own story in to the equation. I recently have had the experience of watching my dreams come and go and return, and I believe that this story will prove my point more clearly than quotes and theological discussions.
Ground Level
There have been numerous dreams that have filled my head, but I will only focus on a couple of them to save everyone's time.
My first dream was to do something scientific. Ever since I was a baby, I was around science. My father was a geneticist and my mother was a nutritional scientist. I went to the lab as a child, and my parents even propped me up like this:
Yes. I use this picture for everything. I am adorable.
It is a very good thing that I actually fit in to this dream. I was good at science. I could run the lab when my teachers left, and I found joy in studying on a Friday night. The exact path that I would take with science was unclear, but I knew that I was meant to pursue it.
My second dream involved my second passion: dance.
My technique was not perfect, but the dream was still valid.
The biggest part of dance is the look. While I never desired to look anorexic, I still wanted to be beautiful. I wanted to look like my entire body was filled with power. If I had power, then I could make my tap dances sound better, and I could make more people watch me. It was a superficial dream, but it was a dream nonetheless.
My third dream was about my relationships with other people, boys included of course. I wanted a base of strong women who loved me for I was and enjoyed hanging out with me. I wanted a strong Catholic man who was able to discuss science and laugh with me and cared about other people, like my daddy and little brothers.
Break Down
Now, I am not saying that God makes these dreams come true easily. If that were the case, then we would never find a connection between Him and the passions that drive our lives. The people in the pre-modern era had to interpret their dreams, and we have to find out how our's will come to pass.
So they have to fail.
The first dream to melt away from my mind was my beauty. This came from a few off hand comments from an ex-boyfriend who said that I was "too fat" to be a good girlfriend, and a few other people who said that I was ugly in middle school. Suddenly I was unable to look in the mirror without noticing my flaws first.
The second dream were my relationships. Due to my insecurity, I thought that every woman I was close to viewed me as second-rate. I thought that if I would contact them anymore that they would be annoyed with me and leave. Some people actually left. As far as boys go, I had gone as far as possible from my "dream man." By the end of this school year, I had wasted two years by being interested in a less spiritual boy who cared more about his own life experience than me as a person and was not all too interested in discussing anything.
The third dream was my scientific ability. It had been a week at Notre Dame, and I had done absolutely nothing to further my project. My PI was constantly reminding me that I was behind, and I felt like I shouldn't be there anymore. I cried every single night because I thought I was losing the one passion that had gotten me to where I was.
But God does not let our dreams go to waste.
Living the Dream
I forgot to mention that going to Notre Dame was one of my dreams when I was younger. I had let that go because Notre Dame is super expensive, and I was not entirely sure if I was going to be accepted anyways. Regardless, I was still a huge fan of the school, and it was a dream come true to be on campus for an entire summer.
Therefore, God was able to work here in this dream to help me see what life was meant to be.
I failed a few times over the summer, and my PI suggested that I did not continue with a certain experiment. Angry that I would not be able to complete my task and live the dream, I went ahead and set it up anyways.
It worked.
My dream of being a scientist came true.
As I went through the summer, I maintained my friendships from back home. Even though I am admittedly the worst texter, I kept up as best I could with the women from back home at Belmont. It was the first time that I had consistent contact with people. And with girls at that! I felt at peace with my support system.
And my heart started to warm up a little, and I could see my dream coming back.
Boys is a little bit of an odd case. When I got to Notre Dame, I was a complete wreck. Over and over I debating falling back to my old pattern. After all, there weren't any guys that actually were as nice as my brothers and my daddy right? As my self confidence was hovering in the balance, I debating texting the old guy over and over again.
Then I started talking to the guys in my lab.
They were just normal guys, but they were some of the nicest men I had ever met.
The graduate student would take the blame for literally any mistake I made, and he was always checking up on me. He would occasionally talk about his wife and you could just see his eyes sparkle a little more. Several of the REU students told me that they wished they had a graduate student like him in the lab.
On the other end was my lab buddy who I spent nearly 200 hours with in our little back room. He was the first to go out of his way to help me, even though he thought I was a little weird at first. I could talk to him about science and Jesus and life, and it was perfectly ok.
I realized that there were good people everywhere, even in a little basement room with poor lighting. No, there was no romance, but I could physically see the kind of men I wanted to be friends with.
My dream came true.
And as I continued to live the vocation that the Lord gave me alongside the people that He had sent me to show me how beautiful humanity was, I started to see the world differently. I believed that I was capable and intelligent and important.
And for the first time in four years, I looked in the mirror and noticed the beautiful things first.
My dream came true.
The Point
My purpose for telling y'all this story is to show you that our dreams can come true. Remember how I didn't apply to Notre Dame because I did not think that that dream was feasible?
This is just like how we can choose to ignore our dreams.
Just because a dream does not look feasible does not mean that it does not have a purpose in your life.
Because I took a chance and applied to Notre Dame for my summer research experience, God was able to bring me to where I needed to go. In this environment, God was able to show me that I truly was meant to pursue research, to have amazing friendships, and that I was beautiful. By living out a small dream that I had chosen to forget, everything fell in to place.
Imagine if Joseph decided to ignore his dream about going back to Mary because he thought it would be too hard. The Mother of Our Lord Jesus Christ would have had to go through pregnancy and child rearing all alone. Jesus would not have had a father to build tables with.
People are going to tell you that your dreams are not valid. They are going to say that it doesn't matter if you are successful in some areas because you will never be able to accomplish everything. Dreams are just a wish your heart makes; they don't matter.
Every single one of your dreams matter.
God gives you these dreams so that you can find the happiness that He has created for you.
Thanks to Notre Dame and the Vaughan lab, I was able to find the light in my spirit that I had lost too long ago. While I may not be perfect, I know that I can do anything and I can do better with my life. I have a long way to go as far as being the Christian that I am meant to exemplify, but I know that with God at the head and my dreams burning in my heart, that some day I may see My Father and thank Him for all that He has done.
Give life everything you have.
You deserve it.
Keep dreaming.
"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" ~Jeremiah 29:11
No comments:
Post a Comment