I Dream a World
Early this morning when I turned on the radio I heard the announcer interviewing a contributor who was asking for submissions from listeners. The submissions could be in the form of a list, an essay, or a poem. If the listeners chose to send a poem, it could rhyme but didn’t have to. The contribution should complete the prompt “I Dream a World...” Of course, this was offered today because it is the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, a connection with the “I Have a Dream” speech. But all morning I have been thinking, and even praying about the world of which I dream.
I dream a world…
where swords are beat into ploughshares, and spears into pruning hooks…
where Jesus, the Prince of Peace, rules in the hearts and minds of all the world’s people…
where there is no need for abortion clinics or death row…
where we hear more news stories that are life-giving…
where we fully realize that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life…
where we finally see each other as God sees us…
where we understand that Jesus is as concerned with our life in this world as he is life in eternity…
where all children have a safe home, enough food, and parents who care for them…
where all the world’s citizens are free to worship as their conscience leads them, whether I agree with them or not…
where we are grateful for all that God has given us…
where we know that we cannot end violence with violence…
where teachers and social workers are paid more than professional athletes…
where our heroes are peacemakers and not fear-peddling warmongers…
where everyone realizes their God-given potential for good in the world…
where God is not blamed for evil that happens in the world, and people no longer do harmful things in God’s name…
where Christians understand that the “kingdom of God does not arrive on Air Force One, no matter who occupies it” (C. Colson)…
where we understand that we cannot make poor decisions as individuals and as a nation and always expect someone else to bail us out…
where we understand that God created the world in such a way that we reap what we sow, so we work to sow carefully…
where we know and live in the reality that God will have the final say in all things, and that God’s ways are not our ways.
These are a few of my “dreams” for the world, and as I think of these and others, I am grateful that while I look to the future for their fulfillment, I know that some of these are already being realized in God’s kingdom.
What are your dreams? The world you dream about, how do you see it? Maybe you can consider today that world, how God is bringing it to pass, and how God is calling you to make that world a reality in our small circle of influence.