Dreaming a Vision into Action

"Pacific Swift & her dories on the West Coast"
Credit the Rev Gillian Hoyer. Used with permission.

            Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote: “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up your men [sic] to collect wood and give orders and distribute the work. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”

            The message given throughout many of this authors' works is that one must dream an outside the box dream, something which inspires the heart and emboldens the spirit. From this energy comes the vision to make the dream a reality.

            We know that we want to move from dream to vision to reality. However, we can sometimes get stuck, by other people: we might listen to the nay-sayers, the folks who are unwilling or unable to take the risks, the 'we've never done it that way before' quoters, the doubters.

            We also might get stuck on circumstance: a vision process is not formulaic, a process that works in one manner/time/space does not guarantee success in another, not every vision will come to fruition, energy may falter.

            It would be easy to give up there. To just maintain the status quo, keep on keeping on, don't rock the boat.

            And yet...

            "A ship in harbor is safe, but that is not what ships are built for."[1]

"Heading out to sea - Guam"
Credit the Rev Gillian Hoyer. Used with permission.

            As people of faith, the Gospel compels us to action. It challenges us to dream new ways and methods and opportunities to love God and neighbour. It inspires us to get out of our comfortable pew and go beyond our four sturdy walls to be a faith-driven force within the mission field that is right in front of us. It does not condone complacency, spurring us into exciting ways to live and love all that God places before us.

            So imagine if we heard the words of the Gospel as a call to dream, to vision, and to act. What ministry would we plan? What mission would we fulfill? What actions would demonstrate that we are faithful disciples of our risen Lord?

            May we yearn for the vast and endless sea of possibilities to share the love of God.

            Fair seas and following winds, my friends.

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[1] John A. Shedd