The story of Abram, read on the second Sunday of lent, reminds us that God continues to dream in us even in our old age, even in what might appear to be barren, dry and unproductive seasons of our life. What Abram’s story also confirms is that if God’s dream is both very personal and is about us: “Abram, leave your country … to a new land I will show [and give] to you; I shall make you a great nation…” (Gen 12: 12) the dream is never the less beyond us. Abram is promised: “I will shall bless you and make your name famous, so that others may find a blessing in your name.” (Gen 12:3).
Lent is a time to think about the dreams that God may be dreaming in us; to reawaken them, and allow those dreams to lead us, as they did for Abram, into the wilderness of new journeys. What Sister Joyce Rupp says of midlife time is in many ways true of lent:
when midlife comes along
it is time to awaken
the dreams in us
that have nearly died
it is time
to call them forth
to remember
how it felt
to risk all
for the inner vision
and the vision
has wings of wisdom now,
no more excuses
for why dreams
can’t be tried
it is time
now or never
dreams
if not lived soon
will die.
dreams
if no
left too long
in a rotting attic.
blessed be the one
who keeps on believing
in us
and blessed be the One
who goes on dreaming
in us
even when we forget.
Joyce Rupp, Dear Heart Come Home. New York, 2006, pp. 139-140
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