“But I will bless anyone who trusts in me. I will do good things for the person who depends on me. They will be like a tree planted near water. It sends out its roots beside a stream. It is not afraid when heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It does not worry when there is no rain. It always bears fruit.” Jeremiah 17: 7-8
During this quarantine pause I have been looking for a space and time to be quiet, to be still, and to listen to God. I am a pray-on-the-go person. What I believe Paul was talking when he said “pray constantly”. I am constantly talking to God, barely listening.
So “listening” is my main goal on my quest for this special space/time. I have tried different places and times, and there is one common thing that happens from all my trials… I ended up daydreaming.
I haven’t leisure daydreamed since I was a child. Daydreaming has brought back great peace and joy as I surrender to whatever, just quiet breathing. Childhood is a wise time.
These days, I’m also re-reading “The Secret Message of Jesus” by Brian McLaren. He says this about faith and trusting God, “The call to faith is the call to trust God and God’s dreams enough to realign our dreams with God’s, to dream our little dreams within God’s Big Dream.”
I want my dreams aligned with God’s dream. I want my daydreams aligned with God’s dream.
A gruesome forecast of economic hardship and health vulnerability is coming in the next months. The new normal will require for us to be rooted in God’s promise and faithfulness. It will require for us to dream with God. By faith, trusting, letting go of worries about the heat and the lack of rain.
As Jeremiah says, we will bear fruit, the best fruit… while remaining in the true vine. (John 15)
“Holy Father, we thank you for our existence because you dreamed about each of us, and made us wonderfully. May our hearts be rooted in your Holy Spirit, and feed from your strength. May our minds be calm and confident while dreaming within your Big dream. Be our refuge during the uncertainties to come, keep us close to you for you are our Shepherd. In Jesus’ holy name, we pray. Amen.”
Liliana Mariano