A Million Dreams ~ Closing Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

We have dreams whether we nourish them or not.  We fall into dreamless lives of subsistence that sap our strength and steal our time.  Time and most humans will not care about our dreams.  We are the only ones who can frame and build them.

It will take time and hard work to build anything worth building.  It will require sacrifice of other things.  Dreams do not become real of their own accord.  Their reality comes from our faith and work.

We must believe.  We must see the vision of what can be and create it with the gifts given us.  I must fight against the things that would distract and detract.  I must do something every day to make it real so that some day it is. 

I have lost some of my dreams to wrong choices and misused time.  I have tried to build dreams with others but that has not yet worked out.  I must keep my priorities in line and not let distractions keep me from my dreams.

If I follow in faith and do what is right I can get there.  Even from the dark valley of a deep wilderness the light of my dreams can help me follow more faithfully.  If I continue to believe that the Father would not have given me dreams had he not had a purpose for them then the wilderness makes it part of the plan. 

My real belief is that this life is meant to make us hunger for and dream about something better.  I am designed to be something unique.  I am determined to use my gifts to better life for others.  On to the next step Dear Reader.  Your company is precious.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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A Million Dreams ~ Impossible Dreams

Greetings Dear Reader,

I have loved the story of The Man of La Mancha since I was a boy.  One of the first songs I ever sang in front of an audience was The Impossible Dream.   I think that at that young age I realized that I would be chasing impossible dreams my entire life. 

People are going to tell you your dreams are impossible.  They are going to demand that you explain how they will work long before you have worked out the answers.  That is not how it works. 

Dreams are not things for which one can lay out blueprints.  Sometimes all you have is an idea.  Every book I have written begins with a question ask by someone else or posited by my own musings.  The point is that you know your dream and only you can give it hands and feet.  Only you can give it life.

You may need help.  You might have to get others to drink a little of your Kool aide.   You might have to work hard at things you hate to get to the things you love.  You may have to be called crazy, foolish, and be abandoned by the visionless.  Don’t let anyone else tell you what you can or cannot become. 

I was told by a second-grade teacher that I could be a writer if I wished to be one.  She planted the seed of that dream in good soil.  I have dreams that have the label “impossible” affixed to them by others.  They once affixed that label to flight and landing on the moon.  They affix that label to the things that are not normal.

Following Christ, however, requires us to embrace impossible dreams.  It demands that we see the possibility of life in death.  It insists that we give our all to this journey through the dead lands to that undiscovered country.  If the one I follow can do this, then my paltry impossible dreams are easy for him.

The Impossible Dream – Jim Nabors

To dream the impossible dream

To fight the unbeatable foe

To bear with unbearable sorrow

To run where the brave dare not go

To right the unrightable wrong

To love pure and chaste from afar

To try when your arms are too weary

To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest

To follow that star

No matter how hopeless

No matter how far

To fight for the right

Without question or pause

To be willing to march into Hell

For a heavenly cause

And I know if I'll only be true

To this glorious quest

That my heart will lie peaceful and calm

When I'm laid to my rest

And the world will be better for this

That one man, scorned and covered with scars

Still strove with his last ounce of courage

To reach the unreachable star

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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A Million Dreams ~ Dreams of Future Past

Greetings Dear Reader,

There are times when I do a thing that may be the ultimate waste of time.  I muse on past events and what I could have, should have, or would have done.  The exercise in futility here is that I cannot change what has already passed.  I cannot do anything but learn from the past.

This means that walking through the event over and over again does not build my possible dreams.  It wastes creativity and mind time that could be spent on things that will last.  It wastes brain power.

The other insidious impact of this poor practice is that it sometimes taps into old emotions that I no longer need to engage.  It can set me on a path of thinking that is negative and destructive to my current day. 

It is not bad to recall things from the past.  It is dangerous for me to involve my mind too much with the emotions and failures of the past.  It is sad when I muse on the dreams that have died because of my failures.  Instead I must focus on the things I can build.  I can dream the things that are possible even if that possibility seems remote. 

I must focus my creativity and thinking on what can be and not what I wish had been if I had been something different.  “For all sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are these, 'It might have been'.”  If my eye is always on the rear vision mirror I cannot really see ahead.

Living in the Past – Jethro Tull

Happy and I'm smiling

Walk a mile to drink your water

You know I'd love to love you

And above you there's no other

We'll go walking out

While others shout of war's disaster

Oh, we won't give in

Let's go living in the past

Once I used to join in

Every boy and girl was my friend

Now there's revolution, but they don't know

What they're fighting

Let us close our eyes

Outside their lives go on much faster

Oh, we won't give in

We'll keep living in the past

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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A Million Dreams ~ Mirkwood

Greetings Dear Reader,

Tolkien understood dreams and building them into reality.   He also is clear that we must follow those wiser than us to do so.  If we consider the dreams of Thorin and his throng then there are several lessons: 

• We must know where we are going
• We do not have to know how we will get there
• The world needs more hospitality
• We must not travel alone
• Bring a handkerchief
• There may not be second breakfast
• There will be trouble along the way
• Go further than you think you can
• Remember where you are going
• There is ALWAYS hope
• Stay on the path

Kris Van Allen

I want to focus on this last one.  Gandalf clearly warns the throng not to wander from the path whilst making their way through Mirkwood.  We know them well enough now to understand that they will not listen to him.  The ensuing trouble with the spiders and capture by the Elves were due to the troop leaving the path.

They were upset about the poor food, tired of the lack of comfort, and believing that they would never get out.  The looks of their current circumstances caused them to forget that the path was the way and the only way out was through.

This happens with our dreams.  We must learn from the countless warnings of those who come before us including Tolkien.   We must stay on the path when things seem dark and hopeless.  We must remember where we are headed and that the current distresses wish to distract us from the ultimate goal.

Even now as I feel that I am in the heart of Mirkwood I must remember to heed my guide, remember where I am headed, and stay on the path.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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A Million Dreams ~ Any Dream Will Do

Greetings Dear Reader,

When we think about our dreams do we really consider that we are allowed to envision things that others will think foolish?  Do we dare to dream still?  Sometimes we are so beaten down by life that we are afraid to dream.  We are short on hope.

Sometimes when my dreams feel foolish to me I start with the small ones.  I recall the dreams that have come true.  I remember also that there is a formula.  Yes, there is a formula for those who follow Christ for making their dreams come true.

“Delight yourself in the Lord; And He will give you the desires of your heart.”

There are at least two ways to look at this.  The first is see it as a promise to give you what your heart desires.  It is obvious that God cares about this.  In the Law he required that his people spend ten percent of their annual income on “whatever their heart desired.”  If, therefore, we delight our lives in the Lord he will give us what we desire.

The second possibility is that it is a promise to put the desires in our heart that should be there.  It hinges on the word “give”.   Then again, I also believe that God is willing and able to do far above what I can imagine.  I want him to do both.  I want him to put the right dreams in my heart and then help me reach them.  Because of that I am doing the following:

I work daily to assure that my delight is based in God.  By this I mean remembering that he is enough even if I have nothing else.

I work to find honest income using the skills I have been given.

I pursue my dreams by working towards them daily.

I let my dreams be attuned to my pursuit of being delighted in the Lord.

If that seems circular I would submit that it is an upward spiral of refinement.  There was a time when my dream was to be a professional baseball pitcher.  I had to refine that dream and the delight is that I love sharing baseball and its many life lessons with my family. 

If I focus on Christ and being delighted to follow him then my dreams will fall in line with that.  I can start with any dream and bring it in line with this as my primary guide.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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A Million Dreams ~ Dreams are These

Greetings Dear Reader,

Take a moment.  If you could do anything to earn your living what would it be?  If your answer is that you do not know that is OK.  You should keep looking.  If, however, you have an answer I have another question; what are you doing to get there?  Further, what are you doing today to get there?

We are not designed to be cogs.  We are not intended to make corporations rich and survive on the whims of a computer that chooses who stays and who goes.  We are not intended to watch the dreams in our hearts languish in the doldrums of a life that is merely subsistence.

We are intended to live.  We are intended to look beyond our little world and imagine how we can build a better one.  It is our destiny, everyone of us, to create something great.  It may be small great.  It may only help one person.  It may be that you are the person who inspires the person who does the world changing thing.

The point is that if I am to follow Christ I must embrace the uniqueness in my being and use that to follow.  I once considered giving up writing.  I was given a clear message not to do so.  I love doing it and am trying to find a way to be sustained by it.  I am good at the former and not so much at the latter. 

Still even when the world assails our dreams we must not give up on them.  We must feed them with faithfulness to them, belief in them, and hard work building them.  When we find what we dream of being we much do what it takes to become that thing.  The first step in launching our dreams is to identify them and give them a path to follow.  If you need help with this I am glad to do it Dear Reader.  I will keep working on mine but make time to help with yours.  It is how things are supposed to be done.

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

(͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

A Million Dreams ~ Opening Thoughts

Greetings Dear Reader,

This weekend my Daughter took me to see “The Greatest Showman”, the story of P.T. Barnum and the creation of his circus.  I expected it to be good.  I did not expect it to be inspirational.  I promise no spoilers here.

I would like to begin a discussion concerning this entire idea of dreams.  I am in a wilderness time where they seem unreachable and untenable.  That does not mean I can or will give up on them.  It does mean that I have to work harder to put hands and feet on them.

This is not the first time I have felt that I am out of options and in an untenable position.  In the past I have made the mistake of failing to put my faith ahead of my fear.  This time I have done what is required of me and I am working to find a way to do what I must.

When nothing seems to be going the way you think it should go, holding onto faith may be all that seems available.  I cannot see the answers but I am not promised that I will.  I cannot see the way but I am only promised that if I keep moving I will not be alone.  I still dare to dream when there seems nothing but gossamer to them. 

I do it to be an example and to sustain hope.  I do to live out what I am designed to be.  Come dance along a gossamer thread with me for a bit Dear Reader.

A Million Dreams – The Greatest Showman (Benj Pasek and Justin Paul)

I close my eyes and I can see

The world that's waiting up for me

That I call my own

Through the dark, through the door

Through where no one's been before

But it feels like home

They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy

They can say, they can say I've lost my mind

I don't care, I don't care, so call me crazy

We can live in a world that we design

'Cause every night I lie in bed

The brightest colors fill my head

A million dreams are keeping me awake

I think of what the world could be

A vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all its gonna take

A million dreams for the world we're gonna make

There's a house we can build

Every room inside is filled

With things from far away

The special things I compile

Each one there to make you smile

On a rainy day

They can say, they can say it all sounds crazy

They can say, they can say we've lost our minds

I don't care, I don't care if they call us crazy

Runaway to a world that we design

P. T. BARNUM:

Every night I lie in bed

The brightest colors fill my head

A million dreams are keeping me awake

I think of what the world could be

A vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all its gonna take

A million dreams for the world we're gonna make

However big, however small

Let me be part of it all

Share your dreams with me

You may be right, you may be wrong

But say that you're bring me along

To the world you see

To the world I close my eyes to see

I close my eyes to see

Every night I lie in bed

The brightest colors fill my head

A million dreams are keeping me awake

A million dreams, a million dreams

I think of what the world could be

A vision of the one I see

A million dreams is all its gonna take

A million dreams for the world we're gonna make

For the world we're gonna make

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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