Wait for the Lord 11 - Lost Dreams

"Those who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint." - Isaiah 40:31

This passage is my prayer for those who are struggling during this season. This is not an easy season for those who grieve, those who are hurting, those who are lonely, those who are depressed. It is not an easy season to sing Joy to the World when there is so much hatred that is being expressed in words and in actions across the world. Nouwen writes today about lost dreams - he details so many things for ourselves and for others that are dreams that can feel lost. So many of the dreams that he lists are not simply things we want, but in the dreams of who we want to become. "We had a vision" he writes " of ourselves as reconcilers and peacemakers. But somehow - we aren't even sure of what happened - we lost our dreams. We became worrying, anxious people clinging to the few things we had collected and exchanging with one another news of the political, social, and ecclesiastical scandals of our day."

This picture is of a set of stairs I see on my way walking to the church. They were replaced not that long ago and just a few years later they are cracking. Isn't that sometimes like our dreams and our hopes for ourselves, for others, for our world? Things are built up to lead to something and then a crack forms and it grows to a point like this.

My prayer once again is those words of Isaiah - strength, mounting up to fly, running without weariness, and walking without growing faint.