Dear Friends,
The cover of City, Rochester’s alternative newsweekly
, last week featured an article about “The American Dream.” The young woman on
the cover and the five people in whose stories are told inside are Muslims
living in Rochester. The Dream Act,
stalled in Congress, would open up a process for immigrant youth who have grown
up here to come out of the shadows and begin moving toward temporary legal status and eventual
citizenship. Immigrants/refugees have dreams of belonging. So do we, cradle or
naturalized Americans. So do people all over the world.
Dreams are an acknowledged, but distrusted part of life. We
are apt to dismiss our nighttime dreams and daydreams as fantasy. Only children
have visions of sugarplums dancing in their heads, we say. We set our dreams
apart from our real world, where cold facts and adult responsibilities in
resisting the unwanted or unexpected absorb all our time and energy.
Yet as December enfolds us, we begin Advent,
a season of dreams.
This year the first reading for the first Sunday of Advent
is from Jeremiah who in poetic, prophetic language tells of Israel’s dream, how
the very promise of a savior for Israel is fulfilled. The passage from Jeremiah stands
in stark contrast to Luke’s apocalyptic description in the Gospel, wherein the
dream has become a nightmare of disaster, and Christ warns us to be on guard
against the powers of darkness.
We move between the dream and the nightmare as individuals
and as communities. We can limit the meaning of our dreams and nightmares to
the psychological sphere. But our dreams are also a gift from God. God comes
with a word of warning , a word of
encouragement or hope. Infusions of courage and conviction can come in our
dreams.
In addition to the dream of Israel, during the Advent and
Christmas seasons we will hear how
Joseph had several dreams, as did the Magi.
Those dreams gave them the guidance they needed. They relied on the
truth that God would not lead them astray. God has dreams for us: “I know the future I have in mind for you”
God says in Jeremiah 29.11, “plans for peace and not disaster.”
We may not always be sure of our worth, but our personal dreams can make a difference in our fragile world. God-inspired dreams can and do re-shape our world as a people - the end of terror, food, water and health care for all. Work for all. An earth cared for. People’s gifts honored. As 2016 approaches, what will be our nation’s dream? Will we, as a people, be noble and generous? Will we want the best for the most? Will we add the convictions of our own dreams to build up the common good?
If we believe the dream of Jeremiah and the dream of Christ,
then we won’t wait for others to act. We ourselves will act to make the dream a
non-negotiable part of our reality.
As the December landscape turns blue and grey, as the early darkening of the winter sky puts us in a frame of mind to dream, the readings of Advent tell us: Watch carefully. Pray constantly. God is ready to meet us in the dream.
Sister Joan Sobala