"...I have a dream, a song to sing
To help me cope with anything
If you see the wonder -
of a fairy tale
You can take the future -
even if you fail
I believe in angels -
Something good in everything I see
I believe in angels
When I know the time is right for me
I'll cross the stream
I have a dream..."
-Abba "I Have a Dream"
Okay, I admit it...I have watched "Mamma Mia" more times than I can bring myself to type in numbers, but something about this movie makes me want to take all 54 years in this chapter of my eternity book and shred them into celebratory confetti.
I do have a dream...many of them. But the fabulous thing is...the dreams I once had (at least the ones that didn't include "stuff") have all mostly come true in ways that are clearly Love-inspired and God-bestowed. And new dreams are born in my heart each day. Dreams of renewable energy, stronger alliances with our global neighbors and partners, integrity in government and business, and more grace...always more grace. Dreams of seeing things in new ways, refreshed friendships, freedom from past regrets, a false sense of achievement, or failure....anything that would keep me from dreaming new dreams with all my heart.
There is something about watching my favorite dramatic actress of all time, Meryl Streep, dancing and singing through the village streets of a Greek island, jumping on her bed, and getting "twitterpated" at the sight of a long-lost beau, that makes me want to join her in cavorting through olive groves with dozen of other liberated Greek housewives and grandmas. I want to play air guitar on a pier and throw my friends into the harbor!!
I remember a Sunday School student once remarking, with exasperation that he was worried about his mother. He was concerned that she had begun to lose her mind. She was singing at the breakfast table, thinking about changing careers, and wearing her hair differently. Didn't she know that she was a mother with grown children? And wasn't he the kid, the one who was supposed to be exploring life and considering his options...not her?
I remember suggesting to him, that if he wanted her to trust him as he tried new things, struck out on new paths, and discovered the world around him, he would have to trust her to do the same. I tried to help him see that our hearts - the province where dreams reside and where God, Love, reigns supreme - never grow old. The heart that dreams never ages. It never atrophies. It never matures, loses its vitality, and becomes intractable. It never ceases to dream, to hope...to imagine the presence of goodness, the promise of Love, the fullness of Life.
In all my spiritual reading, scriptural research, and study, I have never found a single reference to "the adult of God." It's always the "child of God," the "children of Israel." Even Jesus, the most mature spiritual thinker I know of, referred to God as "Abba"...a term that is translated "daddy" or "papa."
We never become any more mature than we have always been...completely child-like, innocent, pure, willing, open, joyful, ready, eager. This is our maturity, our fullness of being. In her definition of "Children" from the glossary of Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, Mary Baker Eddy says, "...God's thoughts, not in embryo, but in maturity..."
We exist from all eternity in this state of maturity...fullness, completeness, wholeness...we are never less, or more than the All-in-allness of the divine being. We live, and move, and have our being in the same state of child-like wonder, trust, and joy...forever and ever and ever....throughout time, space and eternity.
"I have a dream
A song to sing...."
Celebrate your dreams...sing in the streets, jump on your bed, throw a bundle of sticks, say "oh Yea!!!" (by the way, this is the part in the movie that my daughter made me watch in bed with her...over and over and over and over and over again)...and have the time of your life as a dancing queen with your girlfriends...or husband, or children, or neighbors...or a a few random Greek housewives on an island in the Aegean... "oh yea!!!'
enjoy this clip...but if you want to see the real movie...with the scene of the granny with the stick...rent the movie...this clip is just a taste...
you can dance
you can jive
having the time of your life
see that girl
watch that scene
digging the dancing queen..."
- from "Dancing Queen"
(also by Abba)
in childlike wonder...believing in angels and fairytales...and in you...always with love,
Kate
I started sobbing at that scene and didn't stop through the entire movie. I'm still so totally 17 in my heart, never really made it out of adolescent and into grown up. I loved the solidarity of the sisterhood in that scene, everyone wanting in and the men cheering them on. Thanks for being my sister, we'll have to go dancing when you and Kim come out here!! when should we do that??
ReplyDeleteI agree with Laura! As a matter of fact, I am drying my eyes just watching that one little clip! I seriously LOVED that movie! And it was the sisterhood, the beautiful sense of motherhood and daughterhood, and the sweet sense of manhood expressed. Wonderful movie. And I guess I cried partly because I want so much to have sisters like these! So maybe we can all meet in St. Louis and turn up the music and jump on your bed Kate. I love you - and you too Laura!
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