… I agree, presuming the motives of his heart are godly, and he’s not neglecting responsibilities (e.g. taking care of a family, not making stupid financial decisions, etc.)

Now, if his dream is to be someone else, then he should think twice. But if not, I would say he is following the will of God, the best way he knows how: following the God-given desire in his tone-deaf heart. What is the worst that would come of it? He would get rejected and fail as being at big famous rockstar. But then he might find out that he is really good at being a sound engineer, and maybe after he got there he realized being a Rockstar was NOTHING like he thought it would be, or what he really wanted was just to be a part of the thrill of the glitz and glamour and he becomes some sort of promotional guru… anyways, the point is, when someone has a dream, realistic or un-, I tend to encourage it more than not.

I refuse to believe in the Darwinian philosophy that if you can’t “the best” than why try? I think God’s kingdom has enough room for a whole array of talent in any given area. At that point, it is up to the dreamer to figure out if what he seeks is to be someone else, having their fame, their notoriety, OR if they are simply doing what they love. So in the end, I think it is passion that one really needs, rather than loads and loads of talent. There are plenty of examples of God using people in areas where they showed no extraordinary gift. Moses, Sarah, the disciples… Of course, then there was Paul… The point is, that even though Paul was a torah stud, it didn’t stop Peter from shouting the good news and writing those two great letters himself. Even if he did have help.

I do agree that the American “be anything you want” philosophy is tainted. I think it is tainted because it starts with the premise of comparison. “You could be the next Michael Jordan, or the next Albert Einstein,” and so forth. Rather than, you could be a great ball player if you have the passion and drive, or a great scientist if you study hard enough. Take Edwin Hubble. Einstein was much smarter, however, because Hubble loved astronomy, he proved Einstein wrong about the universe by proving the universe was expanding. Hubble wasn’t really a genius, just a guy with passion, and a BIG telescope, being himself. Ever seen the Special Olympics with the guys in the wheelchairs? Tell those guys not to play ball.

To be the best at something is a dangerous goal. It is a mirage that is fueled by pride and self-searching glory. Do something because you love it is right. Whether you are medium good or really good or bottom of the talent-totem pole. Doesn’t matter. If you love it, do it. God put that love there. I think someday the kingdom will be filled with people doing what they are passionate about at some level. And they’ll do it with a servant’s heart rather than a self-serving heart.

I am at a place in my life where I am dreaming to such a kid sized degree that people often try to talk me down. They tell me my hopes are too high and expectations too great. Before I believed in Jesus I was a dreamer who was convinced that none of her dreams would come true. To live in that belief is to exist; and that is what I did, existed.

The moment, literally, I first believed in Jesus was the moment I began to see my dreams come true, because that was the moment my dream of not being alone was realized. It is amazing how my dreams changed as I began to see more and more of Christ in me, and less of myself, and as I began to view my dreams in the spectrum of eternity, and that His dreams for me far exceed my own. God has taught/is teaching me that Christ in me is the hope of glory, and that anything short of that is not worth living for. There are things I want to experience and places I want to see in this blink of a life the Lord has given me to live on Earth, but if He does not desire those for me, then who am I to say He is worng and I “woulda, coulda, should?” Charles Spurgeon said “No joy on earth is equal to the bliss of being all taken up with love to Christ. If I had my choice of all the lives that I could live, I certainly would not choose to be an emperor, nor to be a millionaire, nor to be a philosopher, for power and wealth and knowledge bring with them sorrow. But I would choose to have nothing to do but to love my Lord Jesus-nothing, I mean, but to do all things for His sake, and out of love to Him.” Because when I meet my Creator face to face, I will not care about whether or not I fell in love or saw Paris with my own two eyes, unless it was for the sake of furthering His kingdom and bringing Him glory.

Last thing, and then I am done…the Holy Spirit just reminded me of this awesome thing someone gave me a couple years ago that I think captures best what I am trying to say…here
is a blog I previously posted it on.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and is having a nice weekend!

I like Shaun’s last comment, I think it says better what I was trying to say. Esp. the nod to Public TV/Nickelodeon-ism.

And how’s this for a inspirational verse on dreaming? “Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you.” – 1 Thess 4:11. Or even “Give us today our daily bread.”

I don’t think I would put so much emphasis on dreaming, as much as trying to pursue understanding of God’s will and putting faith into His ability and not be shutdown by fear of unknowns. I think this is the same point Brody is making, I just personally find ‘dreams’ too distracting, probably because of how our society frames that sort of thing.

I’m behind Brody on this post totally. We need more dreamers! We also need more people who don’t tell the tone deaf kid on Sunday morning that he should move to Nashville and try to get a record deal. And we need to build our dreams on the foundation of our ability, not just what we enjoy.

I bring this up only because I’m constantly contacted by people with little if no ability – in my almost never humble opinion – who are moving across country, stressing spouses, abandoning kids, wasting money and time, quitting jobs that matter and that they’re truly great at to pursue a dream of music stardom fueled more by ego than actual God-given vision and ability. And it makes me sad.

Our heads are pumped full of “dream big” propaganda and few are telling us what kinds of dreams to dream. “You can be anything you set your mind to” is a lie. You can’t. I can’t play center for the Dallas Cowboys. It won’t happen. No matter how hard I try. But there’s plenty I can be.

Read biographies of modern successes – in business, music, art, writing, politics, whatever – and their stories are very similar. They discover a knack for something, a unique ability. They foster that by being trained, working hard, practicing. They hit road blocks and persevere. They see people with just as much ability and perseverance fail and yet they succeed. They’re humbled by that. Oprah, Billy Graham, Einstein, Reagan, Bono, Pascal – all the same story: They don’t just love something and then dream of being great at it. They are great at something they love and then dream of being the best at it. And then they do the work to get there.