Dream Bigger

 I have been with many, many people in the last days of their life on earth.  I try to be a comfort to others in their grief.  I believe we honor those who have gone before us by the way we live our lives.  In our love, their legacy is love; in our compassion, they live on in compassion; in the joy and beauty we find in life, we honor their memory and this is one way their spirits continue.  I believe we can do this for people in our family, I also believe we can do this for those we don't know personally, like the children and adults who lost their lives last Friday in Newtown, CT.

I am reading Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  In the introduction, by his daughter, Rev. Bernice  King, she says that her father did what was necessary to eliminate the "Triple Evils of Poverty, Racism, and War."  At the end of his letter, Dr. King concludes, "Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all of their scintillating beauty."   Dr. King's words and visions inspire me just as much as his awesome actions in life.

So, this is what I want you to do to transform your sorrow.  I want you to dream bigger.   Dream bigger for yourself, but also dream bigger for this world and all its people.  Don't be embarrassed or sheepish. 

When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be the first woman President of the United States.  My fifth grade teacher told me that women couldn't be President.  This didn't dash my dream, but it shows how life can start muddying up our dreams so we can't see them anymore. 

My dreams have changed since 5th grade.  It feels vulnerable to write my dream, but it is a true one: When I give someone my full attention, I see what is loveable in them.  Sometimes I see what is loveable in them before they see it in themselves.  I dream to shine a light on that loveable thing, so that the person can feel it and see it for themselves.  I dream of a world where each person can feel that loveable part of themselves and interact with the world from a place of love and confidence and not from a place of fear or insecurity.  That is my dream.  It's a big dream. 

You probably have a dream too.  Take some time to think about it today, about how your life honors those who have come before you, about how you may have forgotten that you can clean off  those muddied up dreams or create new ones.  Think about that dream and then dream a little bigger. 

A quote attributed to the Buddha is this:  "In this world, hate never yet dispelled hate.  Only love dispels hate.  This is the law, ancient and inexhaustible."  After grieving, may your dreams be created in love.