dreamers and dream doers

It's the eve before Christmas Eve, and I'm enjoying a nice cup of peppermint hot cocoa, a good book (obviously not at this very moment), and a quiet house.  This week has gone a little differently than I had planned.  I wound up feeling super sick Tuesday night, which turned into being super sick Wednesday and Thursday.  What a start to Christmas break... Anyway, I'm highly optimistic that the next two days will be grand, and that I WILL feel better.  Optimism.

Enough mumbo jumbo; let's get down to brass tacks, shall we? A great and wise friend of mine recently sent me a copy of a book called, "The Alchemist."  I'm not too terribly far into it yet, but I am far enough to know that it's going to be a thinker of a book for me.  And I need that.  Tonight I read a bit as I attempted to sweat out my fever on the bike.  I won't recap the entire chapter, but I'm compelled to paint a brief picture for you.

Two characters emerge:  one, an old merchant/shopkeeper, the other a young shepherd on a quest to follow his dreams.  The old merchant has owned his crystal shop for thirty years, working hard to make his fortune and find success in his village.  The young boy has just sold his flock after a prompting from an old wise man, who encouraged him to follow his dream of seeking the pyramids, no matter the cost.  Crossing the desert would be perilous, tiring, and cost the young boy nearly everything; but his heart is determined to accomplish his dream of reaching the pyramids.  After some prompting from the young shepherd, the old merchant divulges his dream of completing a pilgrimage to Mecca.  He confides in the boy that he opened his shop with the intentions of compiling a fortune large enough to send him comfortably on his journey.  Yet with each passing year, the aging merchant continued to push aside his dream, just outside his grasp, with excuse after excuse.  At one point, the shepherd boy challenges the shopkeeper.

"Well, why don't you go to Mecca now?"  asked the boy.


"Because it's the thought of Mecca that keeps me alive.  That's what helps me face these days that are    all the same.... I'm afraid that if my dream is realized, I'll have no reason to go on living.  You dream about your sheep and the Pyramids, but you're different from me because you want to realize your dreams.  I just want to dream about Mecca. ...I'm afraid that it would all be a disappointment, so I prefer just to dream about it." 

The old merchant's response is so poignant to me.  His fear completely paralyzed him and prevented him from realizing his dream.  Not only that, but his fear changed his personality; it branded him simply a dreamer rather than a dream doer.

And this all got me thinking:  which am I?  Am I simply a dreamer?  Or am I actually realizing dreams?  I'm not so sure that I'm okay with settling for simply dreaming.  I'm not so sure that my soul can actually rest if I fail to at least pursue the realization of dreams.  I don't think that God places dreams in our hearts simply to taunt us with what could be;  something about His character tells me He places dreams in our hearts to be pursued and realized, if only we will trust Him enough to do so.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways, acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."   Proverbs 3:5-6

As many times as I've heard/read this verse, it's finally beginning to make more sense to me.  So what about you?  Are you content to just dream, or are you committed to pursuing the realization of the dreams that the Lord has placed in your heart?  I dare you not to settle.

And that's all I've got for you tonight, fine blogging buddies.  Rest well and enjoy this season of celebration.

A Merriest Christmas to you!