Dream

By Pastor Paul Gauche

Today’s Word: ‘Dream’ as in… the revolution, the mission, the party, the network, the dance, the kingdom of God is always coming into focus.

The first thing I noticed was the bicycle.

It looked oddly out of place lying in the middle of the intersection. The contents of a bag of groceries were strewn everywhere. As cars and trucks pulled over on both sides of the street, several people ran toward the center of the crosswalk where a woman was lying on the pavement.

I wondered what to do first: call 911, redirect traffic, rush to the woman’s side? But in that very same instant more than a dozen other people were acting on the same instinct. As the scene unfolded, I was amazed by the diversity of those rushing to help. A woman wearing a hijab was the first to come to the fallen women’s side. A delivery service driver standing next to his van was identifying the intersecting streets to a 911 operator. Three others – two young women and a middle-aged man also knelt next to the woman who appeared, thankfully, to be unhurt. She had not been hit by a car. Everyone was relieved as the woman slowly sat up and was helped to the corner where she sat down on the grass surround by people witnessing something greater than anyone expected.

No one held back their compassion and assistance. No one cared what anyone else was wearing. No one gave a second thought to gender, nationality, religious background, spiritual identification, or political view. No one struggled with the age-old question, “Who is my neighbor?” No one even had to wonder. Everyone showed up, grace showed off and the kingdom came into focus.

Brian McLaren, author, speaker, pastor, and teacher suggests several alternative images for the Kingdom of God. Among them, the dream of God, the revolution of God, the mission of God, the party of God, the network of God, the dance of God. They all work. And they all came into beautiful view in the middle of that intersection.

Such a dream come true!

#100days50words

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50words project, where be blogs about a different word each day. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche), or on his blog, Thriving Rhythms.