Dreambearer

The following is a poem written by Bro. David S. Norris. Him and his wife are two of the most awesome people I know. When I attended Gateway, they were our drama directors. We kept journals in which they would ask us questions about our callings,roadblocks, desired future plans, etc. and, in turn, they would respond back to us about it. I was just reading through this journal last night and their words and the words of my fellow drama members from that time still mean the world to me. Bro. Norris attached this poem to one of the letters he wrote in this journal.(Please note that it is not formatted as the original author wrote it..for some reason it shows it correctly on the edit page, but makes it plain on my blog. ) It is one of the most touching, applicable, poems I have ever read.

Dreambearer

If you have a dream…
(and there is a good chance you do, for God is very liberal at giving these things out),
then you can be assured that your dream is very durable.
Ask Joseph.
A dream can be thrown in a pit,
sold as a slave
and forgotten in prison,
but it will still survive.

In fact, it is not at all unusual for a dream’s future to look bleak, and that’s the
thing that often confuses people. For you see, dreams, like seeds…
must be planted,
watered,
and cultivated
before they flower.

Now planting a dream is not something you have to work at---there are plenty of
circumstances which will conspire to bury it for you; enying brothers ready to throw dirt---plenty of pits that act as receptacles for dreams, plenty of Ishmaelites to make sure the dream stays buried.
Oh yes, your dream must be watered—with tears
Tears of fathers who thought the dream died…
…or your own tears,
because you thought that you died with the
dream.

They’re singing the funeral song now for your dream—quite buried—stripped of its original colors, shredded beyond recognition. Time has made allies with a scheming Potiphar’s wife and a jealous husband to keep your dream buried for a long, long time.
--dreams don’t die. That is your dream won’t die if you

Cultivate it with prayers
nourish it with faith
don’t let it go
don’t trade it in on another model.

This season of waiting can try even the most patient of dream bearers; but in this forgotten soil, it is God who will breathe renewed life into your dream. When it begins to sprout, there are not enough prison bars in all of Egypt to hold it captive.

First the miracle of life,
and then strength,
and then abundance.
And when your dream brings forth fruit, the granaries of Egypt will overflow, a nation will be saved, and the world will be fed by it.

Who needs your dream?
Dreams are for confused pharaohs
and worried butlers…
dreams are for hungry brothers
and grieving fathers.

There is a Benjamin out there who wants to see you; so don’t let your dream die in prison. There’s a father who thought the dream was already dead, but it will resurrect before his eyes.
And when your dream comes to pass, remember that it was not for you alone that this dream was given.

A dream outlives the dreamer. It is never tucked away neatly in a trophy case or set on a shelf with memorabilia of long-passed treasures, but the bones of the dream will be carried into future generations.
It will follow clouds,
pass through the sea,
defeat Egyptians,
And route Amalekites.

No. This dream will not be left in Egypt—for there are three million others who will take it to the promise land.

And that is why you must clutch tightly to your dream—dreambearer!
For God knows, while you do not, just how many are following you.
Don’t let them down.

By David S. Norris