When I was a youngster, I had lots of dreams. Getting married and raising kids, buying a house, driving a convertible, starting a business, building skyscrapers, flying a plane, seeing my face on the cover of Time magazine... yada yada.But today, I find myself in a situation where these dreams have either been realized or simply faded away... living a 9-5 life of comfort devoid of big dreams and aspirations that will change the world. And that's not right. We all should be dreaming. We can all change the world. We need to see it... and we need to work for it.
So I've been turning to God. Help me God. Show me the way. Fill my mind with dreams. Paint a picture for me. Open my eyes. Tell me what to do.
And after several weeks, I am no closer to an answer.
But today the feeling I'm getting from God seems eerily familiar to a scene from the Godfather. I don't know about you, but seems like just about every situation in life can be described by a scene from the Godfather.
So as I turn to God, looking for him to take care of everything and draw me a personal roadmap for my faithwalk... I'm not getting a simple answer. I'm getting a bucket of cold water thrown in my face.
Kinda like when Johnny Fontaine goes to the Godfather for help... knowing that the Godfather can never refuse a request made of him.
Johnny: Oh godfather, I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
Corleone: You can act like a man. (The Don slaps Johnny in the face.)
So I'm asking God what I should be dreaming about. And his response: act like a man. Gee, I didn't know it was going to be this tough...
9 comments:
What a great post; I had never taken the time to think about it, but you're right that everything can be matched up with a scene in The Godfather. It's going to be great fun trying to identify those scenes in my life in the coming year!
I see what you mean about dreams. I hope you recapture some or find new ones.
(And, hey, thanks for stopping by Seedlings in Stone.)
I can't claim to have even seen The Godfather (lol... yes, it's true), nor can I claim to know what it is to be a man. So I should probably keep my opinions to myself. But maybe because I think this is so important, I'm going to spout off anyway.
We can all change the world. We just need to start. Sometimes the Lord gives specific visions, but much of the time I think we feel our way forward. We start with what He has placed in front of us (or who he places beside us). We start with where our passions lie. We start with the stories of people who move our hearts; who make us cry. We start with people who don't move us at all, because we still need to learn openness.
We just start somewhere. Yes, we need to be careful. Great damage has been done with good intentions. But if our hearts are open, and we're living a life of prayer, and we start... and are open to changing direction when doors close... then one day we pause and look back and realize that everything has changed.
Okay, so I'm preaching to myself here :)
Sorry for being long-winded.
You are a seriously talented guy with a great gift for encouragement. If I can return the blessing, Ed... you can change someone's world. Start.
Peace
maybe if you start with a cunning plan and move on to a trick up your sleeve then go around the block and get yourself a twinkle for each eye, after that go down the hill in a red flyer wagon, stub your toe twice, and lay in the grass in the shade of a tree in the summer.
wait for the Lord;
be strong and take heart
and wait for the Lord.
psalm 27:14
Love to you
Let's just hope you don't find a horse head in your bed :)
I think that part of being a man is to live from your gut.. to do the things that you KNOW you should do.. then maybe the other things will follow?
1. The Godfather is my all-time favorite movie
2. Wilsonian - you must watch it immediately
3. Correction - the Don first mocks and mimmicks, Johnny and THEN says "You can act like a man..."
As much as I appreciate Francis Ford Coppola's timeless life lessons captured in this movie, I'm grateful that the God we serve doesn't mock or make fun of us - He gives us His wisdom and straight talk with love and grace. No offense to the Don, but his approach falls short.
My prayer for all of us is that we'd drop the gun and take the canoli. Letting go of whatever's holding us back and taking hold of everything that God's calling us to.
Press on (Phlippians 3:12 - 14)
Matt... just hope you won't have to go to the mattresses this year
LL... thanks for stopping by... keep on dreaming!
wilsonian - I agree with Trace, you must see this movie (GF 2 is actually my favorite, but both among top 5 American films ever made). As always, your words challenge, motivate and inspire me.
nAncY... thank you SO MUCH for the big smile... most welcome!
K-Bob... great advice... this stuff is starting to make sense... and no horse's head yet!
Trace... what a great verse... I press on toward the goal... just what I needed to read tonight (just not sure I'll ever be able to read it again without thinkin' about clemenza.
Hmmmm...a very wise man said to me just a couple weeks ago:
"You were created to dream -- go dream and make your dreams come true."
;-)
I know how you feel!
I'll pray for the dreams to come.
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