My apologies to those of you who have been vigilant in reading my blog. I have gone through quite a drought since my last post. This was recently brought to my attention, and I decided it was time to get back to it. My absence has not been from a lack of things to write about to be sure. As most everyone who reads this knows, I rarely have a period of time with nothing to say. My only excuse is that I have been pleasantly distracted by other very important endeavors.
But enough about all that, let's talk about what's on my mind, which is TIME. I'm actually not talking about seconds or minutes or hours. Not days, weeks, months, or years. I'm talking about the magazine, TIME. I do not have a subscription but for reasons that now escape me (possibly my membership to Netflix...which would make this blog all the more ironic) I received a free copy of TIME's special double issue. This issue featured the 100 most influential people in the world.
Several faces grace the cover. From Joe Biden to Michelle Obama. From Mark Zuckerberg to Oprah. But then I saw a couple of people that surprised me. One was an actor from the television show Glee and the other was Academy Award Winning actor Colin Firth. My first thought was "how in the heck do you put a couple of actors on the cover of a magazine about who is supposed to be the 100 most influential people in the world????"
Needless to say, I wanted TIME to justify their selections. The article began with an introduction exclaiming "Meet the most influential people in the world. They are artists and activists, reformers and researchers, heads of state and captains of industry. Their ideas spark dialogue and dissent and sometimes even revolution." Provocative. And the bar was set high from the onset with Wael Ghonim, the young Egyptian man that helped ignite revolution through social media.
I'm good with that selection, but on the very next page, beside Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, was a full page head shot of comedian Amy Poehler. Now from the well written summaries about Mr. Stiglitz and Mr. Hastings, it was quite apparent that their placement in the top 100 was justifiable to say the least. One predicted the US economic "bubble burst" and has numerous theories that shape modern economic ideas used across the globe. The other revolutionized an entire industry of business and went from former Marine and Peace Corps worker to one of the most successful entrepreneurs of our time.
And now that brings us to Ms. Poehler. Please don't misunderstand my criticism. I love the entertainment industry. Anyone who has seen my movie collection knows that is true. I enjoy film, television, and all other forms of the performing arts. I believe telling stories is important and can be beneficial to the world in many ways, but if we are talking about the importance and influence of the actors who tell the stories, we must be very discerning.
I respect and enjoy Amy Poehler's comedy, but I question how she can be in a list that enumerates the 100 most influential people in the world. It feels awkward to me to put actors in the same list as political activists, revolutionaries, educators, and business geniuses. However, to be fair, many actors and performers are exceptional with helping charitable organizations and participating in worthy humanitarian efforts. Thus, I took to reading the small blurb about Amy that would give me insight into her lofty placement on this list. Her mini-article was written by Parks and Recreation co-star and fellow comedian Aziz Ansari who spent half of his approximately 150 words making an ill-fated joke about Amy trying to get him to invest $15,000 in real estate. The other 75 words were generic platitudes about Amy's good moral standing and comedic prowess.
While I commend Amy on being a good person and a terrific actor, how does that do enough to be one of the most 100 influential people in the world? The list continues with arguably solid selections from Julian Assange to General David Petraeus to JPMorgan Chase head (and my brother's boss) Jamie Dimon. Then I got frustrated some more. Justin Bieber? Blake Lively?? Just because they are popular, are they really influential? Is it influence that has 12 year-old girls crooning "Baby, Baby, Baby"? One might argue that, yes, in fact, it is. However, my argument would be how are we defining influential? In 15 years will what Bieber or Lively have done be remembered? Maybe by some, will they still be revered? Have they done anything to change really anything in this world? And if the answer is no, I just can't see how they make this list. And I do believe the answer is no.
I'm not saying everyone in the entertainment industry should be barred from the list. There is no doubt in my mind that musicians such as Elvis and Michael Jackson would take up very worthy spots on such a list when they were alive and changing music forever. I just don't think Bieber is doing anything of the sort. And what separates Lively from the dozens of other young, beautiful actors of our time? The article did nothing to explain how she is more influential than Rachel McAdams, Scarlett Johansson, or Jessica Biel.
Matt Damon made the list, but I found his explanation quite satisfactory. Ted Danson writes about Damon's efforts to bring clean water to the poorest of nations through his involvement in Water.org. It was a very specific focus on his influence in the world beyond his acting. There are plenty of people influencing their company, industry, and so on, but if this list is truly a WORLD list, you have to limit those on the list to individuals who are impacting the most people across the globe.
So why does the list include actors and musicians who seemingly are nothing more than glorified "flavors of the month?" Is it an indictment of our culture elevating the importance of Hollywood? Does it say something about our minimized standards for heroes and people we look up to? Or is it simply a marketing ploy to boost brand equity for certain individuals? And if that is true, what does that say about TIME's creditability?
I don't have the answers to these questions, all I know is that the selection of several celebrities on that list bothered me. I simply hope our society as a whole hasn't been so desensitized by pop culture as to not question any of the people on that list. I want people to question and analyze which I think are two things many people have simply quit doing. In a world of open-source information like Wikipedia, where information of any kind of any form can be found in 0.5 seconds, we seem to have stopped checking the QUALITY of information.
As much as I love being right, I WANT people to question me. Just because TIME is a credible magazine doesn't give all the writers and contributors a reprieve from scrutiny. I think it comes down to apathy. We have become far too apathetic of a society to far too many important issues. That apathy manifests itself in silence which, unfortunately, isn't something easily detectable and thus we go on being apathetic to our own apathy. Talk about a vicious cycle.
So maybe in the long run, it really doesn't mean that much to our daily lives who is considered the top 100 most influential people in the world according to TIME magazine. But I still think it is worth thinking about who you believe should be on that list. While you're at it, think about the top 10 most influential people IN YOUR OWN LIFE. I hope that, unlike TIME's list, yours is void of pop culture icons and filled with great thinkers, supportive friends, and loving family members. And I hope everybody's #1 is the same... Jesus Christ. God bless.
What I'm Into:
Song: "Something Beautiful" Needtobreathe. I love trying to mimic the lead singer's voice (even though I fail miserably). They played at Easter@Verizon (Meck's Easter Service) and they were fantastic. It's a great song that spoke to me on a very personal level.
Movie: The Adjustment Bureau. I liked it a lot...plus it's the only movie I have seen in the theatre in a looooonnnngggg time. It has some very "Hollywood-ified" religious concepts in it, but it was a unique and intriguing film based around the idea of destiny.
Bible Verse: John 9:4 [Jesus said] "All of us must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent me, because there is little time left before the night falls and all work comes to an end."
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
A Letter to The NFL
Dear Commish Goodell, Owners, Coaches (except Bilicheat cuz...ya know...I really don't like you), Players, Kickers/Punters, Refs, Staff, and Whomever Else It May Concern:
I write this letter as a concerned American citizen. As a perplexed sports aficionado. As a ticked off homebody that needs football on television at least four nights a week.
Help me understand what the fuss is all about. Please. And don't give me the "he said/she said crap". Neither the players nor the owners are going to make ANY money if games don't get played next season. So what is all this going on now? One big game of chicken? Does both sides of this little spat think that by demanding more greenbacks and coming off as unflappable at the negotiations table that the other side will panic and give in completely? How often does that happen?
The crazy thing is the disconnect is not on WHAT to do but rather what to do with the changes that BOTH sides want to make. Take for example rookie salaries. Both sides are in agreement, as far as I can tell, that rookies shouldn't make as much. Cool. But both sides have very different views as to where to transfer the money that USED to go to pay outrageous first round draft picks salaries. Here's some arbitration for ya: if you can't agree on it, NEITHER of you should get it. Just like my mom used to say to my brother and I if we both wanted to play with a specific toy...if we can't share it then neither one of us will get to play with it. So owners and players, if you can't share the $1 billion dollars, I don't think either one should get ANY of it. Instead, why don't we pump that money into the school systems in the areas of the 32 NFL franchises.
Typically the larger metropolitan areas are where most pro-teams reside and these also happen to be the areas that need the most financial support for their schools. Based on the amount of students in each area and current levels of academic prowess in those areas, we could easily formulate a system to delineate funds to every applicable market across the nation. From Buffalo to Miami...from New York to San Francisco...the NFL could do some amazing things if that money could find its way to our schools that need it the most, particularly inner city schools.
I have been watching The Wire lately which is a very raw and realistic HBO show that revolves primarily around Baltimore City Police. However, Season 4, takes a turn and focuses more on the school system. The show demonstrates the pressure teachers are under to "teach toward the test" which basically means they singularly focus students on how to pass the state exams needed to show that the schools are "doing their job." It also depicts how this actually teaches students very little and retention goes out the window. Students from the rougher parts of town don't get the education or direction needed to show them a way to break the bonds of poverty and indoctrination of the preeminent drug culture that they were born into.
Granted, it's just a TV show, but if real life is even half as bad as what the show illuminates, then we have serious problems. But we all knew that already. Then I think about the Baltimore Ravens. A strong franchise that really does a lot for the city it is located in. I think about the NFL's Play60 campaign to promote healthy play and activity for kids 60 minutes a day. Then I think, why not go a step further. How much more would those Ravens be heroes to the children of Baltimore if the $20 million they were going to pay that rookie went down to $12 million and the other $8 million went to better school facilities, textbooks, SPORTS EQUIPMENT for middle school teams. Or better yet, why don't we start honoring the real heroes and raise teachers' salaries! I know not every teacher deserves it, but let's incentivize the ones that do! Let's try to attract more qualified and exuberant educators that are bent on changing the lives of young people for the better instead of giving a measly paycheck to whomever is willing to "handle" a classroom of rambunctious 4th graders 5 days a week.
If it helps, NFL, I can turn this into "business talk" so that you don't think you are just giving away your cash. Think of this move as a long-term investment. You put money towards educational institutions where, in 5-10 years student-athletes will be cropping up looking forward to playing for their hometown club. It is no secret there is an inverse relationship in the rise of quality education and crime. Mr. Goodell has been on a mission to "clean-up" players' off-field behavior since day 1. Well, helping a 22 year-old choose right from wrong starts when they are in grade school. These players need to learn financial literacy as well. Going from $0 to $millions would be a difficult transition for anyone, but the more they understand savings, investing, and money management techniques, the better off your players will be when that first check is in their hands. This can all be established with a firm foundation starting as early as middle school!
So you are basically paying to make your future players better...in so many ways. I mean shoot, so much as been discussed this past season over concussions and helmet safety. Well concussions can happen in high school football as well. New helmets courtesy of your friendly neighborhood pros would be a nice gesture. If the city's (whatever city it may be) improves its education in the classroom, its academic as well as athletic facilities, it will draw in more quality talent to the area. This will give a big advantage to local college teams which can lead to more press of the entire area and the football being developed there and Mr. Joe Schmo's NFL franchise looks more appealing because of the surrounding amateur ball being played.
Does any of this sound good to you NFL execs? I'm guessing it means about diddly-squat to you in all actuality. This entire letter is just the ramblings of a die-hard Colts fan that thinks if we hadn't had 40% of the team injured throughout the season, we could have made a very serious run to the Super Bowl this year and he just really wants to see an agreement made to ensure the season is played because he thinks Indy could be the first host site of a Super Bowl where the home team is actually IN the game. And to some degree you would be right to think all that.
But think about EVERYTHING that will be effected by a holdout...the pizza delivery industry, the sports bars, the merchandise chains, etc. Lots of other people depend on NFL being THE NFL. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing can be debated, but what's up for debate now is all about the benjamins. I say, in the long run, everyone benefits if the NFL and NFLPA can agree to send disputed funds to the local schools. Mark my words on this. Until that time, school's out...way out.
What I'm into:
I write this letter as a concerned American citizen. As a perplexed sports aficionado. As a ticked off homebody that needs football on television at least four nights a week.
Help me understand what the fuss is all about. Please. And don't give me the "he said/she said crap". Neither the players nor the owners are going to make ANY money if games don't get played next season. So what is all this going on now? One big game of chicken? Does both sides of this little spat think that by demanding more greenbacks and coming off as unflappable at the negotiations table that the other side will panic and give in completely? How often does that happen?
The crazy thing is the disconnect is not on WHAT to do but rather what to do with the changes that BOTH sides want to make. Take for example rookie salaries. Both sides are in agreement, as far as I can tell, that rookies shouldn't make as much. Cool. But both sides have very different views as to where to transfer the money that USED to go to pay outrageous first round draft picks salaries. Here's some arbitration for ya: if you can't agree on it, NEITHER of you should get it. Just like my mom used to say to my brother and I if we both wanted to play with a specific toy...if we can't share it then neither one of us will get to play with it. So owners and players, if you can't share the $1 billion dollars, I don't think either one should get ANY of it. Instead, why don't we pump that money into the school systems in the areas of the 32 NFL franchises.
Typically the larger metropolitan areas are where most pro-teams reside and these also happen to be the areas that need the most financial support for their schools. Based on the amount of students in each area and current levels of academic prowess in those areas, we could easily formulate a system to delineate funds to every applicable market across the nation. From Buffalo to Miami...from New York to San Francisco...the NFL could do some amazing things if that money could find its way to our schools that need it the most, particularly inner city schools.
I have been watching The Wire lately which is a very raw and realistic HBO show that revolves primarily around Baltimore City Police. However, Season 4, takes a turn and focuses more on the school system. The show demonstrates the pressure teachers are under to "teach toward the test" which basically means they singularly focus students on how to pass the state exams needed to show that the schools are "doing their job." It also depicts how this actually teaches students very little and retention goes out the window. Students from the rougher parts of town don't get the education or direction needed to show them a way to break the bonds of poverty and indoctrination of the preeminent drug culture that they were born into.
Granted, it's just a TV show, but if real life is even half as bad as what the show illuminates, then we have serious problems. But we all knew that already. Then I think about the Baltimore Ravens. A strong franchise that really does a lot for the city it is located in. I think about the NFL's Play60 campaign to promote healthy play and activity for kids 60 minutes a day. Then I think, why not go a step further. How much more would those Ravens be heroes to the children of Baltimore if the $20 million they were going to pay that rookie went down to $12 million and the other $8 million went to better school facilities, textbooks, SPORTS EQUIPMENT for middle school teams. Or better yet, why don't we start honoring the real heroes and raise teachers' salaries! I know not every teacher deserves it, but let's incentivize the ones that do! Let's try to attract more qualified and exuberant educators that are bent on changing the lives of young people for the better instead of giving a measly paycheck to whomever is willing to "handle" a classroom of rambunctious 4th graders 5 days a week.
If it helps, NFL, I can turn this into "business talk" so that you don't think you are just giving away your cash. Think of this move as a long-term investment. You put money towards educational institutions where, in 5-10 years student-athletes will be cropping up looking forward to playing for their hometown club. It is no secret there is an inverse relationship in the rise of quality education and crime. Mr. Goodell has been on a mission to "clean-up" players' off-field behavior since day 1. Well, helping a 22 year-old choose right from wrong starts when they are in grade school. These players need to learn financial literacy as well. Going from $0 to $millions would be a difficult transition for anyone, but the more they understand savings, investing, and money management techniques, the better off your players will be when that first check is in their hands. This can all be established with a firm foundation starting as early as middle school!
So you are basically paying to make your future players better...in so many ways. I mean shoot, so much as been discussed this past season over concussions and helmet safety. Well concussions can happen in high school football as well. New helmets courtesy of your friendly neighborhood pros would be a nice gesture. If the city's (whatever city it may be) improves its education in the classroom, its academic as well as athletic facilities, it will draw in more quality talent to the area. This will give a big advantage to local college teams which can lead to more press of the entire area and the football being developed there and Mr. Joe Schmo's NFL franchise looks more appealing because of the surrounding amateur ball being played.
Does any of this sound good to you NFL execs? I'm guessing it means about diddly-squat to you in all actuality. This entire letter is just the ramblings of a die-hard Colts fan that thinks if we hadn't had 40% of the team injured throughout the season, we could have made a very serious run to the Super Bowl this year and he just really wants to see an agreement made to ensure the season is played because he thinks Indy could be the first host site of a Super Bowl where the home team is actually IN the game. And to some degree you would be right to think all that.
But think about EVERYTHING that will be effected by a holdout...the pizza delivery industry, the sports bars, the merchandise chains, etc. Lots of other people depend on NFL being THE NFL. Whether that is a good thing or bad thing can be debated, but what's up for debate now is all about the benjamins. I say, in the long run, everyone benefits if the NFL and NFLPA can agree to send disputed funds to the local schools. Mark my words on this. Until that time, school's out...way out.
What I'm into:
Movie- Remember the Titans. One of my favorite football movies.
Song- Rise Against "I Was A Teenage Anarchist" I really like this song and this album. Here is an artist that has realized the silliness of some of their previous adolescent rebellions and have come out the other side able to reflect and grow from their past mistakes...while simultaneous making good music about it.
Bible Verse- 1 John 3:17 "But if anyone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help- how can God's love be in that person."
Monday, January 31, 2011
Dream a Little Dream
Living alone can sometimes suck. Ya feel me? On those few week nights I have nothing to do, my friends are far away, and there is nothing sports-related I want to watch on TV, I start doing something dangerous...THINKING!
My brain goes all over the place: what would I look like with a beard (answer...not as awesome as I would hope), who would I like to punch in the face more Rex Ryan or Bill Belichick (answer, either would be satisfying), and of course the general quandaries about why the world/people/I is/are/am the way we are. (answer: Why you asking me? or I guess, Why am I asking myself?). And the answer to THAT answer goes back to the reason I started asking questions in the first place: boredom. Now ain't that the epitome of circular logic.
While my brain was chasing it's own tail with these riveting questions, one question in particular invaded my cerebral cortex and embedded itself in a few hundred thousand synapses. As I have a tendency to do, I got pretty existential and starting pondering why do we...and by we I mean humans...dream? For that matter why do we sleep?
Well immediately, I'm sure many of you (which might be presumptuous of me that "many" could describe how many people will actually read this) will give the response that sleep is required because our humanly bodies need to recoup energy for the next day ahead. True. But WHY do we have to do that? Granted there is night and day and the structure of our universe tends to lend itself to giving most creatures a very specific time to "shut it down" for a while. And in my solitary supposings, I naturally went on to question even WHY the universe is structured the way it is.
As a man who believes God created everything, I came to only one conclusion: God wants us to dream! If God intentionally made the heavens and the earth, then intentionally made us, and was able to be so detailed down to the microscopic level, it seems ludicrous to suggest that dreams were some unforeseen by-product of a decision made by an omnipotent creator. Dreams had to be intentional along with everything else. So, again, I pose the question, why? What purpose do dreams serve?
God, being able to make this world whatever He wanted it to be, could have created a world and a people who never had to sleep. However, in His wisdom, He gave us a world where 'going' all the time is impossible and sleep is imperative. I know many of us get a heck of a lot more than others...I try to clock in 8 hours a night minimum, but the fact remains that whether it is 2 hours or 10 hours, everybody is doing it.
Now add to this that our brain is still active and can produce the most elaborate and outlandish apparitions of reality while we sleep...so much in fact, that some times we can dream and even think it WAS real, and tell me you don't have a bit of curiosity about why God made us able to do this?
It dumbfounds me that some people have told me that they don't dream. I don't know (and obviously can't) if these people truly don't dream at all or just forget them as soon as they wake up. *By the way, did anyone else love Inception as much as I did, I just realized how close I am about to get to the plot line of that movie and it got me excited! * On the other side of things, it dumbfounds me some of the beautiful, significant dreams people have told me they've had.
It pains me that most of my dreams are just down right stupid. Most are on par with me and that talking baby from the E*trade commercials skiing together down a volcano that is spewing delicious caramel. Not sure if there is any significance in that, but I know people who have had dreams that have TRULY meant something. Dreams that have given them direction in life. Dreams that have affirmed them. Dreams that have presented "what if" realities to choices a person may or may not make. That is some COOL stuff to me.
I believe that dreams are one way God communicates to people. Maybe not to everyone, but to some, I think God taps into their lives in a meaningful way through their dreams. Psychologists may say that dreams serve more as a means for the mind to rectify feelings we've had, perhaps repressed feelings that we need to live out, or maybe a hundred other metaphysical conditions that need to be addressed that we may either consciously or subconsciously be aware of. So, my inquisitive nature then presents, How do we know that isn't God? If you believe in the trinity, as I do, then The Holy Spirit is with us 24/7. If God recognizes a need for us to reconcile something plaguing our minds and/or hearts, maybe the crazy dreams we have are the manifestation of God's means of addressing that issue.
Unfortunately this led me down a more self-evaluating road. If my dreams are silly, meaningless, and focused more on what I see on TV than what I read in The Bible, then what does that say about the state of my heart? I know this may be a little overly harsh but if my mind was set more on God and less on the things that entertain me, I just think that would show up in my dreams. I dreamt last night. I had asked God to let me dream and I asked Him to be part of my dream, to make it a spiritual dream. Then I dreamt that me and 2 friends were eating at a restaurant and they somehow stole the keys to my car (which was, for some reason, a white van) and, without me knowing it, moved it into a handicap spot and called the cops who then wrote me a ticket. Granted, there may be a nugget of spiritual wisdom to be discerned upon further reflection of that dream...I'm just not sure what it is yet.
I see throughout The Bible, God, or in many cases angels, communicating to people in dreams. What's to say the same thing is not going on today? Granted the dream interactions we read about in The Bible seem much more overt than how most of us dream today, but that doesn't mean there isn't wisdom to glean from our modern day mind movies. One of our biggest problems is retention. After about 5-10 minutes from the moment I wake up, I usually forget any thing or at least most of what I dreamed about. I think it is because as soon as reality hits, I start thinking of what I need to do today, my 5 senses fully spark back up, and my sensory inputs such as feeling cold or hot, hearing the garbage man, or smelling coffee brewing override my ability to dwell on the images my brain produced moments earlier.
Now, while I personally have never kept a "dream journal" per se (well I had a journal that read "Dream" on it when I was a kid, but that was mostly filled with pictures of Jennifer Love-Hewitt), I do think it might be a worthwhile thing. I'm not sure what I would find out about myself if I took the time to write down all I remember about my dreams as soon as I woke up. Maybe I'm scared to actually be that introspective. Maybe I'm worried my subconscious knows me better than I know myself. Maybe I'm just too lazy to grab a pen and paper first thing in the morning and work my brain IMMEDIATELY after I wake up. Maybe it's all three.
I know one thing. Nowadays, I'm all about bettering myself. Physically, mentally, spiritually. And if dreams really do serve a purpose, as I believe they must, I say it's got to be a worthwhile venture to analyze what they could mean. Will I start having more profound dreams after I write this? Will I start experiencing spectacular visions in my sleep? Will I get a glimpse into what God has planned for me?
Maybe dreams can come true.
What I'm Into:
Movie: Inception- Not sure many people will want to be my friend after this admission, but I totally want to be able to navigate people's dreams. And, if I'm being really honest, I'd also like to be able to prank them every once and a while by creating a dream within their dream. Just think how much easier dating could be if I could subconsciously plant the idea in women's mind that I'm the best thing since sliced bread. ;)
Song: "White Blank Page" Mumford & Sons- This album is amazing and right now is in a tie for first in my 2010 albums of the year. I think Mumford & Sons are catchy yet unique, have shown that they can go beyond the trite lyrics that plague alternative music, and they can rock out with string instruments and a piano.
Bible Verse: "He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds." Job 33:15
My brain goes all over the place: what would I look like with a beard (answer...not as awesome as I would hope), who would I like to punch in the face more Rex Ryan or Bill Belichick (answer, either would be satisfying), and of course the general quandaries about why the world/people/I is/are/am the way we are. (answer: Why you asking me? or I guess, Why am I asking myself?). And the answer to THAT answer goes back to the reason I started asking questions in the first place: boredom. Now ain't that the epitome of circular logic.
While my brain was chasing it's own tail with these riveting questions, one question in particular invaded my cerebral cortex and embedded itself in a few hundred thousand synapses. As I have a tendency to do, I got pretty existential and starting pondering why do we...and by we I mean humans...dream? For that matter why do we sleep?
Well immediately, I'm sure many of you (which might be presumptuous of me that "many" could describe how many people will actually read this) will give the response that sleep is required because our humanly bodies need to recoup energy for the next day ahead. True. But WHY do we have to do that? Granted there is night and day and the structure of our universe tends to lend itself to giving most creatures a very specific time to "shut it down" for a while. And in my solitary supposings, I naturally went on to question even WHY the universe is structured the way it is.
As a man who believes God created everything, I came to only one conclusion: God wants us to dream! If God intentionally made the heavens and the earth, then intentionally made us, and was able to be so detailed down to the microscopic level, it seems ludicrous to suggest that dreams were some unforeseen by-product of a decision made by an omnipotent creator. Dreams had to be intentional along with everything else. So, again, I pose the question, why? What purpose do dreams serve?
God, being able to make this world whatever He wanted it to be, could have created a world and a people who never had to sleep. However, in His wisdom, He gave us a world where 'going' all the time is impossible and sleep is imperative. I know many of us get a heck of a lot more than others...I try to clock in 8 hours a night minimum, but the fact remains that whether it is 2 hours or 10 hours, everybody is doing it.
Now add to this that our brain is still active and can produce the most elaborate and outlandish apparitions of reality while we sleep...so much in fact, that some times we can dream and even think it WAS real, and tell me you don't have a bit of curiosity about why God made us able to do this?
It dumbfounds me that some people have told me that they don't dream. I don't know (and obviously can't) if these people truly don't dream at all or just forget them as soon as they wake up. *By the way, did anyone else love Inception as much as I did, I just realized how close I am about to get to the plot line of that movie and it got me excited! * On the other side of things, it dumbfounds me some of the beautiful, significant dreams people have told me they've had.
It pains me that most of my dreams are just down right stupid. Most are on par with me and that talking baby from the E*trade commercials skiing together down a volcano that is spewing delicious caramel. Not sure if there is any significance in that, but I know people who have had dreams that have TRULY meant something. Dreams that have given them direction in life. Dreams that have affirmed them. Dreams that have presented "what if" realities to choices a person may or may not make. That is some COOL stuff to me.
I believe that dreams are one way God communicates to people. Maybe not to everyone, but to some, I think God taps into their lives in a meaningful way through their dreams. Psychologists may say that dreams serve more as a means for the mind to rectify feelings we've had, perhaps repressed feelings that we need to live out, or maybe a hundred other metaphysical conditions that need to be addressed that we may either consciously or subconsciously be aware of. So, my inquisitive nature then presents, How do we know that isn't God? If you believe in the trinity, as I do, then The Holy Spirit is with us 24/7. If God recognizes a need for us to reconcile something plaguing our minds and/or hearts, maybe the crazy dreams we have are the manifestation of God's means of addressing that issue.
Unfortunately this led me down a more self-evaluating road. If my dreams are silly, meaningless, and focused more on what I see on TV than what I read in The Bible, then what does that say about the state of my heart? I know this may be a little overly harsh but if my mind was set more on God and less on the things that entertain me, I just think that would show up in my dreams. I dreamt last night. I had asked God to let me dream and I asked Him to be part of my dream, to make it a spiritual dream. Then I dreamt that me and 2 friends were eating at a restaurant and they somehow stole the keys to my car (which was, for some reason, a white van) and, without me knowing it, moved it into a handicap spot and called the cops who then wrote me a ticket. Granted, there may be a nugget of spiritual wisdom to be discerned upon further reflection of that dream...I'm just not sure what it is yet.
I see throughout The Bible, God, or in many cases angels, communicating to people in dreams. What's to say the same thing is not going on today? Granted the dream interactions we read about in The Bible seem much more overt than how most of us dream today, but that doesn't mean there isn't wisdom to glean from our modern day mind movies. One of our biggest problems is retention. After about 5-10 minutes from the moment I wake up, I usually forget any thing or at least most of what I dreamed about. I think it is because as soon as reality hits, I start thinking of what I need to do today, my 5 senses fully spark back up, and my sensory inputs such as feeling cold or hot, hearing the garbage man, or smelling coffee brewing override my ability to dwell on the images my brain produced moments earlier.
Now, while I personally have never kept a "dream journal" per se (well I had a journal that read "Dream" on it when I was a kid, but that was mostly filled with pictures of Jennifer Love-Hewitt), I do think it might be a worthwhile thing. I'm not sure what I would find out about myself if I took the time to write down all I remember about my dreams as soon as I woke up. Maybe I'm scared to actually be that introspective. Maybe I'm worried my subconscious knows me better than I know myself. Maybe I'm just too lazy to grab a pen and paper first thing in the morning and work my brain IMMEDIATELY after I wake up. Maybe it's all three.
I know one thing. Nowadays, I'm all about bettering myself. Physically, mentally, spiritually. And if dreams really do serve a purpose, as I believe they must, I say it's got to be a worthwhile venture to analyze what they could mean. Will I start having more profound dreams after I write this? Will I start experiencing spectacular visions in my sleep? Will I get a glimpse into what God has planned for me?
Maybe dreams can come true.
What I'm Into:
Movie: Inception- Not sure many people will want to be my friend after this admission, but I totally want to be able to navigate people's dreams. And, if I'm being really honest, I'd also like to be able to prank them every once and a while by creating a dream within their dream. Just think how much easier dating could be if I could subconsciously plant the idea in women's mind that I'm the best thing since sliced bread. ;)
Song: "White Blank Page" Mumford & Sons- This album is amazing and right now is in a tie for first in my 2010 albums of the year. I think Mumford & Sons are catchy yet unique, have shown that they can go beyond the trite lyrics that plague alternative music, and they can rock out with string instruments and a piano.
Bible Verse: "He speaks in dreams, in visions of the night, when deep sleep falls on people as they lie in their beds." Job 33:15
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