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Dreams

When is a dream just a dream?

Sometimes I have dreams that are too amazing to be real. I wake up feeling inspired and delighted and happy, yet just a little sad that it was NOT real, after all. There are some dreams that are so wonderful that I want to go back to sleep and try to recapture the feeling I had. It never works... Alas!

Sometimes I have dreams that are very distressing, dreams about loss or pain or fear. Dreams of sickness or accident or death. These dreams wake me up sad and depressed, yet I am grateful to wake up and it was only a stupid dream.

Most dreams I can't remember much beyond just a few minutes, just simple impressions. Some dreams are seared into my memory. Some dreams have meaning that is specific and of import, while others are silly and frivolous. Some dreams are in vivid and surrealistic colors, while others are gray, black and white, and drab. Some dreams are hyper-realistic, each detail popping out to my senses such that I can perceive every grain of sand and feel the gentle breezes. Others are more of feelings, things guessed at rather than known.

And sometimes I have waking dreams, visions of futures hoped for and goals attainable. I can look into the faces of people I love and friends and even strangers and see in them the light of celestial glory that comes from their true angelic nature. I can look at the built environment and peel back the years to when the land was dominated by grasses and trees and nature. I can also look forward to see the land covered by orderly and useful and convenient man-made structures and open spaces. This is why I love what I do for a living.

Dreams have the ability to inspire people to greatness. Dreams can change the course of the world. And dreams have the power to give purpose to that course. This was the power behind the declaration of Dr. King - I have a dream!

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