To Dream the Impossible Dream

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Don_Quixote_(1955)_by_Pablo_Picasso.jpg

I was about ten the first time I saw this painting of Picasso, which led to the reading of Don Quiote by Cervantes. Two years later, The Man of La Mancha, hit the Broadway stage with its iconic song, "Impossible Dream."  So began my call to ministry. (To minister is to serve.) Allow me to explain.

 In 1963, a month before my 10th birthday, I sat in front of our black and white TV and listened to the young minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. give the now famous, I Have a Dream speech. At that moment, with tears running down my face, I made a committment to serve, to minister, to teach others about Love and Peace and Forgiveness. I wasn't sure how this would happen, but I had trust that, given this epiphany, I would be given the tools to move forward.

The moment I heard, "Impossible Dream," it became one of my favorite songs. As a tween, I would sing it with all the passion of youth and innocence. The words of the song, "This is my quest/To follow that star/No matter how hopeless/No matter how far," spoke to me. They were my affirmation that this was my calling, my quest.

 Today, I sing with the melancholy that comes with age, with the knowledge that the dream is impossible, but with the faith that what I do, what I say, what I write does make a difference. ("And I know if I'll only be true /To this glorious quest /That my heart will lie peaceful and calm /When I'm laid to my rest.")

I will keep moving forward, in spite of that which seems overwhelming, just like Cervantes, and King, and even, Emily Dickinson, who wrote:

 If I can stop one heart from breaking,
 I shall not live in vain;
 If I can ease one life the aching,
 Or cool one pain,
 Or help one fainting robin
 Unto his nest again,
 I shall not live in vain.

 Today, we are reminded that we are ALL called to serve. We don't need money or higher education. We don't have to be old and experienced. We simply must come with an open mind and heart ready to meet the needs we find along our path. 

 Blessings to all!

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