A Dream

Bill Simmons has a dream. I have watched for several days now as I come and go from my house as a man works in the field at the stoplight near my house. The corner is not much but a dirt lot.

Today I went hiking, skirted the lot and noticed a number of peculiar things. First of all the edges of the lot, about 10 feet in from the street, strewn down a line are Bots Dots that have been thrown up from the street and scavenged to make a border for something. As I walked further along, I noticed a home plate, and a little bit of a path out to what I would imagine is a pitcher's mound.

On the way back home from my hike, I took a little detour, skirted the other edge of the dirt lot, and went to make my way to the character who was spending day after day on this field, raking and keeping it meticulously. I stopped, baby in the pack on my back, and introduced myself. Bill, clothed in several layers, and shielded well from the sun, introduced himself.

I asked him what he was working on day after day on this lonely street corner, and this dirt lot. He said he was building a baseball field, and then realized it was going to be too small, so he thought maybe a softball field. He knew there was a water shortage and so he was keeping it pretty simple. He admitted that it wasn't even his lot, but that someone with some dreams and imagination and maybe even some money, which he no longer had, might be able to do something great.

He envisioned a theater, or a huge stage for concerts and political rallies. He saw the need for raising up a new army, and thought it might make for some decent parade grounds. He thought the ballfield was still a good idea, and even suggested bringing in a bulldozer to the lot next to it to make for some parking. In the meantime, he was clearing the weeds, and taking them to the low spots in the field so that it might be used however possible.

He said he was getting tired, and didn't have the same imagination he used to, or the money to make it happen, but that maybe the next generation might benefit from what he has done. He looked at the baby on my back and told her he was making it usable for her. See what her imagination might lead us to create.

I hope our churches are willing to do the same. To work hard to achieve the vision they have, for something that is not theirs (it is God's); and yet to leave it and let it go so that those who would pick it up would be able to do with it as they saw need, and had imagination.