"Jesus said to the Pharisees: You belong to what is below; I belong to what is above. You belong to this world- a world which cannot hold me."

John 8:23

God has great dreams for each one of us. The Almighty, who has loved everything into being, has loved you into being and has great plans for you. I pray that all of God’s dreams for you may come true. Sadly, we put limits on God and what he can do for us. We short-change and stifle all the incredible works he wants to do though us. Why would we ever choose to limit the limitless One? Why do we hold God down and not let his dreams come true through us?

Whether it is good or not, I know I can choose to allow other people’s words to have a big effect on what I will or will not choose to do in life. Over the past few years of my life I felt part of God’s dream for me was to write a book. If you have ever written a book, you know how much time and energy it takes. It can also be a vulnerable experience once it is published and people start to give you their feedback. I know my book is not any where near perfect in grammar, organization, thought, etc. but I felt I just was supposed to get it out there and, hopefully, it would bless some people. Knowing this, I knew I would be opening myself up for criticism. On the other hand, I do not exactly have a lot of time each day as a diocesan priest to sit around and write the perfect work. In that sense, I feel good about the fact I did write a book as a busy diocesan priest.

I am sure there are as many opinions about my book as there are people who read it. I have gotten back quite a bit of feedback and just want to share with you two comments I received within twenty-four hours of each other. One person, in front of a few other people, told me that they liked the book but they found the English teacher in them wanting to get out the red pen and mark it up. That comment is good for the ego- deflation (remember, ego stands for edging God out) and humility that we should all seek as Christians- correct? (smiles) The second comment I received in an email the very next day. This person told me how she and other people were so inspired by my book. She shared with me how she reads my book in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament.

What if I let all the red pen comments win out in my life? What if I never wrote the book for fear of what people might say?

We are called to fear God and not man. If I feared man with all the red ink remarks that man can make, I never would have written the book. But I feared God and his dream for me to write a book came true. Here, fearing God does not mean being afraid of God. It means being awed by all the wonderful things he wants us to share in. Fear or awe of God involves saying, “Yes” to all the great dreams God desires to live out through us.

God has incredible dreams for you. Pray and dream. Dream and pray. What dreams does God have for you? What does he want to do through you?

Do not be limited by the limits man tries to place on you. Be awed by God’s limitless dreams for you and live them out.

God’s will!
+Fr. John