Good morning everyone! The title of this post is somewhat ironic since Brady’s last blog was partially about the book The Slumber of Christianity…We’re apparently the dream team now? Anyway, here is my second attempt at a formal blog post.
My whole life I’ve been 100% satisfied with (and 100% in pursuit of) the American Dream. Ask my friends and family growing up and they would say that Marin was going to get married, have kids, buy a nice home in suburbia, teach, and live a blissful rest of her life. That was totally what I wanted. I also wanted to have a little fun on the side and go on a few adventures, but nothing TOO crazy. I liked safe. I definitely liked safe.
Safety. When I think about it, that’s the essence of the American Dream. Work hard to make a safe and happy place for yourself. I embraced the dream and lived a safe life. I got everything I wanted: a husband, a cat (ok full disclosure-I never really wanted a cat growing up, but I’m glad I have him now), a place to live, and a teaching job. Life was comfortable and safe for a few years, but empty. I had everything, but I didn’t have fulfillment. Why? Wasn’t this what I was really looking for when I went to bed with the American Dream? I started realizing that while the American dream promises safety, safety doesn’t promise that you will have a fulfilled life.
Upon further examination, I realized that aside from the occasional service opportunity through church, our lives were totally revolving around us. I could feel the hypnotic spiraling and could almost hear someone saying in the back of my mind, “You’re getting very sleepy…” I was falling asleep to the needs of others. I was falling asleep to the realities of the Kingdom. I was falling asleep to who I was created to be.
I decided then that I wanted to wake up from the American Dream. I didn’t want to feel lulled by the routines, the obligations, and the sense of responsibility to build more security for ourselves.
One day, a few lines of “People Go” by Daniel Brunz and the Tin Man Revival Band popped into my head. (They are totally awesome; check them out!)
Wake me up from the American dream
Wake me up I don’t want the spirit of this age
Wake me up let not my heart be deceived
Keep me far from this golden cage…
What would happen, if we stop striving
For our own security
What would happen, if we decided
To stop playing games and start learning’ love
What would happen if I stopped pursuing the American Dream? How would my life change? How would my interactions with others change? And my interactions with God?
The golden cage of the American Dream has been holding me back. It’s so beautiful and enticing, but I’m ready to see what is on the other side. You see, the safety of the cage doesn’t come without a cost. It’s cost me time- time I could have spent reaching out to others and learning about them and their needs. It’s cost me potential relationships that have just taken the back burner in all the business. It’s cost me the ability to go deeper and discover more about our AMAZING God, because “ain’t nobody got time for that” in our modern world. Safety is costly, indeed.
Please hear me clearly, I am not saying everything is wrong with the American Dream. People do need some security to thrive. I’m not saying that if you’re not doing something radical, you’re not truly living. I’m not saying that a simple life is bad (on the contrary, scripture supports leading a simple, holy life). I’m not saying that possessions and jobs are bad. In fact, many of you have houses, families, jobs, and possessions and are able to live your lives fulfilled, full of love and joy and service. What I am saying is that it’s hard to hear truth and find real fulfillment when our end goal is self-satisfaction. I think the fundamental problem with the American Dream is that it begins and ends with yourself. I’m saying that I got trapped in that and that I need to wake up and live beyond myself.
Like it is for some of you, waking up can be hard for me. I fight it. I want 5 more minutes. But God has pulled the sheets off my bed and turned the lights on. I know without a shadow of a doubt that I’m supposed to get up and face the day and put my version of the American Dream behind me. Even though it will be hard, I’m ready to leave my house, my job, my cat, and my support systems for this crazy idea that I need to live beyond myself, that there is life and joy in being a servant to others.
So, for a year, that is what I’ll do. When I come back, I know I’ll have to settle back into life here and routines, but I’m hoping to come back changed enough that I won’t fall back into my old patterns. Pray for me that I won’t fall back asleep. Pray that I will keep the kingdom first in my heart. Pray that I’ll not neglect others in exchange for my own comfort and security.
Right now, I’m at the point where my feet are on the floor. I’m rubbing the sleepiness from my eyes, waking up to reality, waking up from the American Dream.
