The Field of Unfulfilled Dreams

Dreams are wonderful, but for every dream that’s realized twenty of them go unfulfilled.  The field of unfulfilled dreams seems like it would be a dark and depressing place, but actually it can be a source of encouragement.  More on that in a bit.

As you walk through the field of unfulfilled dreams you find thousands of entrepreneurial attempts and ideas that failed for any number of reasons.  Some were so big they never had a chance while others were just too small.  Some of them failed because of a lack of resources, others didn’t make it because there was a lack of drive and energy to sustain them.  A few will be resurrected, modified and renovated when resources are made available, or the timing is right.

The field is littered with hopes, ideas and dreams that never made it. Failed business plans, athletic aspirations, education, marital and family plans, projects, careers, houses and much more collect dust as tributes to something that went wrong, or fell woefully short of something that once created a fire in the belly.

We can look upon this field with melancholy eyes or hope.  History is filled with foiled dreams and failures of great men and women who despite those setbacks were able to rise above them and move forward.  Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison and Phil Mickelson all fell short of their dreams in their quest to fulfill a vision in their respective areas of politics, technology and sports.  But instead of listening to the pundits and naysayers they managed to rise above momentary setbacks and defeats to fulfill another dream.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ted Williams once said that those who fail only seven times out of ten attempts will be the greatest in the game.  Williams had a lifetime batting average of .344 leaving him 7th on baseballs all-time hit list.  Ty Cobb the best hitter to ever play the game only managed to hit .366 in his career.  The greatest in the game only got hits 3 out of 10 times at bat!  Statistically that is horrible, but in reality it is a legendary accomplishment that only a few of the greats ever achieve.  He kept getting up to bat even though he didn’t get a hit the majority of the time!  If that isn’t perspective on dreams I don’t know what is.

There’s a lesson there.  Keep swinging for the stars!  Is there an unfulfilled dream in your life?  Keep pressing, keep believing, keep trying.  Got a failure, or two like me, littering up the field of unfulfilled dreams? Don’t focus on the field.  The fact that you have a failed dream is good, it means your dreaming.  Imagine if Mother Teresa had given up on trying to eradicate hunger one mouth at a time in India?  Sure, she could’ve quit after all those who eventually died, but she kept bathing, cleaning, feeding and helping Calcutta’s poorest.  And she made a difference.  You can too!  Keep swinging for the stars and who knows you might end up getting a hit 3 out of 10 times at bat like the great Ted Williams.

I owe my love of fishing to my father-in-law, Gene.  Although I fished with worms as a kid, he taught me how to really fish as an adult.  Dad’s patience with me in the boat was long and steady.
He took this novice and created an average fisherman who fell in love with it.

I can replay so many times when we went fishing together.  The fondest memories are just the two of us fishing for bass, crappie and blue gill on their lake in Central Indiana.  That man has forgotten more about fishing than most of us will ever know.  I am forever indebted to him for instilling this passion in me because I was able to pass it along to my son under Dad’s watchful eye and seasoned counsel.  Both of us taught Casey how to fish when he was very young.  More him than me if I’m to be honest.  And later, my son’s father-in-law to be would take Casey’s passion for bass fishing to another level.

Casey and I love to fish.  So does my wife and his mom.  And so does his wife!  We will work on our infant granddaughter too!  Fishing is something you can do at any age.  Like bowling, it is one of those great family outings.  I remember taking my grandfather fishing when he was nearly 90.  We had some worms and two old rod and reels of his.  It was a special time for me.  I never would’ve taken him had my father-in-law not rekindled my childhood love for fishing a few years before I took my grandfather out in West Kentucky.

These pics are from a recent outing on Saluda Lake here in SC.  We had fished all morning and not one bite or strike.  We were getting a little frustrated and then boom, a bass hit my crank bait.  And then another one.  And then a bigger one for Casey, which is typical!  Seems like I’m just keeping up a family tradition as Dad Mills’ son and my brother-in-law, Kevin is a master bass fisherman.  We tease him, but it’s true, he can put his finger in lake water and attract fish!

If you have never fished, let me encourage you to try it with your child, spouse, or grandchild.  It is a gift for life.  BTW, no fish were killed, cleaned, or eaten in this outing.  For the most part we are big “catch and release” fisherman.  And before my fishing critics chime in just remember that fishing is biblical!  Can you imagine cooking fish on the beach and having breakfast with Jesus?  Andrew and Peter must have some whopper fishing stories.  I can’t wait to hear them in heaven.  

Theologian Paul Tillich said, We have considered the depth of the world and the depth of our souls. But we are only in a world through a community of men. And we can discover our souls only through the mirror of those who look at us. There is no depth of life without the depth of the common life. 


Before Tillich wrote those words a young, Dutch theologian, Dietrich Bonheoffer called the church the physical manifestation of Christ on earth.  It became known as the communion of the saints.

The essence of the Early Church and the New Testament is community.  Community is the genesis of God.  It began with Father, Son and the Holy Spirit.  Before humanity graced the universe by God’s grace, God was already in community.  His Son, came to insure community.  His life, ministry, suffering, crucifixion and resurrection triumphed over humanities attempts to prevent community through the depravity of humankind, sin.  Yes, we enjoy salvation through Him, but our salvation was never meant to be lived in isolation.  It was meant to be shared.  As Paul said we, “are the bride of Christ.”  And Jesus said in John 13:34-35 that our mutual love would be the mark of true community: 

³⁴ A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵ By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”  

So how are we doing in this area of community?  Are we really marked by love?  Does the world look at us and see love?  Or do they look at us and see judgment, condemnation and isolation?  Do they see petty bickering over honest differences that really have nothing to do with faith in Christ.  Love requires far more than intellectual and theological agreement.  In fact, it could be argued that unanimity is not as much the mark of love as it is doctrinal compliance and legalism.  Keep in mind that Jesus stood in opposition to the legalist of His days with skin on.  

Doing authentic biblical community is not easy.  It’s tough.  It exposes mere church membership or attendance at weekly worship for what it is, obligatory duty.  Authentic community means we place ourselves in places of vulnerability.  We have conversations beyond the score of the weekend game, or the weather.  We open the windows to our souls and we risk being known by people who love us without conditions.  We empathize with fellow strugglers and we bind together with cords of love that cannot be broken.  We mourn with those who mourn and we rejoice with those who rejoice.  Like marriage, we are committed to each other for good, or for worse, in sickness and in health.  

Authentic community requires humility.  Prideful people and the self-consumed don’t do community for risk of being exposed.  We simply have to be real.  Being real makes a lot of people nervous, but Jesus has called us to be real, genuine and authentic, warts and all.  I don’t know about you, but this broken, imperfect, flawed ragamuffin needs and craves community.  Mutual submission and unconditional love cannot exist until we are really serious about seeking it.  Then and only then will the world know us by our love.   

Hidden Agendas

One of the most frustrating things for leaders is the seemingly inevitable and dreaded hidden agenda.  The agenda itself can even be good, but the fact that it’s hidden means it begins in deceit, and/or manipulation.  Leaders can have hidden agendas too, so let’s make sure we understand that no one escapes the temptation of this beast.

Typically it begins with an unannounced, last minute, unplanned meeting.  Manipulative people love to catch other people off guard especially when they want something.  The element of surprise is a significant part of the equation.  For example:  Bob is a bank branch manager who has just returned from a week of corporate meetings in Atlanta.  It’s late on a Friday afternoon and he just got back in the office on Thursday.  A teller, Jane catches Bob after lunch and says, “Bob, I need to meet with you this afternoon regarding week-ending deposit figures.”

It’s already their late day to work and Bob has an after work commitment to catch the second half of his 4-year olds Tee-ball game.  He believes he can make it if he leaves within a half hour of closing time.  Jane adds, “It won’t take long, but I really do need 5 minutes of your time.”  Already buried under catch-up paperwork, but feeling guilty about being gone all week, Bob sighs and agrees to accommodate Jane’s request.  Despite second thoughts, Bob relents and reasons that the week ending deposit sheets are worthy of a last minute meeting.

It’s well after 6:00 p.m. and the last customer has left the drive-through as Bob and Jane sit down in his office.  Bob is still trying to dig out from a desk full of paperwork for the home office.  Jane holds the week ending deposit sheets, but after beginning the conversation with some idle chitchat she begins to talk about another teller. And it’s not good.  She begins as one who is “concerned,” but pretty soon it’s obvious that she has personality issues with the other teller.  Her comments are anything but constructive.  Hello!  The hidden agenda has just been unloaded.  No warning, no heads up, and no time to think things through.  It's a surprise attack, but everything about this conversation is intentional by design, at least as far as Jane is concerned.   Bob is a good leader and branch manager.  However, at the end of a long week this was unexpected.  After Jane’s full-fledge assault on the teller Bob discovers that she has not even approached the other teller to discuss her concerns.  And when he suggests a face-to-face meeting, Jane quickly notes that she was really expecting him to handle the matter.  Unfortunately Jane is unwilling to contribute to any of Bob’s suggestions for dealing with the problem short of terminating the other teller.  Bob notes the hour and realizes it’s too late to catch the second half of his child’s ballgame. 

Jane has made a huge strategic mistake.  She not only showed a complete lack of respect for her bosses time and schedule, but she misrepresented (okay flat out deceived) what she wanted to meet with him about.  What Jane doesn’t realize is that the rest of the tellers have already communicated this pattern of behavior to Bob.  And in recent months several customers have made a point to comment to Bob about her apparent disdain and negative attitude toward the teller in question. BUSTED! 

And Jane doesn’t even have a clue!  She is ignorant to the fact that she has alienated just about everyone who would listen to her.  “Doesn’t play well with others,” has become the byline of her employee photo.  Jane is largely to blame for her eventual undoing and unemployment, but if patterns hold she will move onto the next job while blaming every one around her.  She will simply transfer her baggage to a new job.  It will never occur to her that she is largely responsible for her situation.  She has alienated everyone.  Enabling friends and family will just shake their heads and ignore her default pattern of behavior as they take the path of least resistance. 

Lesson for Bob:  Don’t let people manipulate your schedule.  Honor your commitments.  Ask people to be more specific about requests for spontaneous meetings and hold them to the topic at hand.  

Lesson for Jane: Be honest!  Respect the time of others and quit thinking solely about yourself.  You misrepresented yourself to your boss and took advantage of his time.  Seek constructive criticism and use it as an opportunity to grow.  Encourage friends and family members to really be honest with you.  Apologize to your co-workers for being divisive and petty.

The De-Singularity of the Church

Singularity (AKA: Artificial Intelligence) is the creation of technology beyond human intelligence.  Yeah kinda like the fictional “Sky Net” in the Terminator series with John Conner.  It’s the idea that somehow, some way technology will evolve both naturally and intentionally to the point that it is smarter than human intelligence.  This is way beyond a faster iPhone, or a jacked-up, screaming computer running on 10G in 2015.  The Singularity Institute notes:              

Vernor Vinge originally coined the term "Singularity" in observing that, just as our model of physics breaks down when it tries to model the singularity at the center of a black hole, our model of the world breaks down when it tries to model a future that contains entities smarter than human.                                                                        
Human intelligence is the foundation of human technology; all technology is ultimately the product of intelligence. If technology can turn around and enhance intelligence, this closes the loop, creating a positive feedback effect. Smarter minds will be more effective at building still smarter minds. This loop appears most clearly in the example of an Artificial Intelligence improving its own source code, but it would also arise, albeit initially on a slower timescale, from humans with direct brain-computer interfaces creating the next generation of brain-computer interfaces, or biologically augmented humans working on an Artificial Intelligence project.                                                                                                  

Okay so you don’t have to wander very far to see how this could be a catastrophe in the wrong hands. Kinda like Sky Net when the “machines” took over in the Terminator movie, but not as devastating at first. It would start slow. Think about this evolution with something as simple as the telephone: in my lifetime we’ve gone from a party-line phone with no dialer, to rotary dialed phones, push button Trim-lines, to bag cell phones, to car mounted phones, to Blue Tooth ear pieces, to the iPhone and hands-free in the dash of your car and sunglasses that connect to your phone so you can talk while you are jogging!  Sarah the operator on the Andy Griffith show wouldn’t believe it. 
                                                                                                                                                                    I remember  in the 90’s when semotician, futurist and theologian Len Sweet wondered aloud at a conference about Dolly, the first cloned sheep [my paraphrase]:  “And if they’ve done this with sheep and told us about it, what are they doing with the science that they aren’t telling us?”  At that time Len’s point was that while science hurried to clone an animal no one bothered to ask the ethical question:  Should we do it?  I’ll leave the ethical questions and further treatment of singularity to those with a faster and bigger cerebral cortex than me.  
                                                                                                                                                               The church seems to have bought into singularity.  We don’t even know it.  Before you call me a naysayer let me state right up front that I love technology and I love the ways it has helped us better communicate and connect the Gospel.  But what if we “unplugged” for a season?  Instead of multi-campuses piping in a pastor from afar with holographic technology, and slick computer presenter programs, videos and lights, music and dress that looks and sounds no different than the hottest bar in town----what if we just sat down with people and shared the Gospel?  What if we actually got to know each other personally and shared out of our experience with one another?  What if we took the time to converse face to face?  What if we simply let the Word of God speak?How many ways can we “beef up,” or “enhance,” the age old, simple, life-changing, transforming story of the Gospel to make it “fresh” for the culture?  Maybe the culture isn’t as impressed with all of it as we are because they see it every day online and in the workplace.  I’m speaking to myself as much as anyone else, so don’t bug out and say this is an indictment on a single church, denomination, or para-church ministry.  No, I’m not advocating a return to overhead projectors or hymnals and no slight intended to those who currently use them.  I’m also trying to lift our heads beyond a discussion of singularity in worship.
                                                                                                                                                                How can we deconstruct the complicated layers we’ve built to simply be the eyes, ears, hands and feet of Jesus in a way that is different and sticks out from the rest of the crowd?   Maybe we need to simply find an upper room, get on our knees and let the Holy Spirit empower us and lead the way.  Oddly, that single act of devotion and commitment (Acts 1-2) to do exactly what Jesus commanded before His ascension expanded the Kingdom of God by 3,000 additional souls that day.  Of course they didn’t have multiple locations, a website, band, lights, computers, drama, Live IMAG and podcasts, but they did have the Gospel and the power of the Holy Spirit.  Sounds profoundly simple to me.