How does the lyrics from “Jesus Christ Superstar – the Rock Opera” go? Ah yes…

Pontius Pilate: Then you are a king.
Jesus: It’s you that say I am. I look for truth, and find that I get damned.
Pontius Pilate: And what is ‘truth’? Is truth unchanging law? We both have truths. Are mine the same as yours?

I can change this every so slightly…we all have dreams, are mine the same as yours? Seriously, we all do have dreams. Dreams of our job expectations, dreams of how our spiritual beliefs can effect the world around us in some ginormous way. Dreams of how our votes can change the political climate we found ourselves in. And then we run into that brick wall of reality. But we’ll come back to that in a moment…

Me at 6 years old

I had dreams when I was a kid. Wild dreams. I wanted to be a fighter jet pilot – but my five foot six inch height stopped me real quick on that. Plus, my fear of heights compounds the issue for me. I also wanted to be a dragon-slaying, ninja warrior. With all the grace of a master martial artist, the honor of a Samurai, and the babe-magnetism of a medieval knight. Yah. Thankfully – for society as a whole – my fat, short ass is not that graceful, and my ability with a sword is more than passable, but hardly at “hero” quality. And if I had any magnetism, I would be stuck so hard to my armor, that I would be begging for a can opener.

However, as I grew older and changed into a slightly responsible adult, my dreams changed with me. In high school, I had the desire to be a History teacher. That desire to teach has not disappeared, and I have realized that part of my dream – teaching Computer Science at the junior college level. I still have the desire to teach History…and continue to take steps towards that direction as well. I never would have figured that I would work for the United States Air Force. Or the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. Or any of the myriad of other places I have worked. Nor would I have ever thought I would be working as a Research Analyst in my current job position. Nor would I have guessed that I would actually enjoy the job that I do.

But I still have dreams.

I always envisioned a belief system that would embrace my feelings of Nature as a mystical, spiritual place – not a resource that was placed here for my use – as if God was dropping relief packages for the stranded race of human kind. It was a dream that such a thing existed. It did, and I eventually found my way to it. I have dreams of where I can go within those bounds, and how much more I can learn about myself and the world around me through those bounds. I never would have dreamed that I would eventually have the semi-attention of one of the Gods, much less find myself working in a direction through the podcast to showcase Paganism to others.

And still I dream.

I dream of a day when a candidate comes on to the political scene and holds the same beliefs that I do. The same ideals of how government should be in a position to foster community amongst the individual states, while protecting the freedoms and rights of the individual citizens within those states. I have yet to find that candidate…but I hold out hope that one will eventually come along on the scene.

Me at the 2015 ADF Texas Imbolc Retreat (photo by John Beckett)

I dream of a day when anyone practicing a Pagan faith can do so openly. Without fear of reprisal, oppression, or rejection. I dream of a day when every faith can stand shoulder to shoulder — agree to disagree without angry rhetoric or statements of damnation or urges of eradication. With each passing day, I am not sure that will ever happen during this lifetime – but I hold out hope.

I dream of a day, when education is available to anyone that desires to have it. Where the costs of that education are kept at a reasonable cost – for the government to fund. Yeah, I get that this is rather socialist of me…but I can dream, ya know?

…and tonight, I continue to dream. I dream of a quiet open thicket in the middle of a forest – the tree line just a touch out of sight. In the center of that thicket stands five trees. One large oak, surrounded by four birch trees at each cardinal point of the compass. And just under the branches of the Oak – near the eastern-most Birch – sits a large rock. When standing on that rock, one can reach up and grasp the branches of the Oak with minimal effort. Sitting on this rock, I will wait. Wait for my blackbird friends – who chirp, caw, and qwork at me with greetings.

I dreamed, I dream, I continue to dream. How about you??