Dreamers: Can't live with them, can't live without them!

Joseph’s brothers nearly killed their lifeline! Their kid brother annoyed them. Some would argue that Joseph deserved his siblings’ scorn. At their first opportunity they said to each other, "Here comes that dreamer!" "Come now, let’s kill him and throw him into one of these cisterns and say that a ferocious animal devoured him. Then we’ll see what comes of his dreams." (Genesis 37)

Like Joseph’s brothers, Moses’ contemporaries had a hard time embracing the captain of their deliverance. The Book of Hebrews says, "Moses persevered because he saw him who is invisible." (11:27) Moses was anything but a consensus gatherer. He was captivated by scenes hidden to all his peers. (Somehow, somewhere on the journey, he convinced us that he really did see a burning bush!)

Dreamers make people uncomfortable! Pharaoh detested Moses. The Israelis complained endlessly about his game plans. Moses faced the political equivalent of football’s fourth and long too often to sleep well. Joseph threw a "hail Mary" pass to save the Middle East from starvation. The baker and wine steward treated Joseph like a linebacker grabbing a running back’s face mask. Potiphar’s wife loathed Joseph as much as his brothers did.

Those who know the story of Ignaz Philipp Semmelweis’ contribution to public health have a hard time mocking dreamers. A little known Hungarian doctor is rightly credited with rescuing millions of women who probably would have died while bearing children. Dr. Semmelweis connected the death of women who had recently delivered a baby in a hospital to doctors moving between autopsy labs and delivery rooms without washing their hands. But he was mocked! How stupid! The band of "Joseph’s brothers," medical professionals, shoved Semmelweis to the margins of medicine. He did not live long enough to see the full effect of his dream.

Dreamers are easy targets for crowds who amuse themselves poking fun, and mocking others. They are pooh-poohed with rhythmic regularity. But dreamers dare to be inserted into life-changing circumstances. Visionaries will not knuckle under an "It can’t be done!" crowd content with mediocrity. I have had the privilege of knowing a few dreamers. Dreamers see the invisible so clearly they often wonder, "Why others cannot enjoy the view?" A visionary "imagineers" with Walt Disney. While scoffers are asking, "Why?" dreamers are already answering, "Why not!" Dreamers also look better in history books!