Elul 12 :: You May Say I'm a Dreamer

The John Lennon song Imagine is a ballad that imagines a world with "No need for greed or hunger, A brotherhood of man." I can get behind those lyrics, but the rest of the song is a little up in the air as to how one might define heaven or hell or even religion. And certainly if there was "nothing to die for", it makes me wonder if there is anything worth living for. But that is my issue, I suppose. Enough people liked the song the way it was written for it to place #3 on Rolling Stones 500 Greatest Hits of All Time.

But I'm actually thinking of another dreamer after reading today's Elul devotion from The Rabbi's Son. Silver and gold, herds of animals so vast they could not be contained in one location, the possession of an oil-rich valley in the Middle East. He kept giving it away and kept on wandering, searching for something more important than material wealth.

In a land and culture of nomadic tribes, that he would be constantly wandering should be no surprise. For one thing, there were those herds to feed. But some speculate that he was constantly moving in search of something. Basically, for 100 years, Abram walked with his family and herds from what is now southeastern Iraq, near the Persian Gulf, to approximately northeastern Syria, down through Damascus, Lebanon, through Israel, through Saudi Arabia, into Egypt, and back up to Israel again, dying at age 175 near Hebron, about 30 miles south of what is now Jerusalem.  

Approximation of Abram's travels

It's not certain in my mind what drove Abram on his quest. Maybe it was something as simple as fresh grazing grounds for his flocks. Today's devotional speculates that he was constantly searching for the presence of God, and that seems like a valid reason as well. 

I do wonder if Abram, having experienced what it was like to have intimate fellowship with his creator YHVH and realizing that this world and anything it contains cannot compare, was what we might today call a Dreamer. No rewards, no riches, nothing to be gained in this life compared for him to the Greater Reward of his experience with God.