Dreams liturgy

[in the preceding section we have written our dreams for the future on pieces of paper]

the bold text is what we all say together

[each person take the 'dream' of the person on your left]

our dreams of the promised land are in one another's hands

i have a dream tonight

i have a dream of a faster car
i have a dream of a bigger house
i have a dream of a beautiful lover
you may not get there with me - but i want you to know tonight that i as an individual will get to the promised land

i have a dream of profitable investments
i have a dream of celebrity
i have a dream of another beautiful lover
you may not get there with me - but i want you to know tonight that i as an individual will get to the promised land

i have a dream of political influence
i have a dream of new markets
i have a dream of a level playing field
you may not get there with me - but i want you to know tonight that i as an individual will get to the promised land

one more won't make any difference
why should my standard of living suffer
i can do what i like with my own money
you may not get there with me - but i want you to know tonight that i as an individual will get to the promised land

this land belonged to my ancestors
they come here and take our jobs
this development will bring benefits to everyone
you may not get there with me - but i want you to know tonight that i as an individual will get to the promised land

[tear the dream that you hold in half]

our dreams of the promised land are in one another's hands

pause, then confession:

we have trampled one another's dreams
in the race to seize our own

we have built our promised lands
on the ruins of other people's homes

we have pursued short-term paradises
at the cost of an ancient beauty

jesus said, "you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. you do not enter yourselves, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."

in the pursuit of our own promised lands
we deny others the greatest promised land of all
that of your kingdom

we shut the door of your kingdom in other people's faces when we construct our own empires
we rob them of the knowledge of its existence when we fail to embody it in our lives
we condemn others to promised lands that can't deliver and don't endure
we conceal or forget the promised land that gives wholeness for ever

have pity on us, for we have torn one another
and in tearing one another we tore you
but your tearing is our mending
we give up our self-centered visions
and ask you to bind us into your mysterious dream
the promised land whose pattern we have barely caught

amen