The Mother of Expectation

If you are looking for a challenging devotional, get this book. I don't claim to understand it all, but it challenges me to think deeper about God and my personal walk and realtionship with Him. Here is a sample of a reflection called, The Mother of Expecation.

If we are not too preoccupied with the immediate and not too overwhelmed by all we think we need to do, we may have the space to do some dreaming. I am not so much talking about the daydreaming, but more specifically about intuitive and prayerful thinking.
Some might call this creative visualization. But this does not capture what I mean, for visualization presupposes that one already has some idea of the object of focus. I am talking about the free play of our thoughts and imaginations.
This is a strategy that seeks to think the unthinkable and dream the impossible. This needs to be prayerful. For the product of this kind of creativity is not the result of our own self-effort, but comes as a surprise from God who is radically beyond the ordinary.
However, we cannot adopt everything that comes to us in this way. Our dreams, hopes, and ideas will always far outstrip our ability to bring them all into reality. Some of our dreams will therefore need to be discarded.
But some dreams need to be discerningly maintained. They provide our goals for the present and our hopes for the future. While some of those dreams may be quickly realized, others wait for the amazing confluence of opportunity, appropriate setting and God's providence, which make it the "right time." Such dreams, which await future realization, need to be sustained by "the mother of expectation," which Nouwen calls " PATIENCE."