“American history shall march along that skyline,” announced Gutzon Borglum in 1924, gazing at the Black Hills of South Dakota. In 1927 Borglum began sculpting the images of George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt on the granite face of 6,000-foot Mount Rushmore. Most of the sculpting was done by experienced miners under Borglum’s direction. Working with jackhammers and dynamite, they removed some 400,000 tons of outer rock, cutting within three inches of the final surface. When Borglum died in March 1941, his dream of the world’s biggest sculpture was near completion. His son Lincoln finished the work that October, some 14 years after it was begun.
I‘ve always been a dreamer. Those dreams have at times been good and sometimes bad. Whatever the case, most people have a hard time dealing with a dreamer. Why? Because they didn’t get the dream. But for the dreamer, he only wants others to see what he sees and his frustration is found in trying to make that happen. Truth is, they probably won’t see it, until it is accomplished. But what should we do? Quit dreaming? I don’t think so, and I think God continues to give us dreams to accomplish, and fight for, and that which He gives us has purpose and worth. When I was 10 years old I was sitting at my piano writing a song, yes, a song at 10 years of age. I suddenly had a dream of giving my songs to the world to help people find hope and comfort, and direction. It was all there in my mind, as clear as day. I could see it. Oh, it wasn’t Mount Rushmore, but it was a dream that I believe I had to pursue. So I started playing my piano more and more with a fresh intensity that honed my talent and made it possible to come up with more and more songs. They just rolled out of me. Ten, then twenty, and more and more until I just had to quit because I thought my brain was going to explode. Not silly little kid songs, but songs with heart, emotion, and freshness. I started sending those songs to record companies, not knowing all the legal things that could happen if they were accepted. Not knowing that they could be stolen and used for someone else’s profit. I just wanted to share them. To see my dream come true. Little by little my dream became a weight around my neck that I felt had imprisoned me. I could dream, but I still had to live my life!! I must get this under control. So I put my dream on hold and on the back burner and came down to earth. “Time to grow up David and get your head out of the clouds.” As I surrendered my life to serving the Lord it all seemed to make sense for me and my journey of ministry began stretching from coast to coast as I followed the Lord wherever He would lead me. But, in the back of my mind I knew that this dream was still there and continued to develop the talent the Lord had given me as I also ministered through the church. I had one guy tell me that my dream was too big and that I needed to get my feet on the ground and forget the dream. I tried to do that until I realized that God was the one who gave me the dream, so that wasn’t going to help. Then I read the parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 and realized that I was given this dream for God’s purpose and not only my own. I went to a conference this past week and the speaker, John Eldredge, spoke to the dreams we have and that we must pursue them. After much soul searching I realized that I was on the wrong end of the parable of the talents and that my dream was real, and if left unpursued, would be sinning to not complete what God had put in my heart at 10 years of age. That is why I have taken three of my songs and sent them to Nashville to a big time producer to help me arrange them and polish them for a new project. If these three songs do what I believe they can do, the end result will be a larger audience getting to hear them. THE DREAM IS REALITY. Looking back, this dream seemed so big and out of reach, but God is everlasting and He is still working on me and will complete what He started in me years ago. Please pray for me and realize that this has been 49 years in the making and it won’t be easy, but with God’s help, it will happen. When the songs are completed I will put them on itunes and see where it goes from there. I appreciate the encouragement from family and friends and the constant reminder that I am not done yet. More dreaming ahead, so dream big. God’s still active and working. Remember, Mount Rushmore started with chipping the first rock and the end result was fantastic!!
The Pilgrimage continues….
David Warren