Your Dream Needs You

Introduction by David Beckmann

Robin Stephenson and I have worked together in faith-based advocacy for more than two decades. She has worked closely with me since the publisher accepted my proposal for Poverty Abolitionists. She has helped me with writing, editing, research, graphics, and social media. Even more importantly, she has been a creative partner and sounding board. Every once in a while, I ask her to write a post in her own voice. This is one of those posts, and I'm glad to share it with you.

By Robin Stephenson

U2 released a new song, Street of Dreams, and it struck me that it is both a prayer and a call to action. It begins and ends with the plea, "God, hear me shout."

But the lyric that caught my attention is, "Your dream needs you."

That line reminds me of something I learned from my years of listening to David Beckmann and working in faith-based advocacy. Prayer is not passive. We pray, "Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." Then God invites us to help answer that prayer.

The Bible is very clear that God loves every person because each of us is created in God's image. Every person matters. Poverty, injustice, and exclusion deny that truth. God's dream is a world where justice and love are not reserved for a fortunate few but are shared by everyone. As the song puts it, there is "justice, an obsession on the street of dreams." And throughout the Bible, God consistently stands with people who are poor, vulnerable, and overlooked, calling the rest of us to do the same.

That is also the central message of Poverty Abolitionists. God does not ask us only to hope for a better world or pray for one. God invites us to help build it. We participate whenever we advocate for just policies, organize our communities, serve our neighbors, and work to end hunger and poverty. None of us can do everything, but each of us can do something.

These are discouraging days. Many of us have spent years working to reduce poverty and hunger, and today we see some of that progress slipping away. It is easy to become discouraged. But David often encourages me when I feel that way. Faith is our armor against discouragement, and nothing ever gets better when we give up. Good, as he puts it, can always come out of evil.This song was an echo of that:  God's dream of justice still needs people willing to pray, to hope, and to act—”for the many, not just the few.”

You can listen to the song on Youtube or read the lyrics below. I hope it encourages and gives you hope too.

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Street of Dreams (lyrics by Adam Clayton, Dave Evans, Larry Mullen, Paul David Hewson)

God, hear me shout

Lend your ear to my prayer when I′m far from anywhere

Down to my last breath of air

God, hear me shout

Lend your ear to my prayer when I'm far from anywhere

Down to my last breath of air La calle

Calle de los sueños

All the doors are open on the street of dreams

La calle

Calle de los sueños

Be here

Be free

Be yourself

And then free me

Your fate? (Gonna fight it)

Your trust? (Won′t be denied)

This bus? (Gonna ride it)

To the street of dreams La calle Calle de los sueños Justice, an obsession on the street of dreams La calle Calle de los sueños Love in a procession down the street of dreams

Break out

Break through

Break in

Your dream needs you

Your life? (Gonna find you)

Your fear? (Not gonna blind you)

Random angels? (Gonna guide you)

To the street of dreams

La calle

Calle de los sueños

All the doors are open on the street of dreams

La calle

Calle de los sueños

Broken are the chosen on the street of dreams

Don't you give up on your dreams

For the many, not just the few

Don't you give up and your dreams

Won′t give up on you

La calle Calle de los sueños Justice, an obsession on the street of dreams La calle Calle de los sueños Love is a procession down the street of dreams God, hear me shout

Lend your ear to my prayer when I′m far from anywhere

Down to my last breath of air