NAMING THE DREAM — NHƯ QUỲNH

In the summer of 2018 I had the chance to join the Our Lady of La Vang Scholarship group's summer programme at Cẩm Trường. It was a trip full of unforgettable memories, like so many other trips. But perhaps the most unforgettable part of it was one wonderful evening — wonderful in its setting and in its people. Out on a vast open field, in the cool breeze under a clear moon, we each in turn "named our own dream". Something I had never been able to picture clearly. Because a liking, a passion and a dream all seem so much alike. Because there were far too many things I wanted to do and too many people I wanted to become. They were a tangle that never let me stop worrying and fretting. It sounds a little greedy, but it was only because I did not yet know what I truly wanted.

That evening, guided by the brothers who accompanied us, we managed at the very least to call out the name of that "far-fetched dream". The dream we had not dared to think about — but at least we came to know what we liked and what we longed for. I never thought it would be so hard. To settle seriously on the question: what is my dream? Does it belong to the realm of likings and longings, and is it something that belongs to the future? The question haunted me. But in the end I did speak out that "crazy dream". Because "no one has ever taxed a dream", so I simply went on dreaming.

                    If Xuân Diệu spoke of love in romantic verses:

                    "I dare you to define the word Love

                    It is nothing hard at all — one afternoon

                    You meet that pretty young girl

                    Then you care, then you miss her — and that is love."

        Then may I be allowed to borrow his verses to speak of the dream:

                    "I dare you to define a Dream

                    It is nothing hard at all — one fine day

                    You suddenly catch sight of a religious in a black cassock

                    Then you long, then you wish — and that is called a Dream."

Yes, that is what a dream is. It is not too hard, and it is not easy either, to recognise. The innocent eyes, brimming with hope, of the little children when they are asked:

"What is your dream?"

• "I will be a Teacher"

• "I will be a Priest", or "I will be a Sister".

How guileless those answers are! Hidden behind them lie so many longings and a whole sky of hope. Simple as they may be, whether a liking or simply a wish to become like the image of some idol. But all of them are good, because "if a dream were not good, no one would bother to dream it". Yet what is it that one truly wants to do? What is the goal one truly wants to reach? It is not merely a matter of careless dreams; it calls for one's own effort and ardour. Indeed, if discovering one's dream is hard, the road to that dream is many times harder. Because "a dream is only a wish if it lacks action".

Many times I have asked myself: why did I come into this world? What is the meaning of my presence on this earth? And can it be that "my life is only this and nothing more"?

Everyone is born empty-handed and dies empty-handed. So then, what meaning do we leave behind in this world? What meaning is there in the way we live? Not to be a singer or an actor so that everyone praises us, nor to become somebody important so that everyone remembers us. But to be "my own self" — a wonderful creature made by the Creator. Each person has a mission of their own, a calling of their own and a worth of their own. For what? To live happily and to show forth the Creator's love beneath this vault of heaven.

To be honest, every time I meet, encounter and talk with people I consider successful, I find in it an enormous motivation. Success here does not mean achieving something grand or holding this or that position, but the success of overcoming oneself, of daring to walk one's own road. Of daring to face trials and hardships, and daring to pay the price for one's own wild dreams. In the moments when I feel discouraged and disappointed, those images rekindle in me the fire of ardour, so that I may go on reaching for my own dream.

        How I wish that I, that we — the young people of this Country and of the Church — may always carry within us the fire of ardour and the readiness of youth, and may know how to name "our very own dream". And from there, dare to commit ourselves and walk steadily on the road to conquering the DREAM. J

                                                                                 Gia hòa, 20 August 2019

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