Dyersville and the Field of Dreams

"What you gonna do? Write about it?"

That's what Ray says to Terrence Mann in the Field of Dreams, just before Terrence slips into the cornfield to discover what lies on the other side.

Terrence Mann smiles that winsome smile and responds, "It's what I do."

And then he's gone.

In 1989, I taught Spanish at a small high school in Dyersville, Iowa. Field of Dreams had just wrapped up filming on location and everyone was talking about it. The students at Beckman High School were no different. More than once, I had to turn my students' attention back to verb conjugation and away from movie talk. Someone had waited on Kevin Costner when he dined at the local restaurant. He'd tipped well. Others had to tell me which car number they were in the line-up at the end of the movie. Everyone had a story. Everyone wanted to share it.

Back then, I wasn't Catholic. I simply had a teaching position in a Catholic school. I had no intention of plunging into the Catholic cornfield to see what I might find on the other side.

I guess that I was a little like Terrence Mann when Ray first encounters him. My life is fine just the way it is. I don't need whatever you are peddling. I don't need you coming into my life so you can shake things up.

Next thing I know, I'm hooked. Next thing I know, I'm like the Terrence Mann at the end of the movie.

And I'm the one smiling. I'm the one saying this is the most exciting thing that has happened to me. I'm in. I'm all in. Like Terrence Mann.

"What you gonna do? Write about it?"

To which I heartily reply, "It's what I do."

Dyersville and the Field of Dreams

Name It And Claim It - The Eyes Still On Earth

It was November of 1990. I was on my way back from Chicago's O'Hare Airport, having just returned from a trip to England. I wasn't familiar with the radio station, but it was Christian. So, I settled in to pass the drive back to Dyersville, Iowa, presumably in good company.

The preacher was a wealth-and-prosperity teacher, the kind that truly believes you can name-it-and-claim-it.

Literally, he announced that people were calling in to say they had received boats, and cars, and homes! He encouraged the listeners who had not yet found the source of all good things to call with their pledge that moment. And their wildest dreams would come true.

I wondered what the poor people of third world nations would say to that. I wondered what Our Lord would say to that.

Maybe the answer is in today's noon reading.

Colossians 3:1-2
Since you have been brought back to true life with Christ, you must look for the things that are in heaven, where Christ is, sitting at God’s right hand. Let your thoughts be on heavenly things, not on the things that are on the earth.

If we truly are Christ's, we don't mix up earthly gain with heavenly riches. Certainly, it is possible (especially in our country) to be prosperous and heavenly minded. But prosperity teaching actually has one fundamental flaw. The eyes are fixed on things of earth as the spirit tells itself that it is really being very holy. It is probably the worst self-delusion there is.

God gives good things, no doubt. And sometimes, those things are earthly gain. But the wise man does not confuse what it means to keep the eyes on the prize. He never presumes that being godly means being prosperous.

Name It And Claim It - The Eyes Still On Earth