I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit. -- Amos 9:14

The prophet Amos almost never had anything good to say about the people of Israel. He is one of those prophets who spoke God's word to people who had long neglected their call to live justly, tend those in need and care for the strangers among them. The response to Amos can be summarized in another part of his writings in which he is referred to as "you troubler of Israel."

It is easy to forget that a great deal of a prophet's ministry was not simply about issuing a harsh critique and a critical judgment of God's people. It was in fact speaking about the dream of God. In much of today's reading from Amos we hear about God's dream for God's beloved people. It includes lush images of mountains dripping with sweet wine, hills flowing with it and the fortunes of Israel fully restored. We too are those people. God dreams about giving us such a world too.

Advent is an invitation to be still so that we can dream as God does. It as an invitation to imagine a just and peaceable world, people whose most basic needs are met, a willingness to show compassion and mercy, even to our enemies. Prophets are not starry-eyed idealists. They know us and they know God through whom all things are possible. We begin to act as God would have us act by dreaming "impossible dreams," and living more by holy imagination than by accepting things just as they are.