Is This Heaven? Four Spiritual Lessons from Field of Dreams

Field of Dreams is my husband’s favorite movie. Despite this, in thirteen years of marriage, we never once watched it together in its entirety. Instead, he would flip over to it after our boys went to bed whenever it was showing on one of the cable channels. Typically, we would catch only portions of the back half of the movie.

I vividly recall the scene where Terrence Mann and Ray talk in the car after the game in Chicago as well as my husband Brett’s favorite moment from the film: the scene of Ray playing catch with his father as the sun sets.

Though I had only a few brief clips on which to base my opinion, I determined it was a good movie. I mentally marked it as one we would watch as a family when the boys were old enough to appreciate it.

That day came sooner than I thought. Two months after my husband’s passing, the boys picked out Field of Dreams for our weekly movie night. I was quick to second the choice–after all, it sure beat Lion King 1 1/2 or Land Before Time 3,456.

This movie did not disappoint. I loved the quirky character of Annie, the family-friendly humor, and the beautiful way the story came together. However, it was the underlying spiritual themes that impressed me most.

Lesson One: What Makes A Life Worth Living

Not Like Dad

The director sets up a beautiful contrast in the film between responsible sacrifice and blind trust. Responsible sacrifice sometimes leads to what appears to be “boring, uneventful life,” while blind trust can lead to what appears to be irresonsibility.

Out of the gate, Ray defines the rift between his father and himself in these terms. Ray wants to have spontaneity in his life–something that, as a widower with a young son, his father didn’t seem to have.

When “the voice” calls, Ray responds and mows down a large swath of corn to build a baseball field, the first “crazy” thing he has ever done. It sets him apart from his father, who lived securely and predictably to provide for his son. He moves down the path of blind trust, yet must eventually learn to appreciate the value in his father’s decisions.

Going the Distance

Ray’s spontaneity eventually becomes a commitment to something greater than himself. It’s one thing to mow down a corn field to build a ballpark for “no one,” it’s another to hold on to it at the cost of losing your home and property to foreclosure. The voices, knowings, and dreams lead Ray and his wife Annie on quite an adventure of trusting the next step, not knowing what the next moment, let alone week or month, will lead to.

As they trust, they are blessed. First, by Shoeless Joe’s arrival to the field. Then, by the arrival of a whole team of players from the past. It takes Annie a bit longer to get on board than Ray. The dialogue early on in the film cracked me up, as it reminded me of my husband and myself. Though we were never asked to put our financial welfare on the line, my husband did have visions. I didn’t believe my husband at first (eventually it was impossible not to, just as it was for Annie), and making sense of his sometimes bizarre experiences led us to very Annie and Ray-like conversations.

Annie: Hey, are you really hearing voices?

Ray: Just one

A: What did it say?

R: If you build it, he will come.”

A: If you build what, who will come?

R: He didn’t say.

A: I hate it when that happens.

R: Me too.

The Field of Dreams

God is Faithful

Ultimately, Ray and Annie’s faithfulness pays off. At the very last moment for their family, (and the last seconds of the film), hundreds of cars line up in their driveway, their occupants ready to pay to watch the game. The redemption comes moments after Ray gives his final refusal to sell the farm.

Ray put the will of the divine (in the strange form that it shows up in the movie) before his own. Because of his extreme trust, he is given more than he could ever have imagined. His heart’s dreams are fulfilled when he trusts to the ultimate. We too are taken care of by God when we fully place our trust in him.

The True Tragedy

Though Ray is able to live a life that is a bit “crazy,” and is ultimately rewarded for his unwavering faith, the voice leads him to see a beautiful contrast to this spontaneous, free trust. Towards the back half of the movie, Ray is led to meet with Doc Graham, who had only one at bat in the majors before leaving baseball and becoming a hometown doctor. Though Doc Graham is given his wish to get one good hit on the “Field of Dreams”, he does not see his extremely short baseball career as a tragedy.

If I’d only been a doctor for 5 minutes…now that would have been a tragedy.

Doc “Moonlight” Graham

Becoming a doctor was a decision he didn’t regret, and one he would willingly make again. When Ray’s daughter Karin falls off the bleachers and is injured, Doc Graham leaves the Field of Dreams to treat her, abandoning his second chance to play ball with the legends. Doc’s life, unlike Ray’s newfound one, may have been predictable, but it was filled with purpose and meaning.

Catch with Dad

The final moment of Ray’s healing and his acknowledgement of his father’s path makes its appearance in one of the final scenes: Ray playing catch with his dad.

When a young version of Ray’s dad makes it out onto the field, Ray has come to a point where he can let go of his resentment of his father and embrace the dichotomy of purpose that we have uncovered: sometimes following your purpose, and, more importantly, God’s will, doesn’t look like a free-wheeling adventure but rather a steady faithfulness and sacrifice on behalf of others. For Doc Graham and Ray’s father, this was certainly the case.

Regardless of whether we take the steady faithfulness or blind faith approach to life, it is our heart that matters. Faithfulness to the Spirit’s leading and surrender to God’s will are essential. God creates each of us uniquely and guides and leads us accordingly. Thus, we can both trust that God will lead us in the ways that are best for us, and, as Ray learns to do, respect those whose service takes a different path.

Lesson Two: You Don’t See the Baseball Men? (The Reality of the Unseen)

The second spiritual lesson is perhaps the most obvious: the reality of the unseen spiritual realm. Ray, Annie, Terence, and Karin can see the players clearly and enjoy the daily games. However, Annie’s brother Mark is convinced the four of them have all lost their minds. He goes yelling and screaming and walking right through the middle of the game (between the pitcher’s mound and home plate, much to the annoyance of the players), until his eyes are finally opened.

Though we may not have the spirits of famous baseball players hitting grand slams in our backyard, our reality is much, much larger than many of us are ready to accept. The veil between the physical and spiritual worlds is thin, and spiritual beings surround us.

If and when our souls are ready, we can feel the presence of the spiritual around us. For some, the veil is thinner and they can even see or hear these spiritual beings.

However, as illustrated by the character of Mark, many people are immersed in the reality of the physical world and cannot see beyond it. As the film suggests, there is a possibility of change.

After Doc Graham crosses from the field to the bleacher and treats Karin, Mark looks up and remarks:

When did these ballplayers get here?

Field of Dreams

Lesson Three: God’s will vs. our plans

Yet another spiritual theme is the deceiving nature of reality. We all have an idea of what should happen in our lives and to whom. However, these ideas based on outward appearances can be deceiving. Only God knows the heart and what His will is for that individual.

Terence Mann, with his temper and isolated life, seems far from where he needs to be, and an obvious candidate for healing. Ray, by all appearances, has his life more or less together, with the exception of the potential immenent foreclosure. However, it was Terence who is welcomed into the Field of Dreams and the corn beyond. Ray, meanwhile, must stay behind, despite his eagerness to follow Terence. Ray’s work on Earth was not finished, while Terence’s was–a judgment that was not his to make.

Only God knows our hearts and true motives. We must trust God to guide us as we walk the road home, keeping our eyes and hearts open to God’s plan for our individual lives.

Lesson Four: Is this Heaven? The beauty in the journey

John (Ray’s dad): ls. . . ls this heaven?

Ray: It’s Iowa

J: Iowa?

R: Yeah.

J: I could have sworn it was heaven. Is….Is there a heaven?

R: Oh yeah, It’s the place dreams come true.

Field of Dreams

As Ray speaks these words, he looks back and sees his wife and daughter on the porch swing and realizes that, though his dad didn’t mean it in quite this way, he was on to something. Indeed, Ray already was in heaven.

Jesus preaches that the kingdom of heaven in among us and is present in the here and now (Luke 21:17). Though we may still be in our physical forms, the love and peace of heaven are at least partially availble now. We enter the kingdom when we allow our own wills to die and surrender to the will of the Father, completely trusting in God for our care.

What difference would it make if we stopped waiting for what comes after this life (as wonderful as it may be) and stepped into the kingdom of heaven right here and now? In every moment, there is a reason for gratitude, even if only for the opportunity for learning and growth that the pain provides. Anytime we walk in the will of God and live in service to God and our fellow man, we are in heaven.

So, I’ll ask you, is this heaven? And if your answer is still a clear “no”, see if you can learn to see those “baseball men”. 😉