Don't let the winds blow your dreams away... or steal your faith

“Don’t let the winds blow your dreams away… or steal your faith in God.” Thus spoke Vin Scully, the golden voice of baseball, who for more than six decades called not just the plays of the game, but the poetry of life itself. His words ring not as mere sentiment but as a commandment of endurance, a reminder that faith and dreams — those two sacred fires of the human soul — must be guarded fiercely, for the storms of the world will ever seek to extinguish them.

Scully, who lived through wars, triumphs, and the changing tides of generations, knew well that dreams are fragile things. They are born in the stillness of the heart, yet tested in the tempests of the world. The winds he speaks of are not just the literal gusts that sweep across a ballpark, but the symbolic forces of doubt, fear, and failure — those invisible tempests that seek to bend a person’s will until it breaks. Yet he urges us: stand firm. For though dreams may tremble, they are sustained by faith — not only faith in self, but faith in God, who gives strength when the winds howl loudest.

In the life of Vin Scully, this philosophy was no abstraction. For years he spoke of baseball not as mere sport but as a reflection of the human condition — the rise and fall of fortune, the patience of waiting, the grace of trying again after defeat. He knew that in every season there are storms: the strikeouts, the errors, the long innings of despair. But just as the game always offered another inning, so too did life offer renewal to those who refused to surrender their faith. His words echo the eternal truth that even when the field seems barren, hope endures for those who believe.

Consider the story of Jackie Robinson, whom Scully often praised as one of the great heroes of the game. When Robinson broke the color barrier, the winds that sought to blow away his dreams were fierce — hatred, humiliation, and injustice. Yet he held fast to his faith in God and his conviction that his struggle was greater than himself. He did not let bitterness steal his spirit. Like a tree rooted in stone, he endured until the winds themselves grew weary. His courage did not just change baseball; it changed the conscience of a nation. His story, like Scully’s words, teaches that no storm can destroy a dream sustained by divine faith.

Scully’s message also speaks to the quieter storms within us. Many lose their faith not through tragedy, but through weariness — through the long grind of days when dreams seem distant and prayers seem unanswered. Yet faith, like a muscle, grows through trial. To keep faith is to declare that one’s soul belongs to something greater than circumstance. And to keep dreaming, even when the winds blow hardest, is to proclaim that one’s purpose still has wings. In every generation, the world will tempt us to surrender both — to trade our wonder for cynicism, our trust for despair. But those who hold firm become lights to others lost in the storm.

There is an ancient wisdom here. The philosophers of Greece said that character is forged in adversity; the prophets of Israel said that faith is proven in the desert. Both teachings live within Scully’s words. To dream is to aim your heart toward heaven; to believe is to anchor it there. When the winds rise — as they always will — remember that the same wind that threatens to scatter you can also lift you higher, if you set your wings to it and keep your faith unbroken.

So, my children of tomorrow, take this counsel to heart. When the winds of disappointment blow, hold tight to your dreams, for they are the map of your destiny. And when doubt howls against your spirit, guard your faith, for it is the fortress of your soul. The winds will come — they come for all — but they cannot steal what you refuse to surrender. As Vin Scully, the gentle sage of the diamond, reminds us: life’s storms may test you, but so long as you keep dreaming and believing, you will always find your way back into the sunlight.