How can I create a blocking, synchronous file browser for my Actionscript AIR application?

Question

I'd like for the user to select a file and then open it.

Currently I have:

protected var theFile:File;
...
theFile.browse();
var stream:FileStream = new FileStream();
stream.open(theFile, "rb");

The problem is though, that browse() operates asynchronously and uses events. Is there a way I can do the same thing without using events?