Thread: 2 past dreams

I've been unable to read recent posts, but I'll catch up next week, hopefully... here's a couple of entries from my journals.

11-4-99
I was amongst other men, some who I knew, and others that I did not. We were walking through a junkyard strewn with garbage and with man-made used materials. Some of the junk seemed ordered as if someone had already sifted through it to see if there was anything worth keeping. We entered a large warehouse where some materials of value had been set aside into cases. I and three others (we were all ragged and dirty) saw a glass case with jewelry and gold pendants in it. I smashed the case so that we could steal what we wanted from it, but as soon as I smashed the glass, an alarm sounded and a security guard ran over to see what we were doing. I realized my foolishness in trying to steal what was obviously someone else’s, so I began to walk away. Then I realized that some pendants were in my hands and jewelry hung around my neck even though I could not remember actually taking anything from the case. I put these things back into the case as the security guard looked on. The dream setting changed -I was an old man, among other old men as we proclaimed the majesty and sovereignty of Christ. As I proclaimed his name, a surge of energy and vigor spread throughout my aged body. I spoke to a few people who stood nearby, witnessing of the strength and grace that Christ provides to those who believe and call upon him as Lord and Savior. Then we all (I and the other old men) began working in some sort of underground mine. I heard one man yelling at another, commanding him to work harder, and I said to those who stood around me: “There is a man who thinks he is a slave-driver who has authority, when he is also a slave, and unworthy to command anyone.” They did not respond, but seemed to contemplate what I had said. After we finished our work in the mine, we came, exhausted, to a table set with food. Or food portions (the only wages for our work) were meager bowls of soup and some sort of cracker-like substance, and a cup of water. One of the men who sat near me started complaining about the food, so I turned to him with compassion and I felt a surge of vigor again. I asked him to remember that he should be thankful for his very life that is given to him by Christ the redeemer. As I spoke, the man’s demeanor changed and he flinched as if not expecting me to say such things. He shrunk away from the table, but seemed to stay within earshot as if he was watching and listening to what I had to say. All the men at the table looked expectantly at me and I realized that I was being granted the honor of asking for the blessing and the giving of thanks for our food. As I began to eat, the knowledge of God’s grace filled me with strength and peace, and I said: “This is the best soup I have ever eaten –even though it tasted like swill and the bread was like cardboard, I was so overcome with thankfulness to God that I did not carea bout the taste. It wasn’t a banquet, but for some reason, I was pleased that I was given ANYTHING AT ALL to eat. After we finished eating, I sat around the table with 8 or 9 other men, some of whom I had been working with earlier. At the head of the table sat a regal looking man in clean robes, who I took to be the Lord himself. Everyone else was wearing torn and dirty robes. I could not look at him directly, and every ounce of my being felt compelled to submit to him and to give him honor. I felt the need to revere him with all of my mind and soul. I stepped back, got down on one knee and placed my head on the bench of the picnic table where I had been sitting. As I did so, I began to weep openly, a mixture of tears of joy, and thanksgiving, and of remorse for the stupidity of our (man)kind. Then the Lord said: “See, now that Paul is weeping, he has set off everyone.” All of the other men around me also began to weep as we thanked God for his abundant provision and mercy toward us. I stepped away from the table, still bowing my head and unable to look at this man who by his presence alone commanded all to honor him. I asked him if he would send me to work for him. He walked up to me and touched my head, and my body, which was old, instantly became young again. My old, aching muscles and bones became what they were at the prime of my life. Then the Lord sent me to tell others about his redeeming grace and love and the knowledge of the grace of the gospel. As I started to wake, I can remember thinking: “Our appetites of youthful, fleshly desire hinder us and lead us to our own self-delusion –away from the truth of our Creator.”
When I woke, I wrote these scriptures down:
1John 3:2 and 3 “Dear friends, now we are the children of God and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when He appears, we shall be like Him for we shall see Him as he is. Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as He is pure.”
1Corinthians 15:49 “And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so shall we bear the likeness of the man from heaven.”

6-13-01
The following is a description in human language that most of us know as “English,” yet it seems that no language (none that I know of) exists to adequately convey the meaning of this dream from which I have been “extracted.” (I say “extracted” because it seems as if an outside force or influence had pulled me out of the dream even though I wanted to continue in it.) This dream started out as many of my past dreams have: I am partially asleep in bed, and I feel groggy as if I have been sedated. I am unable to completely fall asleep and I am unable pull myself completely awake. Then, a creature of darkness enters into my bedroom and I can tell he doesn't want to be seen. He stays in my peripheral vision and in the shadows of the room as if he is playing with me or delights in instilling fear in me. The room is dark, but there is just enough light for me to see the creature’s form shifting in the corners and below my line of sight at the edge of my bed. When I am finally able to look directly at him, he seems to continually shift between a human, a dog/wolf, and a pig. He is intent on trying to keep me in this fear-state, but he also seems to want me to become comfortable with his presence at the same time. I sense that he wants me to feel sympathy or empathy towards him so that I will let my guard down, thus become less aware of what he is doing to me. When I let my guard down slightly, the creature immediately latches onto me like a leech and starts draining the energy from me -like a vampire. As he does so, I feel increasingly groggy, but also fearful, as if he is draining my very life essence. I beat him away. The second time he tries this, I am prepared for his attack. It seems as if my sight is less obscured and my mobility is increased (fear decreased?). The creature obviously does not like that its ability to sink its fangs into me is reduced. I can remember thinking “God’s perfect love casts away all fear.” Immediately the creature moves away and also appears to shrink in size as if he is trying to escape or hide from me. I reach down and pick up the squealing black creature who has rested in the shape of a piglet and he squirms at my touch and tries desperately to escape. At this point, my lucidity seems to wane again (the levels rise and fall throughout the dream). I walk with the creature in my hands to the door –only because it seems improper to me that a pig is inside the house. As I let him loose at the door, he scampers away into the night, but there are several more creatures at the door, as if they were waiting for their chance to come inside to pester and harass me. I stand in front of the door and I don’t let any of them in. I look out into a grassy field lit by monlight and notice that there are several odd-looking creatures waiting in the field. One of the creatures looks like a man who is also half eagle. He has the body of a man, but also has feathers, wings, and the head of an eagle. Curious, I fly out to the field and land neatly in the grass. The eagle-man speaks to me in some strange language and instantly I feel my body begin to change. My very flesh and bones seem to be metamorphasizing. I felt my bones, muscles, ligaments, and other tissues stretching and cracking as feathers begin sprouting from my skin. For some reason, I could not complete the transformation (into a bird?), but at that point, my lucidity/awareness rose again as I became very aware of a large group of odd creatures who had gathered around me and were intent on observing me, appearing to be measuring my level of awareness and my behavior. Then I looked up in the air and noticed a beautiful woman hovering above me. She was completely nude, yet I was too much in awe and a state of wonder at this point to be sexually attracted to her. This fact seemed to please her –as if she had only appeared in this manner to see what my reaction to her appearance would be. She then asked if I would someday like to be free from the natural human tendency to lust after flesh. I replied “that will be nice.” Immediately bright clothing of many colors enveloped her body, many of which were metallic golds, silvers, and reds. I asked her whether or not we will be male or female after we die, and then I remembered the verse where Jesus said “in heaven there will be neither male nor female, nor will there be any married.” At this point, the dream began to dissolve and I could sense the telltale sensations of waking up. I felt as if this “woman” had somehow caused me to wake even though I wanted to stay in the dream and talk to her. I felt her hand brushing over my face and my body and as she did so, a sense of peace and release came over me –It was like stepping into a warm bath after being out in the mud, the thorns, and the cold for too long. It was as if I had made myself to become too complex and she was somehow “dismantling” or simplifying me and lifting my internalized fears, anxieties, and other burdens which I was previously unaware of…