Today's Scripture Reading (October 6, 2023): Zechariah 4
I
had a dream. It was not an aspirational moment of something that I think needs
to happen like Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. It was just
a dream, an ordinary, run-of-the-mill sleeping vision that occurred while I was
asleep. I dream a lot, but most of my sleeping adventures don't survive long in
the light of the waking world, melting into forgetfulness as I struggle to open
my eyes and get accustomed to the real world shared by those not asleep. But
sometimes, my dreams do survive. And not only do I remember them, but they make
an impression on the "awake me" and how I live my daily life. And
this was one of those dreams.
The
dream happened a few years ago. I was standing in a church that I used to lead,
and as I walked downstairs into the basement of the church, I noticed that
there was a lot of excitement going around on this lower level. As I walked
further into the basement, I was amazed when I came upon a vast section of the
basement, which normally functioned as an auditorium a few steps below the basement
level, that had been transformed into a colossal baptistry. And the people were
lining up in the basement, wanting to be baptized.
In
my dream, I immediately went into the water and started baptizing some worshippers.
But as I was busy baptizing with others on the church's lower level, I began to
realize that something was wrong. Songs drifted down the church's steps from
the sanctuary above to the basement. The songs were hymns of the church, but
they were sung angrily. A break in baptizing new believers allowed me to climb
out of the enormous baptistry and make my way up the stairs. There was no
excitement on the church's main level, just the angry music. I walked into the
sanctuary with water dripping off my clothes and received annoyed looks from
the crowd that had gathered wearing their best clothes. Their indignation was evident
on their faces. How dare I walk into the sanctuary dressed as I was, not even
dry from my previous activities. And the music continued.
Someone
grabbed my shoulders and dragged me back into the basement, where more people
were gathering to be baptized, and as I moved back into the pool, I woke up.
For a moment, all I felt was pain and despair, the leftover remnants of the
dream. But slowly, I became more awake, and the dream faded. Real life beckoned
and asked me to come back and join it. And I was eager to leave the strange
combination of despair and joy I had felt in the dream. While I was in the
dream, it felt real. But once I was fully awake, it was apparent that my
experience in this familiar church with a vast baptistry was just a dream,
missing all the quality of real life.
I
have never been much for interpreting dreams, but I think I have a bit of an
interpretation as well as why I had this dream, and maybe you do, too, but that
isn't the point here. As always happens, there was a qualitative difference
between the dream and the real world.
Zechariah
would agree, except for him; it is almost in reverse. Zechariah says that an
angel woke him "like someone awakened from
sleep." What is coming is still a vision; it was part of the dream. But it
has the feeling more like real life. It is like everything that he had
experienced before this moment was a dream, but what followed was what was
real.
Tomorrow's
Scripture Reading: Zechariah 5
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