Recently, I had a dream that was both frightening and
wonderful. It centered around a great
war, maybe it was Armageddon. It was
like when Voldemort was terrorizing Hogwarts and his voice surrounded the
school with ominous doom. It was like
that but not exactly. Instead there were
terrible clashing mechanical noises and menacing voices booming in the
distance. Then a darkness fell and a storm came with howling winds. My daddy was there for a second and there were
other people I don’t’ remember. For a
while I was with several people at my parents’ house, my dreams often center
there, and we were powerless, sitting ducks. The house groaned from the storm like
the sounds you hear in a horror movie haunting. I left briefly and saw my
mother and then went back home. I
remember saying out loud that I was less afraid of the dark woods across the
street then I was of going back into the house. Then I was all alone; divided
and separated from everyone I loved. When I was younger sometimes I would wake
in panic in the middle of the night and run through the house turning on every
light to make sure I was not alone. That
is how I felt in my dream, panicked and desolate.
Then suddenly a calm came over me and I was at peace. Something
inside told me the storm and the noises were just a ruse and all I had to do
was go in the house and prepare and the storm would eventually pass. So I did. I began closing windows and
shutting up the house as if preparing for a hurricane. In the front bedroom there is a door that
leads to the front porch and I had trouble shutting and locking it against the hammering
wind. When I finally clicked the lock securely I turned to shut the side window
and I saw my daddy running in the yard along the side of the house. Joy! I
no longer had to fight alone. My daddy
was there to protect me! I began
yelling, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!” but my voice was weak against the howling
wind. I couldn’t get out of the door I
had just locked so I tore through the house still yelling, desperate for
him to hear me. I bounded out the front
door and I met him at the foot of the steps and flew into his arms. He flashed me the most beautiful smile I’ve
ever seen and said something I only wish I could remember. All that mattered at that moment was I
reunited with my daddy when I thought I was alone and doomed.
I attribute this dream as a visit, for that hug was real and
he was there with me in that moment. I
think maybe I was in heaven at that split second, and I was offered a glimpse
of what it will be like on that day when I do get to heaven and am really
reunited with my daddy and my Father. If
the joy I felt in my dream is only a miniscule fraction of what it will really be
like then let me count the days.
Separation. Divide and conquer. How much is that dream like
our relationships with God? Satan works
best when he can get us alone and use our temptations and sins separate us from
God. But when we fight back and brace ourselves for the storm we can realize it
is all a smokescreen and we can become closer to God and experience the
reunion.
I remembered my dream last night when I listened to the Gospel at the Easter vigil. The feeling
I experienced in my dream must be like the emotions the Marys felt when they
met Jesus on the road after his resurrection.
They fell to the ground and grasped His feet in worship, so says
Matthew. Maybe it was also to assure
themselves He was real, like I did when I held tight to my daddy at the foot of
the steps to my childhood home. And after
communion when we sang, “I will raise you up on the last day”, I could no
longer hold back the tears. Let me count the days.
