Tuesday, January 23, 2024 Things That Happen in Dreams

Do you remember Cat Stevens? He showed up in one of my dreams recently as a street performer in Northfield, though I haven’t thought of him for years. I certainly never expected my subconscious to bring him in for a role in the strange stories that play out while I’m asleep. Years ago, when I was in college, I remember having a dream in which Mick Jagger showed up and knew me, which made perfect sense, as things do when you are dreaming.

I read once that it’s not uncommon for people to dream about people that have some sort of leadership role in their lives, from politicians to pastors. I’ve often had pastors show up in my dreams in the context of a church service. In one of those dreams, my husband and I were in charge of communion and things were going awry. I was supposed to be getting the bread ready, but when I went to go find it, all I could find were some old towels. Somebody else had a basket full of beautiful rolls and agreed to let us use them.

Another time I dreamed that I was at some sort of church function, at the end of which we formed into small prayer circles of three people each. When the time came to pray, everyone starting singing this beautiful song “God the Three in One.” Each person in the trio had their own part and everyone sang except me, since I didn’t know it. I listened and marveled at the way everyone’s voices were unique and yet blended perfectly. The whole thing was so trinitarian – groups of three each singing their own part to make one lovely song. How I desperately wanted to remember how to sing that song after I woke up!

On the theme of church dreams, I dreamed once that I had decided to visit some other churches. One church was very informal. The young pastor took time during the church service to explain how they could make more money by selling some sort of apple dessert. He had a large pan and was demonstrating how much space in it should be used for the apple dessert – a much larger portion than previously. When it came to prayer time, he spoke as if addressing someone who needed correction. “We’re unhappy about what’s happened to Mildred, Lord; we’re rather miffed at You…” I laughed about that one so hard when I told my husband about it after waking up.

Good grief! What an odd mind I must have to cobble together such bizarre stories to run amok in the night seasons. I’d love to hear about any of the odd dreams that you’ve had, if you dare share them.

I’m dreaming of a blog post that lost its way and didn’t wake up in the morning.