Wednesday, June 14, 2006

Lucid Dreams

If God is just dreaming all of this stuff (creation, existence, the cosmos, you, me, etc.), does it make it any less real? Have you ever had a dream within a dream? What's up with that? How many levels of reality can there be?

Last night I had one of those "preaching nightmare" dreams where I was supposed to preach on a specific text-- only I had no notes, clue of what was normal practice at this very unusual church, nor did I have the ability to focus on the task at hand. All I had was the citation of scripture to be used: Matthew 4:5 and following. Upon waking, I looked it up...

Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple,
saying to him, "If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,' and 'On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.'"
Jesus said to him, "Again it is written, 'Do not put the Lord your God to the test.'"
Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor;
and he said to him, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me."
Jesus said to him, "Away with you, Satan! for it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.'"
Then the devil left him, and suddenly angels came and waited on him.

...
very sober start to this morning. Just what I needed before doing the chaplain thing on my own-- there are so many opportunities to run, to be there but not really be present. The challenge is to remain true to who you are-- to not sell out.

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