Through a window darkly

I'm going to cycle back to talking about dreams for a bit. In my last post I was wondering about the origin of some dreams (what process generates them or their content) to which I will give a brief recap:

With respect to the occurrence of recurring dreams, the possibilities for how they are generated are:

- nothing generates them; they are random selections of memory of past events strung together with a loose narrative. 

- psychological triggers in the subconscious mind, alerting the dreamer to unfinished business 

- God delivering a message in which an action is needed/warranted

- a brief glimpse across the barrier of realities, where you get to see an alternate version of yourself living a different life

...and I'll add one more:

- premonitions of future events.

Now obviously, some of these don't make sense. Most likely the origin of a dream is mundane - it is either born of nothing or at most is caused by subconscious triggers. I want to clarify that I don't actually believe in Fringe Science, so the alternate realities theory, though fun to think about, is off the table of serious consideration.

But my personal experiences of seeing future events and of God relaying messages through dreams means I cannot disqualify these as possible origins for some dreams.

Again, I must stress that this only applies to some dreams, not all.

Prompting the exploration of this topic is the occurrence of one of these recurring dreams. It's not the right name for it - the situation is different, but the people are the same.

I don't quite know how to express this next bit. Let me just say that I woke from the dream feeling empty and sad. Perhaps, if there is a "soul mate" element in play, its possible that I'm feeling the emotions that the other person is currently experiencing, but in this most recent dream, the other person was truly happy, and I was not. I was not happy because regrettably, I could not share in the happiness of being reunited with the other person, despite wanting to feel that happiness. 

Now, it makes most sense to say the origin of this dream is unfinished business. Equally possible is that the dream "meaning" is that I feel stuck in current circumstances. A bit of clarification on that - my job sucks currently, and I feel like I'm in  catch-22 situation. I should be feeling fulfilled, but its possible that the stresses of working under management that seems to be making decisions that go against my core beliefs, is coming out as imagery of wanting something I can't have, or having something I can't let go of.

But if the origin of this dream is a glimpse of future events, I can take joy in knowing that the one who holds me in His hand also has my future secured, and has good things in store for me. 

A weird alternative also presents itself as possible. We know that in the "end times", God has promised to make all things new. There will be a new heaven, and a new earth, and we will live on this new earth in harmony with creation. If this is a glimpse of that future, then all the regrets I have and mistakes I've made will be undone, and the promise I have to hold on to is that one day, all of us who now see as through a window darkly, will then see clearly. 

I have made mistakes. There are times when I wish I could go back and do some things differently - not all things, just some. But if the promise we have in Christ is that all those things will be undone, then all I have to do is wait on the Lord and in His strength. 

- UM