The Dream It had been a long day, and an even longer week, as I had been away on business and had just arrived at my destination, home. Everyone fast asleep, I decided to grab a down blanket, a cup of hot tea, and get comfortable in my favorite recliner next to the fireplace. It was nice to be back and away from the rigors of business on the road. As I drifted off, I became aware of a flickering light, which became a brilliant flash, and then a beautiful spark and suddenly, it began to fade. I reached out to touch and to possibly hold it, yet it seemed to be cascading down into the darkness and quickly became a small glint and then to my dismay, it vanished. Time passed and my subconscious curiosity awoke, and as my eyes opened, I began the journey deeper into the valleys of my mind, as a leaf lightly blown from its limb, I quietly and effortlessly floated gently down into the darkness in the hopes of catching another glimpse. As I began to search, I immediately came upon a trailhead whose entrance had been concealed from the surface, as if to protect a traveler unaware. It was unkempt and over run with growth, seemingly abandoned, as though a former commuter had fled hastily, never to return to its obviously well traveled path. It was then that I saw a twinkle moving through the thicket, leading my sight further into the direction of deeper yet familiar darkness. I hesitated, my soul sensing danger, sadness, and loss, but the light beckoned, drawing me in, so I cautiously made my way. I delicately moved branches and growth from side to side while progressing further and further down the winding path that seemed to never end, and just as I thought that it would not, I came upon a clearing. It was as though the Angels in Heaven had recently completed the construction of a great natural temple in the deep forest. Awe struck, I observed silently the majesty before me. A large body of crystal, shimmering water, in the shape of an oval surrounded by massive, fragrant evergreens seemingly reaching Heaven, lay directly to my left and as I studied further, I noticed the light, that I had been pursuing, at the opposite end of the beautiful lake. As I watched, the light began to take on the form of a fierce Lion, and to my amazement, looked up into the Heavens and let out the roar of an earthquake. I stood paralyzed as The King of Kings, who I now realized had summoned me to this great temple, gazed across with sword like eyes piercing my soul. The King roared once again, and as the echo slowly ended he looked up and took on the shape of an Eagle and soared up into the starlit darkness. I stood still, terrified and could only muster enough courage to turn my head to the right. There, in my midst, stood a row of 12, evenly spaced, Red Woods, which seemed to be guarding their own individual trailheads. As I surveyed the magnificent specimens, I noticed a word carved into each and beneath each word a series of tally marks that seemed to vary in number from tree to tree. The trees stood in perfect attention at the edge of a steep ledge, and each trailhead seemed to be the top of a significantly steep path leading down into a valley below. Distracted by all I had witnessed, I had forgotten my fear and was able to slowly look forward. I then noticed that directly in front of me was a great, flat stone, which supported a large book that had been left a third of the way open. I starred intently in order to read the words that filled each page, but could not decipher them as they were many and covered every available space, suffocating the necessary area needed to separate and extract their meaning. Frustrated from not being able to make sense of my current surroundings, I began to walk toward the first Red Wood and searched for possible direction in the words that were posted. As I approached, the word Greed was clearly marked and had several tally marks below it, as if Greed had been keeping count of the number of casualties it had claimed. I looked down Greeds path and noticed a trail of absolute emptiness. The landscape lay bare, pillaged, desolate, and without any sign of life. I sensed a feeling of angry resentment and in order to avoid such negativity, I immediately turned and walked towards the second tree. As I moved closer I noticed the word Relationship carved clearly into the bark with a series of tallies that had been carved below. I looked down its path and immediately noticed that in the distance, a large, wooden bridge, that looked as though it had taken many years to build, had almost entirely burned and sat smoldering from what appeared to have been a significant fire. The smoke billowed from all corners and one side had fallen completely into the crevasse that it was designed to span. I felt heavy with loss and wondered what had happened, but did not dare try to absorb its full meaning. Depressed and emotionally drained, I reluctantly walked from tree to tree, all carrying labels and counts of the casualties that each path had claimed. Shaken, I fell to my knees in anguish, sorrow, doubt and wept. My sobs echoed through the temple and my tears began to drop to the ground beneath me. I then heard a mighty voice declare, Rise!. I immediately stood to my feet and as I wiped the tears from my eyes the voice declared, Look at the trees before you, for they represent your life and your deeds and stand tall as the evidence of your works and have grown strong feeding from the blood of those whom you have wronged, hurt and wounded. Look at the book! For it is a record of all of your sin and the names of those whom you have hurt. Look at the valley! For it represents the places and times in your life where the battles occurred and what your decisions have left in their wake. It is littered with destruction, emptiness, smoldering embers and wreck less abandonment. I again dropped to my knees, this time with extreme guilt and shame and began to tremble and weep. My cries echoed loudly and my body shook from the absolute feeling of loneliness only accompanied by my record, and the judgment that was certainly deserved. God forgive me! Forgive me! I cried in desperation, and then Gods mighty voice thundered, Rise! I immediately crawled to my feet, ashamed, fearful, my soul destroyed, Look! and as I looked up, Gods mighty hands reached down from the Heavens and picked up the great book and shook it violently. As the book was shaken, the letters that had been written fell to the ground in a tangled, unsorted pile. Then God spoke, The records have been cleared of your deeds and the letters now represent all of the hurt, wrong, and the tangled experiences of your life. Pick them up and start to place them back onto the pages in a new order, an order that will glorify me. Then God said, Look at the paths beyond the trees! Notice how they all lead up past the Red Woods, and their count of casualties, to the temple where I reside. Bring your cares to me! Look at the waters! It represents the peace that passes all understanding that I will give you when you visit. Notice my light, my Spirit! For it will never leave you and will always lead you to me regardless of how long it has been since youve spoken to me. Then God reached down and touched my shoulder and said, You are my child, and are forgiven, and I love you. Tears of relief and joy flowed down my face. I smiled and cried simultaneously, as the weight I had carried and hidden for so long had been lifted. He gave me a new beginning, a new life, and peace that I can not explain. My tears began to feel warmer and warmer and as I went to wipe them from my face I felt a small furry animal, and then a tongue licking my hand and then my face. I opened my eyes and realized that I had fallen asleep and that my precious, loving dogs had sensed my emotions and were trying to comfort me. I looked around the room with new eyes and a new beginning. It was all just a dream. K.R. Hiney
Posted on: Wed, 03 Dec 2014 15:28:20 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015