Dynamic Dreams

I had a really strange dream last night. That in itself is nothing surprising. I always have dreams that are a little off, but last night was pretty amazing. For those of you who don't know, I grew up in a big old house. We're talking pushing 150 years old at this point. It was built as a poor farm, has since been changed into five apartments, there are jail cells in the basement...it's really quite an adventure to experience my house, that's for sure. :) Anyway, I often dream of my house because there are so many nooks and crannies to get lost in, so it ends up the setting of some pretty strange dreams...

Last night I had a dream that involved my house, and two mice that spoke in alliteration the whole time. There was the necessary bad guys (one of whom was either a midget or small child). The mice had special powers, so that is always good. They could control electricity and could manipulate the air to do things like hold them up for a long time. Anyway, I had a dream that was pretty vivid that involved all like 10 characters speaking only in two or three word alliteration the whole time. After one of the mice faked his own death, they captured the bad guys and put them in a cell in the basement of my house. Except the one mouse had to get out his Mr. Potato Head reading glasses in order to make the forcefield around the jail. Like I said, it was odd!!! Oh yeah, and the bad guys had to wear these special buttons on their colors that lit up red when one of the mice or the friends of the mice (maybe one of them was me as a child? She looked vaguely familar) touched them. Only the 'fingerprints' of those people could lock and unlock the red button, which is what made the mice able to control them...

So yeah, that was my dream. Any dream analysis book out there that can define that and tell me what it means? I highly doubt it. I think my dreams are just my inner creative child having fun. However, I woke up completely exhausted because apparently dreaming in alliteration for long periods of time makes the mind tired. Who would have thoughts? But, I also woke up in a fantastic mood because I immediately started laughing at my dream and how crazy it was.

So, that was the one dream I remember from last night. I wish I had more of the details fresh in my mind right now...I think I need to start keeping a dream diary again.

Something More

“There is something – Someone - inside us who tells us there is more to life than sitting in the boat. You were made for something more…There is something inside you that wants to walk on water – to leave the comfort of routine existence and abandon yourself to the high adventure of following God.”

-John Ortberg, If You Want to Walk on Water, You’ve Got to get out of the Boat.

I started a six week Bible study five weeks ago. This is the first quote on the first page of the study. It is such a powerful statement of faith and affirmation that there is more to life than the ordinary, simple, rote things we do every day. There is something so appealing about the idea of abandoning myself to the "high adventure" of following God. Who knows where the road will take me and where the path will lead, but the adventure will be worth the destination.

We have all experienced that longing in our hearts at one time or another--the longing for more than the comfort of our lives. That is why we go to school, go on trips to exotic or needy places...it is why we long for a life of challenge and escape into a world where there is meaning behind every action. Somewhere along the way, we lost the desire for the common and found the passion for the signs and miracles all around us.

Finding Neverland

I finally saw "Finding Neverland." It was every bit as beautiful and magical as I expected it to be, and I am still processing much of the film. In many ways, it reminded me "The Man of La Mancha." The power of imagination and the ability to see the world not just as it is, but as it should be...that is why the quote on the top of my blog means so much to me. With all the stuff that goes on in the world it is so important to be able to use your imagination and to see the world as it could be.

I know JM Barrie is not a perfect man (I have heard him referred to as that generation's Michael Jackson, whatever that means), but he was able to capture something amazing during that summer with those boys. And what he captured, what he created, was Neverland--a place where fairies are real, the imagination is the most powerful tool of all, and time is chasing after us all. Grown-ups try to spoil the fun. I know I am an adult and I know I see the world differently than I did when I was a child, but I hope and pray that I never lose my sense of wonder...

This quote struck me toward the beginning of the movie:

Just a dog? Rufus dreams of being a bear, and you want to shatter those dreams by saying he's just a dog? What a horrible candle-snuffing word. That's like saying, "He can't climb that mountain, he's just a man," or "That's not a diamond, it's just a rock." Just.

So often I am guilty of saying those things...I can't do it, I'm just...they can't do it, they're just...This quote reminded me that perception is really everything. How we see the world, how we see the obstacles that we encounter, how we see the every day moments of our lives...

If we see them as 'just' anything, there is no magic, no beauty, no experience -- we are living just life, not the amazing adventure we are supposed to breathe in and out every day.

How do we stop ourselves from doing that? by 'just' believing in the magic of a place called Neverland.