8/3/2011 - I Dreamed a Dream

I would like to share a dream with you.  I think you may find it interesting.  I started writing about it a couple of months ago, but kept on getting sidetracked.  I finally finished writing about it.  Happy reading!  You were in my dream…

It was several days before my stem cell transplant.  I was reasonably anxious about the whole thing. I knew the potential side effects that may come out of it, including a 15% chance that I may die from the procedure.  One night, I had this dream:

My husband and I were taking a walk one gloomy afternoon. I seemed weak, holding on to my husband as we walked. We were probably in an old town somewhere in Europe - cobblestones and old architecture all around.  We turned the corner and continued walking onto a small plaza. There was a row of small apartments to our right.  As I looked at the apartments, I was surprised to see through the doors and walls.  It was like having Superman's x-ray vision!  

As we walked past the apartments, I saw sick people wearing white hospital gowns in every one of them.  I was surprised to see my assistant in one of the rooms, but she was wearing a colored outfit.  Hmmm… what was she doing there?  After a few more sick people, I walked past a room with a skeleton sitting up in bed! I got scared, so I told my husband I want to go home already.  

We were almost at the end of the plaza.  My husband turned the corner and crossed over to the other side.  My x-ray vision was gone.  We walked a very short distance down the left side of the plaza and I  saw an old church.  To my surprise, my husband opened the door of the church to let me in.  We were supposed to go home, not to church!  I remember thinking, “This is home?!”

It was a medium-sized church - smaller than a cathedral, bigger than a chapel.  As we entered through the right door, I saw a priest swinging a censer behind the left door. I wondered why a priest would burn incense behind the entrance and not in front of the church. Strange…

My husband led me to a small room by the entrance of the church.  I remember thinking, “Home is a room in this church?”   As I turned to go in, I glanced at the front of the church.  I saw rows of people wearing what seemed to be choir gowns.  They were all standing and facing the front.  I also noticed that there was nobody in front.  Who are these people and what are they doing?  I was puzzled as I entered “home”.  The door closed behind us and that was the end of the dream.

When I woke up in the morning, the dream was very clear in my mind.  For someone who rarely remembers any dream, this dream was one of the most vivid and strange in my life.  But what does it mean?  Who are all the people I saw in the apartments?  Why was my assistant there, among the sick people?  Why was there a skeleton?  Does it mean death?  Whose death? Was that a warning?  Why was our home in a church?  What was the significance of the incense?  Who are all the people in the dream?  What were they doing there? 

Many possible interpretations went through my mind.  I did not share any of these with you back then, because I didn’t want to guess at the meaning.  As you can see, some interpretations of this dream can be scary.  Some people have the gift of interpreting dreams, and I am not one of them.

Over the next few months, I slowly came to understand what the dream meant. I may be wrong, but it sure makes a lot of sense to me now.  Here it is: My loving husband is my greatest help during these trying times. The sick people I saw in the apartments were the sick people at the hospital.  The skeleton was one of the patients I met who told me that her doctor said that she will die in a couple of months. I had a hard time with that.  To make a new friend and know that she won’t be around much longer was difficult for me.  My assistant must be visiting someone.  She had told me that her aunt and her best friend’s father were fighting cancer, too.  

I liked having our home was in a church, even if it was only in a dream.  To live in the presence of God is the best thing one could aspire for.  I guess that's why God saves the best for last – we only get there after we die.  J 

Now we get to my favorite part of the dream.  I found out during a bible study that incense represents prayers.  The people standing there were all the people who were praying for my healing and for our family throughout this journey.  You were in my dream!  Your prayers were rising up to God just like the sweet smell of incense.  My family and I cannot thank you enough for your prayers!  Now that was a nice interpretation of my dream, wasn't it?

Thank you once again for your concern, prayers and well wishes.  May God continue to bless you and your family!