Genesis 40: 7-8
7 So he asked Pharaoh’s officers, who were with him in custody in
his master’s house, “Why are your faces downcast today?” 8 They
said to him, “We have had dreams, and there is no one to interpret them.” And
Joseph said to them, “Do not interpretations belong to God? Please tell them to
me.”
When all of creation seems to be germinating in the dark and cold
underground, all I want to do is snuggle back under the covers in the morning.
But I am seeking more than warmth: I am digging for a thread from my last dream
before waking—a dream that is most likely puzzling, full of elements of my
“real life” that are connected awkwardly or even disturbingly. The images fade
as I promise myself to remember them.
I believe that dreams are one of the many gifts of God. They are
holy messages from the spirit, invitations to descend—or ascend—into
exploration of the images and connections.
Many times, when working through a dream, I experience the holy.
The disturbing elements become pathways for understanding. Asking myself,
“Which part of me does this person in my dream represent?” invites me to accept
in myself what I am unable to accept in others. Reliving the feelings of my
dream, I am able to inhabit and express these feelings better in my waking
life. Working with my dreams, I come to a place of comfort, a place where I can
rest knowing that, “All shall be well . . . and all manner of things shall be
well,” in the words of Julian of Norwich.
“Do not interpretations
belong to God?” says
Joseph. I think what Joseph means is that the “truth” of our dreams resides in
God, in that expansive, infinite knowledge of the Holy Spirit.
Awake now, I can inhabit the lengthening days with more light,
more space, and more gratitude for the many blessings of my life, especially
this gift of inquiry, which brings me closer to God.
― Leslie Middleton
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