It was 1998. I flew to Baltimore for a conference, making the plans rather at the last minute. I don’t know when I had ever been anywhere alone; I had certainly never checked into a hotel by myself for the night. I had traveled with my parents or my husband, or with a group. It was Chapter One of getting on with my life. I had been divorced for a year or so, my father had died, the children and I had moved twice, and I had withdrawn from seminary. I was trying to find some new friends, new interests to pursue, new possibilities to explore. There was a man attending the conference I was excited to meet after corresponding with him for some time. That part of the story turned out to be uneventful, but something else very important happened there.
You see, I had a dream. And because I was in a hermetically sealed box of a downtown hotel room, and the night was rainy, and the white noise shut out the sounds of the city, I slept through the night. There were no cats or little children to wake me from the dream, to protect me from its meaning. I woke up and remembered it fully, vividly. It was what I call a “Big Dream,” one full of portent. After mulling on it, I decided to return to seminary.
But I couldn’t fully comprehend it that first day or even a day or two later. I needed time to absorb it, to reflect on it, to metabolize its meaning.
I feel much the same way about this day at the Festival of Homiletics. By 11 this morning, my head and heart were full of images, prayers and hopes, so plentiful I could not digest or dissect or disseminate them.
My husband suggested that I am on a vacation and not doing work this week. He’s right in the sense that being with friends has been a wonderful break. But there is absolutely work going on, too.
I wonder what I will dream tonight?
Me too.
It’s been a lot to absorb. And wonderful and tiring, at the same time.
Most likely about red nail polish…
Praying you will gain the full benefit of refreshment and inspiration this week
Sounds like the best kind of work. I’m so glad it was such a great week.