Giving It a Go

In the dream 

I am swaddled in white 

and I have a white cap 

on my head.  

I know this because I 

will shortly stand in front  

of a mirror. 

My arms and hands 

are not free 

but I am given 

instructions to 

draw with my 

"non-dominant hand." 

I do not feel trapped 

nor am I frightened,  

but I do wonder about 

drawing with my right hand 

for I think of myself as 

quite left handed.  

Then a series of geometric 

figures and even some simple houses 

stream across my mind 

much like an old 

black and white film clip.  

There are no other colors in this 

dream but black and white. 

I think, "Well, I will give it a go." 

It is then when I find myself 

standing  in front of the mirror. 

I am startled, even frightened;

I see a film over my right eye. 

For the first time in the dream 

I am frightened.  

Then the film, much like a 

wayward contact lens, 

pops into place over my eye. 

I can neither feel it, nor see it. 

My eyes are dark but wide open; 

 my vision is clear.     

   

I have found that writing about my dreams in this format is very freeing.   I will shortly try drawing with my right hand.   Drawing with the non-dominant hand is often suggested as a spiritual practice, and I suspect it is good for the brain.   

At no time in this dream did I see another person, but there is certainly another presence in this dream.  It is neutral - that is, neither frightening nor comforting.  

Today is Holy Saturday, and there is a Holy Week feel to this dream that is a little difficult to describe.   Holy Week is often a time of change and even challenge for me, and this week has been no different.  Tyler is sick, and a good friend who is out of state is quite ill.  I think the challenge is to stay open to the events as they occur because there is always more to be revealed.   Drawing with the non-dominant hand means that I will need to give up any idea that what I am drawing might be "good."  It may be a lesson in re-learning that it is the process that matters.       

   

Blessings as we journey to Easter.  It is indeed a journey to wholeness.      

    

I am afraid many of us have failed to honor God's always unfolding future and the process of getting there, which usually includes some form of dying to the old. In practical effect, we end up resisting and opposing the very thing we want.  The great irony is that we have often done this in the name of praying to God, as though God would protect us from the very process that refines us!    

Richard Rohr, The Universal Christ,  p. 93