Don't Let the Sharks Take You Down

Do you believe dreams tell you something about yourself? I do. Last night, I had a dream where a bunch of things and people that are on my mind made guest appearances. I’ll try to make the summary as understandable as possible. But if things seem a bit fuzzy, keep in mind it was a dream.

Enter the dream
I’m inside a restaurant with a group of people from my church, and we’re all eating and talking. Then, I realize I’m supposed to be at a friend’s wedding, but I’ve never actually met this friend. So, I go to the University Center at UCO to be introduced. This new friend turns out to be a little crazy, like actually mentally disturbed, not just wild and fun. I think this character represents a woman my mother-in-law told me about yesterday. So, as I’m introduced to this young, Asian bride-to-be, she runs away from me and hides. This is kind of like what the little 4 and 5 years olds I’m leading at VBS this week like to do every couple of minutes. But, there’s no time to stand around a get acquainted with the bride, I’m late for her wedding!

So I rush down a hall into an ornate Catholic cathedral where I see three other bridesmaids already in their dresses. I ask them if there’s still time for me to get ready, but they say our part is already over. All we were suppossed to do was light some candles in the empty church. I’m kind of bummed because the dresses are really pretty, and I wanted to get to wear mine. But, there’s no time to think about that now, all of sudden the cathedral has metamorphosized into an outdoor scene with a large pool in the center. A bunch of adults and children are hanging out around the pool. The dream takes a sci-fi turn here. There’s a building behind the pool with a door that's a portal into another world.

The residents of this other world are strange creatures. They remind me of the aggressive squogres - part squirrel, part ogre - from the movie The Bridge to Terabithia. They are now rushing out of the portal and scattering around the pool. I try to call the children and keep them from running away, but they don’t come to me. A whole bunch of these little squirrel monsters start attacking me. But it doesn’t hurt because when they bite, they just kind of gnaw and don’t break the skin. I can’t get them off me, but I can keep them from hurting me. I try to get some of the bystanders to help me out, but they’re all too scared.

Somehow I lose the squirrels, but now there’s a new opponent. It gets a bit creepy here. Some mysterious forms have come through the portal and are squirting people in the face with something that makes their noses bleed. It turns out if you get sprayed, you die. So, of course I’m not real interested in getting squirted. But, as I’m standing near the portal, an attack is in progress. I see a high-ranking executive at my company get sprayed with the poison. Some got on me too and now my nose is bleeding. I'm not sure whether enough got on me to cause any serious damage, but it’s definitely not looking good for this executive, who I’ll call Roger.

I’m very concerned about Roger. These weird walking sharks are trying to drag him into the pool, and I don’t think he has long to live. So I start trying to tell him about Jesus. At first, in his typical way, he makes a joke and doesn’t pay much attention to me. But, then as I persist, he gets more serious. I can tell he’s taking it in. As I finish telling him he needs to make the choice right now to give his life to God, one of the big, black sharks pulls him down into the water. I try to go after him, but then another, darker, more ominous shark slides out of the pool and threatens to pull me down into the dark water with Roger. He knows I’ve been sprayed and believes I’m easy prey.

Now, I’m surrounded by several shark monsters that are all taunting me and threatening to attack me at any moment. But the dream has taken on a new element, and I now know that Jesus is about to return, and if I can withstand these monsters and stay out of the pool until he comes back, the whole courtyard will be transformed and the monsters will be destroyed.

So, as the sharks get closer to my face and whisper more threats, I begin to sing hymns and quote scripture. They can’t touch me, but they don’t leave me alone either. I know that they can’t hurt me, but I’ve got stay strong.