Dream

I suffer from insomnia. I have no problem falling asleep, but I wake up in the middle of the night and then can’t get back to sleep. I usually lie awake praying. Yet my prayers are agitated, like wind-whipped waves. Occasionally, I doze off for what seems like a few minutes. The other night, I had a memorable dream during one of these early morning vigils. I saw the most beautiful beach as I looked past an old-fashioned house on the periphery of my vision. The beach was empty of people. The waves were supernaturally beautiful. I couldn’t take my eyes off of them. I was mesmerized by the way they glistened and danced in the light. I barely noticed the house in the foreground. I was filled with peace. When I awoke, I immediately tried to reconstruct the image before I forgot it. I tried to draw it, but I couldn’t. I tried to describe it with words, but fell short. I went on Google images and found two images and tried to combine it into one with my limited photo-editing software. Here is the inferior version that I came up with:

I have no idea why this dream made such an impression on me. I prayed for peace, and I received it for a few minutes through this dream. But there seemed to be something more…What was the significance of the house on the edge of my vision? Why a beach? I’ve never been one to find beaches and waves all that fascinating. I find mountains, woods, and trees much more inspiring.

I described my dream to a few people, thinking maybe it had a message for one of them. My husband said, “Sounds like my dream house.” (He really likes beaches.) I responded, “I’m sure it wasn’t about the house. The house was just in the periphery. It was inconsequential.”

I wonder if the house in the foreground represents our earthly life, our bodies, our daily concerns. Unlike the dream, my conscious thoughts are overtaken by worldly cares. The only waves I glimpse in the background are muddy, churning waves of anxiety. If only I could minimize this temporal dwelling, and fill my vision with the eternal waves of God’s love. If only I could look beyond this life and sense the divine peace and overwhelming joy that awaits…