The Dream and What to Do

      Last Wednesday night, I had a strange dream.  I woke up suddenly from the dream with questions.  What is the meaning of this strange dream?  What message is God sending me?  Surely, there is a message for me in this dream.  So, I closed my eyes to reflect on the dream and consider it's message to me.

The dream:

     I was at a women's retreat at the beach.  I didn't recognize the beach.  It did not look like a South Carolina beach.  I left the evening meeting, entered an elevator, and found myself among strangers when we reached the floor of my room.  But, my room was not on this floor.  I checked, and it was the correct floor, but my room was not there.  I felt very lost.

     Now, I fearfully examined my situation.  I never left the resort and conference center, yet everything was strange.  So, I get back on the elevator and a group of women who I did not know entered the elevator with me.  When we arrived on the main floor, the women asked me to join them for a walk on the beach.  Considering my lost situation, I don't know why I agreed to go with them, but I did.  As we departed the conference center, I realize this is not the same place.  I felt more confused and lost.  However, I go for a walk on the beach with women I did not know.

     It was late night, but the beach had plenty of light from the full moon and the resort.  The ladies talked and laughed, but I did not know about what.  Their conversation was only senseless words as I considered my situation.  We walked and walked.  As the moon faded, the sky over the rolling waves turned to hues of pink.  The conversations had faded as we walked in silence.  The only sounds were the constant waves rolling onto the sandy beach.

     Then, one of the ladies stepped on something on the beach.  They screamed as I stared in bewilderment.  I still felt lost and depressed, so I did not have the same reaction to what lay on the beach.  It was a man.  His long curly salt and pepper hair hung around a thin stubbly face.  His clothes fit loosely on his thin body.  As he attempted to sit up, the ladies kicked at him and screamed, "Get away from us you Beggar!"

     The man looked at us with his blue gray eyes and said, "I'm not a beggar.  I am just a man working each day making only enough for the day."

     This is where I wake up.  I felt bewildered as I considered what happens next.  The dream ends with the strong proclamation from the young man who was aging before our eyes due to his circumstances.  

     "I am just a man working each day making only enough for the day."

     I prayed, "O Lord, what does this mean?  What are you saying to me?"

     Then, I remembered my life with my little family.  Choices we made left us on a tight budget.  Our choice was that one of us will always be available for our children.  We felt our children needed our time more than we needed the additional money.  We lived on a small budget so we could give what is important to our children.  Due to medical expenses and unexpected bumps in life, there were times we lived from pay check to pay check.  So, I wondered, how many families today live from pay check to pay check.  Do my own children live this way?  What about those hurt by loss of jobs due to COVID19 closures?  

     Now, I wonder, "What can I do?"

     Notice that the question is not "what can the government do?'  But, the question is "what can I do?

     As I lay there, I know of such families.  I can purchase groceries for the family struggling due to COVID19.  This dream opened my eyes to what I need to do and will do.

     Why?

     Because this is what God commanded us to do?

If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open your hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs. Deuteronomy 15:7,8

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”  Matthew 19:21