I’m sure that everyone has experienced a dream that seemed so real, that you could actually touch people in it and feel them come to life right on your fingertips. Every so often I have one of those dreams and as soon as I wake up, I know that it was more then just my imagination at work, but that it was the work of the Lord in my life. It is one of those deep transcending moments when God is asking me to take notice of something and teach me.
Amy says God communicates to me in my dreams, because that’s the only time I can’t talk back. She says this in jest, but I know I can be pretty thick headed. And there is an obvious theme in what these lessons are, as it was apparent the last time I had one of these dreams.
To put this dream into context, my grandfather died in 1998. He was one of the smartest and healthiest men I knew and someone I respected and loved dearly. He was also a democrat and big Clinton supporter. I was not very political at the time, so we never had any debates over that, as I’m sure we would now. In fact, my grandmother believes that Clinton’s impeachment directly led to my grandfather’s heart attack; however, I don’t put much credence into that. The point being that I loved and respected him and he obviously had very different political views then I do now.
So here is the dream:
I was taking a trip, to where I don’t know, and ended up riding on a bus and train and walking some of the way. The trip seemed to be centered around a certain town and everywhere I went there were tons of people around me. There was nothing very particular about the settings that I remember very clearly. However, my traveling companion was democratic presidential candidate John Kerry. We were just basically hanging out and going from place to place, talking, debating, and joking around. He genuinely seemed like a nice guy and we were sharing a mutual respect to agree to disagree to most issues. We ended up at party later, where we kind of lost each other in the crowd talking to other people. And then I see my grandfather standing there, who was waiting for me at the party. After that I woke up.
God is always reminding me of the need for grace, of the need to show love to those that I disagree with and gently share my perspectives. There is a time to speak up and speak out with passion and strength and courage in your convictions, but there is also a time to mend, a time to be silent, a time for love, a time for peace and time to be gentle (Ecclesiastes 3:1-14).
I disagree with John Kerry on many issues and I question what he really stands for. I wish that the presidential campaign was centered on the love, the well-being and the good of the American people and people around the world. I also believe that there is a spiritual and cultural war that wages in the world today, and it rears its ugly head at times like these. No matter what happens this election day, I know that my life is in God’s loving hands and in that I trust and in that He is the center and focus of my life.
I pray that God would speak as clearly into the hearts and minds of people in this country on both sides of aisle, and that a mutal respect can be found. Because that is the only way to mend hearts and unite this nation, not divide it.
Posted by price at April 7, 2004 10:21 AM