Missed Appointment

Photo by Ben White 2016

I dreamed that I was going to meet my father in New York City, on York Avenue near the Cornell Medical College campus where I received my medical degree. I arrived early in the day and decided to spend some time sightseeing before our dinner engagement.

Although Manhattan is not known for its amusement parks, somehow I ended up in one. The ride I was on reminded me of a creaky, dated old ride called “Land Before Time” in Blackpool Tower, England, featuring chipped, faded replicas of dinosaurs and sound effects of “roars” that sounded more like mild indigestion.

Suddenly the car I was in veered off course and traveled uphill to a carpeted area behind the seats in what looked like a stage theater. A woman I didn’t recognize was surprised to see me and said, “You’re not supposed to be up here!”

“Well, I didn’t come here on purpose – it’s where the car took me,” I explained. “Looks like the same thing happened to them,” I said, pointing to a young couple in a similar car.

“How do we get out of here?” I asked.

“You can’t just leave, because you’re in the middle of the ride, which seems to be out of order, and you could get lost inside. I can give all of you a lift to wherever you need to go once I’m done here.”

But when she said that wouldn’t be for several hours, I decided to take my chances finding an exit from the ride. As I remembered passing what appeared to be an emergency exit, I backtracked until I eventually found it and was out on the street. Manhattan at dusk, apparently at rush hour, as the sidewalks and streets were packed with people rushing in opposite directions, and horns were blaring to protest the traffic jam.

A street sign said Lexington Ave., which was familiar territory for me back in medical school, but the cross street was 1917 St., which I had never even heard of before. I tried asking for directions from passersby – many different people from all walks of life – but they were all too busy to assist me.

Most ignored me and rushed away, and one elegant, middle-aged woman in a fur hat and suit trimmed with a fur collar and cuffs said, “I can’t help you, and you’ll never find a taxi at this hour.”

I became increasingly panicked as it was getting late; I had no idea where I was or how to get to our dinner destination; and there was no way to contact my father as I had no phone.

I awoke with my heart racing and my stomach sinking with regret over not being able to see my father, who passed away decades ago. Wondering about the dream’s meaning, I realized that it concerned a nightly engagement I have with my Heavenly Father to seek His face in prayer. This was symbolized as a dinner engagement, as He knocks on the door of our hearts, and if we answer, He will come in and dine with us (Revelation 3:20).

Once we are saved by trusting in the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ (1 Corinthians 15:1-4) as the only Way to Heaven (John 14:6), what a blessing to have a promised seat at the Lord’s table, where we can feast on His Word!

Although I always intend to keep this “dinner engagement” with our Father, sometimes the stresses, distractions, and time drains of the day lead to rushed “fast food” crammed in just before bedtime, instead of a leisurely banquet beginning at the appointed time and continuing until I am fully nourished.

The apostle Paul says we are to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), and David reminds us to meditate on God’s Word, day and night (Psalm 119:148, etc.). It is good to schedule a designated time for quiet communion with our Lord, but that does not mean that we should ignore Him the rest of the day!

In the dream, I arrived early in the city where I was to meet my Father, near a place of higher education, symbolizing the wisdom and knowledge to be found only in His Word (Psalm 119:105). Yet instead of preparing myself for this divine appointment by listening to His still, small voice (1 Kings 19:12), confessing my sins so that my prayers would not be hindered (1 John 1:9; 1 Peter 3:7), and meditating on Scripture, I allowed myself to become distracted by worldly pleasures.

The amusement park symbolized time wasted on frivolous pursuits, more appropriate for my old life before I was saved (hence the aged appearance and sound effects of the ride). The dinosaur theme may have been a warning to avoid evil lest I fall prey to Satan’s traps (Ephesians 6:11; 1 Peter 5:8), but the crumbling dinosaurs and their feeble cries had no such effect, perhaps because my conscience was seared (1 Timothy 4:2) by ignoring such warnings before.

As often happens in life when we allow ourselves to become distracted by meaningless pursuits, Satan uses this opportunity to carry us where we had no intention of going. King David discovered this when his idleness on his roof one evening while his troops were in the midst of battle led to the sins of lust, adultery, deceit, and even murder (2 Samuel 11).

In the dream, my visiting an amusement park instead of preparing for my meeting with my Father led to delay, losing my bearings, getting trapped in the world system, and missing my appointment altogether. I couldn’t find my way; I had no help from those in the world, and I could not even contact my Father, as I had no phone.

Thankfully, we don’t need a phone or even an appointment to contact our Heavenly Father. But unconfessed sin in our heart – including the sin of idolatry allowing worldly pleasures or other distractions to come between us and God – can hinder our prayers and make Him seem distant, although He is very near to us (Acts 17:27). Sometimes our prayers go unanswered because we are asking for what we want, instead of in accordance with His perfect will, or even worse, because we fail to ask at all (James 4:1-3).

In the dream, in crowded Manhattan at rush hour, I found myself at Lexington Ave., which was familiar to me. The name “Lexington” means “Town of the New Law” – perhaps a reference to the new law of liberty in Christ (James 1:25). Christ’s followers were freed from the Mosaic laws of temple worship, for Christ Himself was the perfect, complete Sacrifice paying our sin debt in full (Hebrews 10:10; 1 John 4:10). Now we have direct access to the Father, just as the nine-foot-thick veil separating the people from the Holy of Holies was split in two at the crucifixion, top to bottom, for God in the flesh came from Heaven to earth to give us that access (Matthew 27:51; Hebrews 9:7-15).

But I still could not find my way in the dream, because I was at the intersection of Lexington Ave and “1917 St.,” which does not exist. I believe this number refers to the date of the Russian Revolution and the darkest days of World War I, a time of rebellion, chaos, destruction and devastation.

I believe the dream is warning me to keep my priorities straight, always giving Jesus Christ and His law of liberty the pre-eminence, so that I will keep my divine appointments with our Father, communing with Him through prayer and mediation on His Word. At His table can I be fed with wisdom, avoiding Satan’s traps and the destruction he desires! 

© 2023 Laurie Collett