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| 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
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