2 Easter, Year One
[Go to Mission St Clare for an online version of the Daily Office including today’s scripture readings.]
Today’s Readings for the Daily Office:
Psalms 119:1-24 (morning) // 12, 13, 14 (evening)
Daniel 2:17-30
1 John 2:12-17
John 17:20-26
A couple of friends once told me that it’s common to dream that your teeth are falling out whenever you’re under stress. I had never heard of such a dream, or of such a clear connection between a specific dream and your mental state.
Sure enough, though, ever since my friends mentioned this, I dream that I’m losing my teeth about once every few months. Whenever I wake up from such a dream, I immediately think of my friends and wonder: Do I now have this dream because they suggested it, or do I simply remember this particular dream better because they brought it to my awareness?
These friends are, so far, the closest people I have to a Daniel in my life. In today’s first reading, Daniel interprets a king’s dream. He warns the king that “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or diviners can show to the king the mystery that the king is asking.” However, Daniel declares, “there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries” in the language of dreams. Daniel’s role in the revelation process is to interpret dreams so “that you may understand the thoughts of your mind.”
God is speaking to us, all day and all night, through the deep layers of our subconscious mind. We need people in our lives who can help us understand our mind and its thoughts, sorting truth from illusion, and separating fears and fantasies from the holy desires that can direct our lives into the future that God is preparing. Let’s work today, especially with others, to unearth whatever God has labored all night to tell us.
Lora Walsh blogs about taking risks and seeking grace at A Daily Scandal. She serves as curate of Grace Episcopal Church in Siloam Springs and as director of the Ark Fellows, an Episcopal Service Corps program sponsored by St. Paul’s in Fayetteville, Arkansas.