Friday Five ~ Dreams

Jan @ RevGalBlogPals said, "I have just started studying Jung and dreams with a group of friends.  I am hearing about lucid dreaming and imagining, which have opened me up to wondering about dreams in general.  So how about wondering with me?"  Here are Jan's five questions.

1.  Everyone dreams:  Do you remember your dreams?  How often?

Yes, I nearly always remember my dreams.  I started studying dreams 40 years ago, in the early 1970s.  One of my friends actually taught dream workshops, and I probably first heard about lucid dreaming — being aware that I'm dreaming — from her.  When I started writing down my dreams upon awakening, I began to remember more and more each time.  Eventually, it took too much time to record my dreams, so I would simply be aware of dreaming and make a mental note of whatever seemed important for me that day.  I also think about any odd things in my dreams and ponder them during the day.

2.  Did you or do you have a recurring dream?  Share it, if you'd like.

Like most people, I recall dreams about running from someone.  Those used to be scary, when I was young.  When I learned to control my dreams and was aware of dreaming even while I was still asleep, I had fun in my dreams — and rarely, if ever, have had nightmares since.  When whoever was chasing me in a dream was just about to catch me, I would laugh, speed up slightly, and dodge the reaching hand.  My dreams became playful and joyful, and I would wake with a smile on my face, feeling like I could run forever.

3.  Have you ever had recurring themes or images in dreams?  Examples?

Besides running, flying in my dreams was always fun, even before I knew about lucid dreaming.  I *knew* flapping my arms couldn't make me fly like a bird, I knew I was dreaming, and I flew anyway, rising off the ground and hovering there, with a smile on my face.

4.  Do you day dream?  About what?

Sure, I daydream.  I remember writing out a daydream many years ago, when my three children were young and took all my time.  It was all about what I'd do when I "had the time."  I shared it with my mother, who laughed and explained why running away to a place with nothing but books and cushions and a reading lamp wouldn't work for me.  "You'd need your piano," she said.  Oops!  She was right, and running away with a piano would be a bit hard to do.

5.  What are your dreams/hopes/goals for the future?

Another recurring theme in my dreams has been the church I grew up in.  I called to mind with no effort at least three times I dreamed about East Lake Methodist Church.  Once I ran into my dad on the sidewalk in front of the church, long after he had died.  I asked him, "Does Mom know you're back?"  (Now THAT is an interesting concept to ponder!  I knew he had died, but I was simply joyful that he was "back.")  In another dream, I exited the side door of the church onto the front porch of my childhood home — also a very interesting thought.  But it's the third dream that gives me pause.  I drove by the church (in the dream) and noticed it was hollow like a cave, deep into the fellowship hall beneath the sanctuary (see the "cave" under the stairs on the left).  A hollow church.  Something was missing.  The church was dead, long before I preached the last service there in 2010, and it was closed.  A year later, I returned to celebrate new life as a Presbyterian congregation began worshiping there.  My dream is for new life and transformation among dying congregations, which (in my opinion) will come only with major changes in thinking about the purpose of "church."

I think it's a fascinating coincidence that today's Quote of the Day, which appears on my sidebar, is this by Anais Nin:

"Dreams are necessary to life."