In the beginning it was just an ordinary dream, ho-hum really, with a few run-of-the-mill phantasmagoric elements thrown in as decoration. I was chatting with some colleagues at work about I don't know what. But I recall the environment felt familiar and everyday; the faces were faces I knew and the conversations were tepid and unalarming. Dreams are like that.
So there I was, starring in a nuts and bolts REM script, all wrapped up in a sea of events that seemed important and mattered not a whit to anyone who wasn't plop in the center of them.
This inner cinema of my dream went on pleasantly for some time. I remember that every now and then, though I was quite caught by the dream, I would pause in my distractions to silently utter a small blessing for the planet. I assume I did this because blessing has become by now a habit in my waking life, and therefore the impulse slipped quite naturally into my dream consciousness as well. And having uttered the blessing, I would return right back to the conversation that was so engaging my attention.
At one point in the dream, however, I happened to look downward, for no reason. And spotted something on my arm.
My eyes unbuttoned themselves in shock. There, perched on my wrist, was a miniature living angel, impeccably formed, no larger than a butterfly. The tiny breathing creature had its arms around my arm, and was kissing my wrist. Though I cannot recall the ability to feel temperature in any other part of the dream, I distinctly noticed that the angel was warm on my flesh.
The sight first stunned me and then moved me almost to tears. My heart simply gaped open in love for this little dream creature. I kept staring at it; I think for a while I hesitated to breathe, for fear of disturbing its movements.
And I remember thinking: this is more important than anything else going on around here. When I looked up from the angel clasped to my arm, I saw the same friends and colleagues gathered around discussing this and that with great enthusiasm. No one else had noticed the angel. It was, after all, a dream.
But for the remainder of the dream I was speechless and could not say another word. The tiny angel held me spellbound. Though I could not fathom why it was expressing such a wealth of gratitude, or what, in fact, it was doing clinging to my wrist at all, I was overjoyed by its extraordinary presence. What on earth had I done to deserve such a display of divine affection?
There was no answer to that question at the time. But later, when I awoke, I knew instantly why this indescribably touching angelgift had flown into my dream. It was a thankyou from The Boss for the habit of blessing, which had grown deep enough to install itself even in my dreams.
I've reported all this just to say that this is a dream I will not forget, nor will I forget the luminous message it carried. Never, ever question whether there is merit to your practice of meditation, of prayer, of blessing, of silence. Though this world may chatter on right around you and never turn a hair over your inner work, Someone is noticing. Actually, He is doing far more than noticing.
He is weeping with gratitude over your effort.
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