DREAM IN REAL LIFE

“And he said unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed.” (Genesis 37:6)

Readers’ Digest magazine used to have a regular feature entitled, “Drama in Real Life”.  That’s my inspiration for this piece which I call, “Dream in Real Life”.  I was actually planning to wait a bit longer to post again.  I’m thankful for a couple of great messages I received from people in response to the posting, “Gasoline- How Bad Will It Get?”  One man said it’s the best thing I’ve ever posted on this blog.  It is.  If you haven’t read it, I hope you will, but I just couldn’t wait to tell you about my Dream in Real Life:

I remember a lot of my dreams.  Granted, some are just nonsense- stuff like flying over Europe throwing Oreo cookies at people or going to the launch of a spaceship in downtown Ashland.  But there are powerful and significant dreams that I have, and I’ve found they often follow a pattern.  The pattern is that I go to a pleasant venue for some pleasant occasion, but it’s a place where I wouldn’t usually go.  There’s a cast of characters there that I’d never ordinarily expect to assemble together. There may be friends or relatives along with famous people.  Some conflict or uncomfortable situation will arise which causes me a lot of stress.  I will choose to resolve it one way or another.  I will typically wake up at that point, glad that it was a dream, and wondering what it meant.  The interesting thing is that if I really think about the dream there IS some symbolism in it of something I’ve been thinking about or going through.

Some weeks ago, I received an invitation to a special clergy luncheon to be held at the (famous and very classy) Wayside Inn in Sudbury.  I’ve been to the Wayside Inn probably about thirty times over the years and often for very special occasions.  The invitation was from a health care agency in Wayland that I’d never heard of.  I just let the invitation lay in my office for over a week, then I decided to sent it off indicating I would attend.  After all, a free lunch at the Wayside Inn?  Why not?!

The luncheon was on Thursday of this week.  I planned an unusually challenging schedule for my Thursday.  Beginning at 7:30 a.m. I mowed the lawn at my residence and did a little yard work.  Then I packed the mower into the car (always a challenge when your car is an old Volkswagen  Golf) and went over to the church property to “mow the weeds” as I call it.  I rushed home, took a shower, and got ready to go to the Wayside Inn luncheon.  I arrived just a tad early and so I sat in the car waiting to see if anybody I knew would arrive.  I noticed cars with bumper stickers for Democrat candidates along with environmental slogans and I thought “typical liberal clergy crowd”!  I didn’t spot anyone I knew so I walked into the restaurant.  The guy in front of me was asking about the luncheon and was given directions upstairs so I followed him.  I was greeting by several enthusiastic women.  One excitedly said she knew me “from the planning committee”.  I still have no idea what she was talking about.  After five uncomfortable minutes, I did not see anyone I knew, so I sat down at one of the six or so tables that was prepared for us.  Two clergy from the Framingham Interfaith Clergy Assn. arrived.  One pleasantly greeted me but sat at another table.  One looked uncomfortable to see me, did not say anything to me, and seemed to be ignoring me.  

For many years I started my Sunday mornings off listening to WRKO's “Talking Religion” as I shaved and showered.  Rabbi Herman Blumberg of Wayland was a regular panelist.  He’s now  retired. I’d never met him, but he was present and sat at my table.  A woman came into the room who used to be an Associate Pastor in Framingham in the 1990s and had moved to Boston’s north shore area.  I don’t want to use her real name, so I’ll call her Julie.  Julie was unusually giggly and talkative, and sat at my table.  I honestly thought she seemed drunk, but there was no odor of alcohol.  It turns out she’d had a short-term ministry assignment in the area and so had received an invitation to the luncheon.  It was like she had turned into a characature of herself.  That felt strange, and that’s when this started to feel like one of my dreams.  

Our food was prepared buffet style and we had to go into another room to get it.  I probably took a little too much, but, well, it was free and I was hungry after all that lawn mowing.  The program with featured speakers, etc., started late.  We learned that the health care organization had been founded over fifty years ago, using the funds of a man who’d been a cattleman from Wayland who used to drive his cows  down  Route 30 from  Wayland to Boston’s Brighton section.  After several speakers, we were given handouts of a “case study” which we were all to discuss at our tables.  The case study was about a woman who’d had cancer for several years, was near death, but was insisting she would get well and would not discuss hospice care or death.  Her family was beside themselves with how to deal with her.  There were discussion questions about how we as clergy handle such situations.  Usually I’m very quiet in having discussions of that sort, but in this case I was very active and talkative.

We then listened to a female speaker who went on and on.  The meeting now ran past the time it was supposed to have closed and it was obvious it had at least twenty minutes to go.  Next to me was a Unitarian minister who whispered sounding a bit stressed, “I’ve got an appointment, I’ve got to leave soon!”  I whispered that I needed to leave soon, too, and that as soon as we could, we’d slip out.  The woman finished.  The next speaker was to be Rabbi Herman Blumberg.  I apologized to Rabbi Blumberg as we each bolted for the door.  

I did not see the Unitarian minister after that and it seemed he must have used a different exit.  As I walked out the front door, I realized this was the place where I’d wake up.

This had all the elements of a Bob Baril classic dream:  Pleasant venue- the Wayside Inn; Odd cast of characters:  a clergy colleague from the past acting very weird; two Framingham clergy from the present with one ignoring me; a bunch of strangers; a pleasant Unitarian minister I didn’t know; and Rabbi Herman Blumberg whom I’d never met but listened to many times on WRKO.  The part about the health care agency starting with money from a cattleman who used to drive his cows down Route 30- well that was “dream stuff” if I’d ever hear it!  And, the stressful conflict was there....the Unitarian minister and I having to get out due to the time and “bolting” when we could.

There was even the element of symbolism.  As I thought about the dream, I realized there was all sorts of symbolism in that case study about the woman with cancer.  It applied (not to having cancer or anything like that) to a perplexing personal situation I’m dealing with and trying to resolve right now.

The weird part is I did not wake up.  This was not a dream.  This was real.  Yes, I’ve dreamed stuff like this many times, but THIS REALLY HAPPENED.  

It was a Dream In Real Life, and no kidding, it’s one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever experienced!