I believe sleep brings us closer to the Spiritual World. I believe this from my own experiences which I will share in this blog, but I also believe this because of my religion. The theological works of Emanuel Swedenborg have much to say on the topic of sleep, and his own theological writing began with his personal diary entitled “Journal of Dreams”. He tracked his dreams for a long period and described them along with the symbolism he saw emerge.
I have had my share of middle of the night insights, as I suppose have many of you. I would like to share three examples and one story. As with all sleep-induced ideas and dreams, they do seem to lose something in the telling. To tell of a dream or sleepy insight is a vulnerable experience. Nevertheless, I share them because I believe there is a use in so doing. I would be very interested in hearing others stories as well!
My three examples are entitled: Women in the Ministry, World Economics & Government, and Helping my Daughter with Math. Let me say that all three of these topics have been my recent passions. I have spent much emotional, intellectual, and physical energy on all three. Each has required me to open my mind and wrestle hard to arrive at my beliefs. Each is still a work in process.
So let me begin with the first, Women in the Ministry. The branch of the New Church to which I belong is known as the General Church of the New Jerusalem. It has a male only priesthood. Until recently this was more than okay by me. But about two months ago I was added to a certain Facebook Group with the purpose of supporting women in the ministry. The quality, quantity, and variety of posts in that group, along with my own prayerful reading and reflection have left me with no doubt on the issue. I firmly believe that ordaining women would only enhance and balance the church. I often would fall asleep at night mulling over the importance of spreading this message. Then, one night, I had a clear vision of a publication while I tossed and turned in mid-wakefulness. A simple and engaging publication could serve to share stories, quotes, lists, and other pertinent info to those who were undecided about the issue. This has not yet come to fruition, but I am now taking baby steps in this direction.
My second recent inspiration is on the subject of fiat money, imminent global economic collapse, and possibly something termed New World Order. I began my learning dabbling with Ron Paul’s website leading up to the Pennsylvania primary for the upcoming presidential election. Others spurred me on by sharing websites, books, and music. I began reading. I started with a very mainstream book called “Crisis Economics”. I then ordered and read “They Own it All” which is a more frightening take on how our current American dollars are marking us all with the slime of the beast as they pass through our hands. I am now embroiled in “The Creature from Jekyll Island”, a story of the creation of the Federal Reserve with many twists and turns that will shock and disturb any believing reader. Let me tell you, my world view will never be the same! So what to do with all this info? What is the solution to the sticky problem of needing an intrinsically valued convenient medium for the exchange of goods and services? The other night, during an awakening, I found myself pondering a system that would be based directly on usefulness. The details were fuzzy, but if we each had a personal device that could track “credits” we earned by serving others and use these to aquire the things we need and desire our world would be revolutionized.
My last inspiration is the most personal and easiest to implement. I have been working on math facts with my daughter all summer in preparation for second grade. Despite great effort on her part and many strategies on mine, we seem no further ahead than when we began. Based on my night thoughts, which were as clear as day at the time, we made a special trip to Lorimor park the following morning. There we collected 20 various stones of beauty. We went back to the most basic math method of all: manipulatives. I shared with her my insight from the Lord and her faith in that, as well as the soothing and wondrous experience of working with the stones, seems to be making a real difference!
I have found over and over again, that the Lord answers our deepest questions in the deepest parts of the nights. While the natural world slumbers (at least on our half of the globe) our minds become more calm and able to receive influx from the other world. In addition to answering questions, the thinning of the veil between worlds can also allow for contact with spirits. I strongly believe this is not an activity upon which to purposely embark and there is real danger in so doing! But sometimes it is allowed in an orderly and wondrous way. I would like to end by sharing a story and I will keep it very brief (I have written in out more fully elsewhere).
Several years back I had a powerful and merciful interaction with my grandma, who had passed away about a decade prior. She was having difficulty in the World of Spirits (neither heaven nor hell, but the in-between region into which most of us enter after leaving this world). My experience began with a vivid dream of her trying to clean heaps and heaps of excrement from her basement. When I awoke from this dream I was in a receptive state and we communicated through ideas for some time. The tears poured from my eyes as I offered her comfort and reassurance. “It’s going to be okay,” I remember repeating over and over. Our communication came to a close after she asked me to say the Lord’s Prayer with her. It was a profoundly moving experience to say the least.
It is fitting that this blog post idea also came to me in the wee hours of the morning and is based heavily on some night-time scribblings. After all, with a baby getting me up multiple times a night there is a lot of opportunity.