Dreams...

I had a dream last night. For the protection of those involved in the dream, all names have been changed ;)

The dream lasted about an hour. Throughout the dream, out of the corner of my eye, I could see the body of "Fulana de Tal" laying on the floor. Her torso was supported by her elbows, and her hands were together in fists on her chest. She was stomach down on the side of the street. I don't know what I was busy doing throughout the dream, but every once in a while I could see her in my peripheral vision, and because this person was very close to me I did not want to face the fact that it was her.

The dream changed when I looked and stared at the body. I was about 100 feet from the body, but I could see her face clearly. Not for one moment in the dream did I doubt who it was. It was her face, her clothes, and the street she was laying in was in her neighborhood on a route I knew she traveled daily. When I realized I had to report her body, I turned to my right and entered a small building that looked like a ranger station. I entered the doorway, and a cousin of mine was sitting at the desk. I said "Penny", call the paramedics. She looked at me and asked what was going on. I explained that she needed to call the paramedics, I don't know... the coroner, the police, but it's not an emergency.

She asked again what was going on. I was about to explain, and realized that this woman was also very close to Penny, and I felt the urge to cry. Before I could cry, I felt a rush of people enter the building, and so I moved to the side to let them pass through the doorway. They were coming from inside the building, and exiting where I had entered, and walking towards the body. There were hundreds of people, and they walked by in less than a minute. They were spirits, and this was confirmed by the fact that some walked through others, and Penny was staring at me the whole time and did not even notice the people walking by.

When the crowd was a lot smaller, my cousin turned her head and noticed some of the people. I noticed these people were alive, and not spirits like the rest. They were led by a woman who looked like a cop, but was wearing a tan uniform. The uniform in Puerto Rico is blue, but I think she was wearing tan in the dream because my mind had placed me in a ranger station.

My cousin walked out from behind the desk and again asked me what was going on. We walked out following the 5 or so live people who were now walking towards the body. The spirits were now gone. The body was still there.

At that point, my cousin and I were no longer in the area where the ranger station was, and we had walked into the neighborhood where Fulana had lived. We noticed that the crowd gathering around her body could not see us. The cop was crouched down examining the dirt around the body, and the coroner grabbed Fulana by her shoulder and turned her to see what was under her, if anything. Her arms stayed pressed against her chest in the same position, as if rigor mortis had already set in. She had a pencil, or something in her hand. At this point, the cop examined the rear part of her body, and said "This was an accident, or a murder".

At that point I felt surrounded by spirits, and expected to see the spirit of Fulana. My heart began to beat hard, and I was breathing hard. I realized within the dream that it was a dream. I woke up and my heart was beating just as hard, and I was breathing hard. It was 3:40AM.

I called my mother and explained what happened. I had her call Fulana, and explain to her that I had this dream. I spoke to Fulana a little while ago, and something struck me that nauseates me and is a characteristic of many "Christians". They both told me to "pray for understanding" of the dream I had just had. I explained that I did not need understanding- there was nothing confusing or ambiguous about the dream. I explained that praying for understanding would be akin to calling someone who had just left a detailed message, and asking them what was the message!

Fulana kept telling me she is too old to walk anywhere. She told me the only place she now walks to is to "Nanin's store". I explained that that was exactly where her body was- on the route to Nanin's store! She explained that I needed to pray, and get closer to God, and that I needed to go to church...

I explained to her that when John (hypothetically) wrote Revelations, he did not provide an explanation, though he wrote it in a manner implying he understood exactly what he was writing. She countered that God had provided explanations within Revelation, and I countered that the explanations were as ambiguous as the stories themselves. She countered that if you prayed God would give you understanding of Revelation, and I countered that no matter what understanding of Revelation that any individual may receive, it will be a different understanding than the writer of the message in the first place. I explained that John did not "pray" for understanding because what he wrote, to him, was not ambiguous, as it is to those who read it now.

Either way... Fulana is 82. She has attended church all her life, and she will not accept any progressive view of religion. I received a message. It was no ambiguous. I did not doubt the content or the context of the message, nor did I doubt who the message was for. I gave the intended recipient the message as I received it. I do not feel it is my responsibility to explain what was clear to me, as if it shouldn't be clear to anyone else...

What do you think?