Tuesday, July 18, 2017
DREAMS & THINGS
DREAMS & THINGS
By
Francis William Bessler
Laramie, Wyoming
7/17/2017
Last night - or rather, this morning - I had a somewhat vivid dream. It was somewhat vivid because I could recall it upon waking up. Most of the time when I dream, I cannot recall what I have dreamed once I wake up; but now and then, I can recall what I have dreamed; and this dream was one of those.
Quite often I am naked in my dreams - among a lot of clothed others who pay me no attention. That is, they pay attention to me, but not to my nakedness. I think I am "telling myself" by such dreams that I should not pay attention to wearing or not wearing in my life. So, I have me mixing with a lot of others while I am naked, but no one else is. I wonder, though, when I will dream a dream when or where more than me is naked.
I am reminded of a wonderful verse in THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS where Jesus says in a Verse 36 (of 114 splendid verses): Take no thought from morning till evening and from evening until morning for what you shall put on. I guess that is me in many of my dreams - and in real life too. Indeed, I try to "take no thought from morning till evening and from evening until morning for what I put on."
Most people, I believe, do not appreciate the beauty of going naked in life - or perhaps better, "going natural in life." Oh, what they miss! Most people go through life like life is somehow not worthy of their attention or gratitude, but their clothes are. So they parade in clothes, missing that their real treasure is underneath those clothes. To flip the verse of Jesus: They take all thought from morning till evening and from evening until morning what they put on; but in doing so, they miss the real security of knowing the wonder of life in an intimate & grateful way. This, I Believe!
But my dream of last night was not a "normal dream" for me. I was clothed throughout it. I dreamed that I was working in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in my former job as a contract computer programmer - though I never worked in Pittsburgh in my life. I did visit the Pittsburgh airport in passing a few times while flying from Denver to Atlanta via an airline that used Pittsburgh as a hub site, but that is the only time I have been in Pittsburgh. Now why in the world was I dreaming that I was working in Pittsburgh? Who knows, but I think we tell ourselves interesting things in our dreams - and that may be significant. I will touch upon that in my interpretation of my dream. OK?
Anyway, I dreamed that I was working at my desk in Pittsburgh and had spent about 7 hours of a planned 8 hour day. For some reason, I decided to go home before finishing the day, but I planned to come back and finish my work day later. I went outside and there was a train waiting for me. I sure did not expect that, but I hopped aboard expecting that train to take me home. It was a very plain train - not at all luxurious like one of those passenger trains that allow overhead sleeping. The seats were plain, but there were as many passengers standing as sitting because the plain seats were all used. Having no seat available, I stood along with those who were standing.
I expected that the train would be stopping at a depot very soon so I could get off and go home - because my home (or apartment) was not far from where I worked, but it did not. It just kept going and going - westward, as I dreamed it. Becoming alarmed, I asked some of the passengers when we would be reaching a depot so I could get off. No one knew what the next depot was or where it was. I thought that was strange.
Then I looked around and saw my brother, Bob - who now lives in my former home town of Powell, Wyoming with his wife, Linda. He was standing behind me holding a ticket. He told me it was his train ticket. I looked at it and saw a $77 price tag on it. Surprised to see Bob, I expressed my surprise. He said he was surprised to see me too. Then I asked him where he was going - and he said to Fort Lewis, Kansas. I do not know if there is a Fort Lewis, Kansas, but I asked Bob why he was going to Fort Lewis, Kansas - and he said he was going to visit an old army friend who had served with him in the army. Then the train stopped and we all got off - at some depot in the "middle of nowhere."
Anyway when Bob showed me his ticket, it reminded me that I had not paid to get on the train - and I became concerned about not paying. I approached a lady who seemed like she was an agent due to wearing a uniform - and I asked her what the price of my ticket would be because I wanted to pay it, though I was not sure I had enough money on me to pay it if it was too high. She told me that I should not worry about it - and then handed me a stack of coupons - some with one dollar stamped on them and some with 25 cents and others with 15 cents stamped on them.
I asked her what I was to do with those - and she said I should use them as needed. I guess I was to use as many coupons as I needed to pay for my ticket, but I was not even told how much a ticket would cost. I looked at one of the one dollar coupons and noticed that it was filled with signatures. I asked her about that and she told me not to be concerned, but that I should find an open spot and sign my name on a coupon as I needed it. So I sat down on a bench beside a table and looked at the first coupon and found an empty spot and added my signature. Then I took a second dollar coupon and had a hard time finding an empty spot where I could add a signature; and then I woke and realized that I had been dreaming. I was relieved at that because I was ready to end my adventure - whatever it was.
Interpretation
Who knows about dreams, but I do believe we have them to tell ourselves something - like those dreams where I am naked and no one else is. No one is giving me that dream. I am giving it to myself simply to tell me something important. At least, that is how I view dreams.
So, what was I telling myself with this dream? I was working at my real past profession in Pittsburgh. Why Pittsburgh? I had worked for one year in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but not in Pittsburgh. Ah, but I had not simply visited Harrisburg briefly like I have Pittsburgh. I think that is why I chose Pittsburgh as a work site. I was telling myself that my work site was temporary. I had flown in and out of Pittsburgh a couple of times in my life, but had not stayed; and that is why I think I chose Pittsburgh as a work site rather than Harrisburg where I did work for a year.
And the idea about ending my work day sooner than planned was important too. I was telling myself that work is important, but not so important as to have to pay too much attention to it. It was ok to interrupt my work day and go home for an hour and then return later to finish my normal work day. I was simply telling myself that I should not get caught up with work and fail to go home and enjoy another aspect of my day.
But why did I not take my car home or walk home? Why did I have a train waiting for me? I have only taken a train once in my life - and that was from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania where I was working to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where I was supposed to go to a foot specialist to operate on my foot. I had injured my foot previously from running barefoot in a hay field in Maryland. My doctor in Harrisburg could not find anything. So I had scheduled an appointment with a foot specialist in Philadelphia who was going to operate and see what he could find.
As it happened, the night before I was to take a train to Philadelphia, in treating my foot with some kind of ointment as I did every night, I picked at what I thought was a scab on the bottom of my foot - and out came the rather jagged piece of wood that had lodged in my foot several months before that. In a way, I had "operated on myself" and removed the piece of wood that previous X-rays had not found. I would not have had to see that specialist in Philadelphia then - and I phoned him that I would not be seeing him; but I had already reserved a ticket for an Amtrak Train, along with a friend who lived in Philadelphia and wanted to show me around the town. Having solved my foot problem by myself, I would not have needed to go to Philadelphia as planned, but my Philadelphia friend and I decided to go ahead with our plan anyway; but that was the only time I have been on a train in my life.
That may explain somewhat why I had a train unexpectedly waiting for me in my dream, but why did it not stop and let me off so I could go home? I think I was telling myself that life is like an adventure where you do not really know how things are going to go. I sure did not expect a train in my dream, but one was there. That is one of the aspects of adventure. Things happen. If possible, just go along with what happens and enjoy it as you can. Never mind having to find an explanation for why things happen. Just go with what happens and enjoy the ride; and don't expect luxury either as you do. That is why I had my train empty of luxury aspects like nice seats or overhead slumber lofts. Some would have dreamed a luxury train and would have needed that to complete their fantasy of life; but like I do not need clothes to comfort me in life, neither do I need lots of luxury to enjoy it. That is why my train was plain.
Why did I have brother Bob on that train? Because that is the way it happens in life. When you least expect it, someone you know shows up - or someone with a message to tell shows up. My brother told me he was going to a town in Kansas to visit a friend; and that is life too. Brother Bob was reminding me that I should do the same - take some time to visit a friend. My, what our dreams tell us - if we let them.
But what was the coupon tale all about? Crazy, huh? I asked about the price of a ticket for my plain train and I was told by an agent not to worry about it - and then when needed, I could sign one of my coupons that others had already used to pay for whatever service I needed. Why was I not told the price of a ticket? Why did brother Bob have a ticket with a price on it, but my agent refused to tell me what my ticket would cost? I guess it was to impress upon me that my question was unimportant. Never mind what brother Bob paid? His life is his own as my life is my own. One of us does not need to pay what someone else pays. Life does not work out that way. That is just one aspect of the variety of life.
On the other hand, why was I handed coupons that had already been used? Because we are all the same - and that which one of us needs, another does too. I was not the first one to need a coupon to pay for a service. Others have needed such coupons long before I came along. We are all the same. That is what I was telling myself by having to use a used coupon. Maybe brother Bob was one of those who had used my coupons to pay for his train ticket. Perhaps!
Why the 25 cent coupons and 15 cent coupons? Because some services cost more than others. That's all. I was telling myself that I should not use more than needed. If 25 cents is adequate, don't pay a dollar; and if 15 cents is adequate, don't pay 25 cents. But most importantly, don't worry about any cost. Love life as it is - and like that wonderful verse in THE GOSPEL OF THOMAS says: Take no thought from morning till evening and from evening until morning for what you shall put on.
Of course, my dream supplied a lot more detail than what I have covered in my brief interpretation; and having recorded it, I will attend to some of those details later, but for now, I have interpreted enough. What a wonderful gift and treasure life is! All we need to do is open our eyes and minds and spirits to take it all in - and enjoy our "plain" ride as we do. Don't you agree!
See you on the train from Pittsburgh - to wherever it goes!
Gently,
Francis William Bessler