Dreams

The other night I had a dream where the man with white hair appeared again. This time as an American Indian elder wearing a gold buckskin fringe coat. In my dream was the woman who has previously appeared in my dream saying, "God is always with you. He is always in your heart." And in this dream, she summons the elder and she hands him a white hawk. The elder is summoned to set the hawk free. He sets the hawk free and the hawk soars into the skies with wings spread wide open ... a magnificent sight ... the hawk circles back and lands on a table near the woman and the elder. The hawk appears injured. The hawk takes a deep breath and with one last sigh, surrenders and dies peacefully.

This morning the number "613" kept popping up in my head. I open up my journal from 2006 to my June 13th entry:

"Dreams sprinkle dust of past, present, and future -
in the mixing
sometimes bridges form
sometimes tunnels form
sometimes galaxies form,
but you can't see it from where you stand
it just looks like a cloud of dust
but from a heavenly distance,
you notice, it's the Milky Galaxy."

- Marilou Chanrasmi (6/13/06)

Dreams have always spoken to me. They allow me to experience a existence I often find hard to put into words. I have always had vivid dreams. As I lay my head on my pillow at night, I wonder what journey I will embark on. I embrace the night with childlike curiosity.

"In the old days our people had no education. All their wisdom and knowledge came to them from dreams. They tested their dreams and in that way learned their own strength." -Ojibwa Elder (from Honoring our Elders).

"Our dreams are like a guiding light given by the Great Spirit to souls that otherwise would wander in darkness." - American Indian Saying

We are not alone. We are never alone. Even in our darkest moments we are never alone. We recently heard on the news of a Haiti man pulled from the rubbles after 4 weeks. Doctors say he could not survive without water. He tells doctors that a man in a white coat had taken him water as he lay confined under the concrete. Who was that man? Our brains struggle to make factual sense of everything ... is it not possible that there is a God? That there are miracles? Some may say he was hallucinating.

For me, I choose to believe God was with him, bringing him water. I believe God is always with us. Life (and death) often can't be explained ... what's so magnificent about the gift we have of life, is that life truly is a mystery, and life will always be full of questions and surprises and miracles. [click here for the story on the Haiti Quake Survivor].

Photo from Flickr.