Skip to main content

Dreaming

Well, I've never had a dream like that before, you know?  Most of mine are the usual kind of thing, with people and places all jumbled together, and it seems perfectly normal that you and Great-Aunt Sarah are riding flying donkeys to Assyria.  Until you wake up.  But this one was... different.

How?  I guess it had an air of... authority, you might say.  Did you ever have a dream where someone was commanding you to do something?  I can't say I have.  But in this one, there was an angel - and I knew right away he was an angel, like you do in dreams.  No, no wings, not that I recall.  But a kind of brightness around him, somehow.

And he told me - just straight out, in plain language - he told me, "Joseph, go ahead and take Mary as your wife.  She's telling the truth.  This child really is from the Holy Spirit, and it will be a boy, and you will call him Jesus."  Exactly what Mary's been saying all along.

And you know - well, I talked to you just yesterday, didn't I?  You know how convinced I was that divorce was the only way to go.  As quietly as possible, of course, but I just couldn't start a marriage knowing I was raising another man's kid.  And as first-born!  It'd play havoc with the inheritance.  Not to mention all the trust issues, and... no, I won't start that again, you've heard it all before.

Well, I woke up this morning perfectly convinced the other way.  The last thing I could do is divorce Mary now.  I know what you're going to say: "Because of a dream?"  But that's what I've been trying to explain.  It all made perfect sense in the dream, and it still makes perfect sense now I'm awake.  This is what I'm being told to do.

No, I know I haven't had any real answers to my questions.  Except - I have, haven't I?  If what Mary and this angel said is true, that changes everything.

Yes, that changes... everything.

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream.
Matthew 1:18-20a
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

One hundred churches

About the middle of January, I was walking to school one afternoon when it occurred to me that I must have visited quite a few churches on my explorations. I started counting them. But I quickly ran out of fingers, so when I got home I plotted them on Google Maps. Not only was the number much higher than I was expecting, it was also tantalisingly close to one hundred. Only a few dozen to go. So of course, every walk since then has had to include at least one church! Last Monday I visited my hundredth church: St John the Baptist, Dethick. It was a beautiful little 13-century building with an unusual tower - I was glad it had claimed the 100 spot. I haven't been inside every church. Sometimes they were locked; sometimes I was in a hurry and didn't try the door. St Leonard's Church in Alton had bellringers practicing, and I almost interrupted a funeral when I stuck my head through the door of St Mary's, Marston-on-Dove. A few, such as St Oswald's, Ashbourne, and St Wys...
Post a Comment
Read more

Derwent Valley Heritage Way: Steep drops ahead

It's been a long time since I fitted that much up and down into an eight-mile walk! 740m of steep climbs and steps. My legs were not very happy with me the next day. Between Matlock and Cromford, the Derwent River runs through a deep valley, with Matlock Bath - a landlocked town which pretends to be a seaside resort - down at the bottom. The ridge of high ground used to run all the way round to Scarthin Rock, cutting off Cromford from the rest of the valley, until somebody blasted a hole through it to build the A6. Matlock Bath: pavilion and amusement park I started in Cromford and climbed over the ridge at Harp Edge, then followed a path along through the woods, with the ground dropping sharply away to my right. There were a few small caves among the trees. At Upperwood someone had thoughtfully provided a bench. I wasn't in need of a rest just yet, though. In fact, I was feeling so bouncy that I went down an entirely unnecessary flight of steps, instead of staying on the reaso...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Churnet Way: a wonderful walk

The loop from Oakamoor to Froghall and back was one of the most enjoyable walks I've done in a long time. It had a bit of everything: woods, ponds, rivers and railways; steep climbs and sweeping views; an unusual church, an ex-industrial wharf, and, as a final bonus, car parks with toilets. Of course, the sunny weather helped too. I parked in Oakamoor and set off along a quiet lane called Stoney Dale. This is the route of the Churnet Way, which deviates away from the river for a couple of miles. After a while I turned right and climbed up through the woods on a gravelly path, then dropped down to the B5417. a spring in Oakamoor   Crossing the road, I entered Hawksmoor Nature Reserve. It has some fine gateposts commemorating John Richard Beech Masefield, "a great naturalist". I found a photo of the opening of the gateway in 1933; unsurprisingly, the trees have grown a lot since then! A track took me down through the woods to East Wall Farm. Lovely view! Nice duck pond as ...
Post a Comment
Read more