Yet another year has come and gone, and its trials and triumphs are now largely memories. The dawn of a new year brings reflection, and an inherent time to pause. We set our house back to "normal" today, packing up all the Christmas decorations, setting them aside for another 11 months. The house feels airier, freer; but maybe we just have regained some space; and having packed away those festive trimmings, and properly cleaned the house for last night's dinner guests this is simply underlined.
New Year's Eve Emily and I went to a house party to ring in the new year with friends. It was the first year she was actually able to stay up and see the proverbial ball drop. Truthfully it's the first time in years I have done it too. Most years I opt for a glass of wine on the couch with the comedy specials or a movie and call it a night well before midnight. In any case we had fun.
That night, or in the wee hours of New Year's Day, more accurately I had an odd dream. Odd not just in subject matter, but in that it was recurring. Most dreams, once you wake, dissolve into the mist never to be seen again,apart from perhaps your ability to recall them. This one seemed to pick up like a paused movie each time I woke and then returned to sleep.
In the dream I had returned home from this party, and in walking into the house saw my deep freeze standing open, and utterly empty. I was annoyed and perplexed, but not overly concerned (as one might be to discover several hundred dollars of food vanished. I woke, briefly, thought the dream odd, and rolled over, back to sleep.
Again I dreamed. This time the refrigerator was also discovered to be empty. My reaction was the same. A third return to dreaming and now the thawing roast on the kitchen counter, a sizable piece of meat, was also missing, as was, I soon noticed, my computer. This time I was perturbed, but still not upset, and I called the police who asked me for a list & valuation of my absent foodstuffs. (No other material things were absent, just the computer). As I began to try to figure out the value of all the meat & prepared meals in my deep freeze I finally woke up.
I lay nestled warm in my bed, pondering this dream, since I rarely recall them on waking, unless there is some purpose to the dream. Nothing came to mind, and I was still not concerned about the lacking foodstuffs, which I briefly considered to be a sign of coming privation. I have read articles lately warning of increasing grocery prices in the coming year. But this did not resonate as making sense.
I let it alone and moved forward with my day; largely spent preparing a feast to share with dear friends.
Over dinner I did tell my friends of my dream, sometimes someone else can see an interpretation where I cannot. We discussed their plans for the coming year, exciting changes I think; and my own hopes and plans, and the sustaining grace that saw me through the past year of unemployment without want or doubt that good things were to come. God did bring me through, to a job that suits me, uses my gifts & satisfies my needs. Although it was difficult & at times stressful, there was much grace and never any real want.
At the end of the evening I tucked Emily in & had a short chat with Peter before turning out the lights and seeking my bed again, pleased with a delightful evening with friends, tired and making to-do lists for the following day. As I lay there mulling over the past few days and the coming ones as well it occurred to me what my dream might mean. I strongly considered messaging my friend with these thoughts, mostly so I wouldn't lose them, but I couldn't find the energy. And, if there was merit to them they would remain til morning.
I remembered, belatedly the dream decision to call the authorities, and the subsequent request for an enumeration of the losses. In that moment I felt strongly that all the losses I have endured over the past several years have indeed been enumerated, and noted, and that those losses will be replaced or restored.
When I woke up in this morning I knew I had heard the answer most distinctly, but was kicking myself for not writing it down....it had vanished with the sandman. But very quickly I began to see it again, along with further meaning. What I became aware of this morning was a very keen sense that the old has been cleared away to make room for new abundance. As I began to share these thoughts with my friend the knowledge that my losses have been cataloged too returned to me.
2016 will be a year of great abundance, despite the state of the economy (there is more to abundance than mere money, after all), a year of hope and promise. Happy New Year!
