dreamy

Okay, the dream I had last night was like no other. I'd have to say it is the closest I've ever had to a religious experience. For those that know me know that I am not a religious person and never really have been. That's why this dream really hit me in a strange place. Don't take this as preachy. I just really wanted to share this because I am fascinated by it.

I was jumping from rock to rock in a marsh not really thinking or doing much else. Suddenly the Earth shakes and rocks pop up out of the water while others sink what seems like a thousand miles below. There seems to be a booming loud voice but the voice can only be heard inside my head (I'm not sure how I know this). I am being given a riddle, of sorts, to solve. The voice wants me to name the A-B-C's of the spiritual/religious world. I get the A word right and the B word right. I really wish I could remember what they were now but I can't seem to. I'm pretty confident when I get to C and name the "crucifixion." I am wrong and feel more alone then I've ever felt. I take what feels like a life time to make a second guess while I sit on a rock in the marsh. I guess "Christ." Again I am wrong and feel even more lost then before. I remember waking up a few times in the middle of this dream and laying in bed thinking I have to figure out what the last key is. In my head I fade in and out from being on that rock to laying in my bed. I've never been able to come back to the same dream before but this didn't seem to be a problem. I make another guess, the "church." I am wrong again and feel hopeless, like I will be stuck on that rock forever. In my head years go by. It comes to me finally how wrong I had been the whole time. With confidence I've never had before I say "compassion." I know I am right and don't even need the voice to tell me so. It hits me, without compassion the crucifixion is just a bloody act of violence against man, plenty of people were crucified not just Christ what made his crucifixion special was the ultimate act of compassion. Without compassion Christ was just a man. Without compassion the church was just a building. I know that limiting myself to only the Christian mythology and not taking other beliefs into account blindsided me. I had been lost with only thoughts of the messengers and not the actual message. Once I fully understood this I looked up and realized that although I had always thought I was just in a swamp and later just on a rock there was so much more around me, for the first time the landscape was endless and I didn't feel lost or alone anymore.