Covid Dreams

I heard the other day that people are reporting Covid dreams. Dreams where they feel overwhelmed, or dreams from which they can’t escape. Whoever could have thought a year ago the word Covid would be such a regular part of our vocabulary or that we would be having Covid dreams? I say we are having them because I had one!

On Sunday night, or rather early Monday morning, I had a dream that caused me to wake from sleep in a state! It was maybe more of a nightmare than a dream. And, I am reluctant to put it in print but … it involved Donald Trump. So, yes, a nightmare. I, and some other very frightened people, were locked in a room with him and he was threatening to kill us because we wouldn’t vote for him. He was blustering and menacing and intimidating. I woke up frightened and anxious and it took me a while to settle back into sleep.

Dreams often reveal to us, in those misty, semi-awake moments between being asleep and being awake, what our sub-consciousness is wrestling with. The images that come forward often speak to what is troubling us or what is feeling heavy on our mind. Early on I learned that dreams, no matter how crazy they are, can open up to us what it is our spirit is grappling with.

Dreams are big in the Bible and most often the dreamer is having a Godly, spiritual encounter. Jacob wrestled with God. Joseph had many dreams after his brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. The Christmas story is filled with dreamers – Joseph the father of Jesus, and the magi all had dreams to help them understand their role in God’s unfolding drama.

Dreams always more about the dreamer than the actual dream. I am not sure what my dream revealed to me of God but I do know I was rescued before I was hurt and I was believed when telling my rescuers of my fear. And maybe that is what my dream was really about – my fear in these Covid days and my worry that they will never end and I will be locked in this half-life forever. I know that is not true but the sub-conscious worries about its own worries.

As a result of my nightmare I have resolved to try and focus on the positive not what I am missing. I have decided to seek out the ways of escape not dwell on the ways I am locked in. I believe God comes near to us in our dreams, opening us up to new possibilities, and reminding us we are not alone. For that I am grateful.