Chapter 31

I awoke with the dream still floating in my thoughts. Blue-Casey was patting my face with his velvety paw. The morning sun was soft and low, just coming over the horizon. Lying in bed, I went over the dream in my mind. Over and over again. Then I decided I had to share it with someone. I reached for the phone and dialled my best friend.

“Hi, Sarah. Do you have time to talk? I want to tell you about the dream I had last night.”

“Go ahead. Tessa’s not awake yet.”

“Well, it seemed like it took all night. Actually it was more like a series of dreams. The first one started with me sitting on a wooden raft in a deserted lagoon. It was a quiet place with still waters. A man sat on the raft beside me. He told me to look at the beach. There, I saw a number of crate-like boxes. The man said that these boxes held all the major happenings in my life. Each significant experience was on the shore, including my past, my present and my future.”

“Sounds interesting. What happened next?” I could hear Sarah putting on coffee.

“There was a cross, a crucifix, standing on top of each box. As I watched, each cross moved over the top of its box and slid down the side where it stopped and then was embedded to become part of the box.”

“You were watching all this from the raft?” Sarah managed this question through a yawn.

“Yeah, then the man told me that the crosses meant Jesus was there with me at every moment of my life. We moved to the beach, and I looked into the boxes. Oh Sarah, you wouldn’t believe what I saw.”

“What?” She sounded more alert.

“When I looked into the first box, I saw Jesus standing beside my parents at my baptism. The next box showed where Jesus sat when I had my car accident. Each box had a significant memory with Jesus in it.” I stopped to catch my breath and blink my eyes to control the oncoming tears.

“Heather, what is it?” I heard the clink of cup against saucer.

Sobbing, I said, “Sarah, in one of the boxes I saw that Jesus was standing beside Caitlin’s bed comforting her those nights.”

“Jesus was there for you both in your worst moments.” Sarah whispered. “Was that the whole dream?”

“No, no, there’s more!” I wiped my tears and continued. “After looking in all the boxes, I backed up and watched as the man firmly shut the boxes. But only the boxes that held my past experiences were securely sealed. I asked the man if I could look into the boxes of the present and he said Yes. It was like an-out-of-body-experience as I looked in and saw myself sleeping. Then I asked the man if I could look in the boxes of the future, but I was told I wasn’t allowed.”

“What a wild dream.” Sarah took a gulp of coffee.

“It went on! The boxes of the past started to move toward the sea, like they were on rollers. As if by an invisible hand, they were moved into the water and slowly being swept out and sunk to the bottom of the sea. The past was gone.”

I sat up straight in bed realizing the true impact of my dream. “Sarah, Jesus was always there with me. I could let it go.”

“You can let go of the past and move on now,” Sarah said with authority. “You’ve been given a tremendous gift in this dream.”

“I know. I just had to share it. Isn’t it awesome? The past has been sealed. I can get on with life again.” I flopped back in bed with the morning sun in my eyes. “I really don’t know what’s in store for me and Caitlin, but I do feel as if things are going to be okay.”

And I knew as I said the words that I meant them.