A Dream Last Night

On this Christmas Eve, I am happy to be able to share a very profound dream with all of my blogger friends:

There were packages falling from the sky. They were dropping very slowly, drifting down all over the place. There were more packages than anyone could count.

There were people all around, but no one was paying any attention to the packages falling from the sky. They were going through the motions of their lives, oblivious to the gifts.

I was with some friends (although I have no idea who they were). One of them commented on the packages, but no one else seemed very interested in them. Finally, I saw that they were significant.

I selected on and opened it. Inside were all kinds of food and drinks and other "supplies". I pulled out a standing rib roast and a case of beer (of all things - haha) and looked around the rest of the stuff before moving on to another package.

I continued to open more packages, with a sense of amazement. The things inside were beyond belief. I was shouting to people "Look at these packages! There's more here than anyone could eat and beautiful clothes and money!"

Other people began to open packages, too. Everyone was thrilled with all the stuff. We all took what we could carry.

Then, as I was walking home with all my gifts, I started to wonder. Why were we the ones to receive these packages? Shouldn't they have been dropped in places where people had no food? There were a lot of people who needed more help than we did.

Suddenly I knew that people I've thought of as "worst off" already understood things I did not. The things in these packages were actually not what I wanted most, and I began to wonder, where are the packages I really want?

So, I woke with a new understanding of gratitude. I can be grateful for the things that have hurt me the most because in moving through those things I learn what is most important.

Without those things,
I would not be the person I am,
I might never have sought out the connection with God that I am finding now, and
I could have gone through life like all the people in my dream - not even noticing the "packages" that were dropping from the sky.

So, today, I hope you notice it all! As you open the packages, be grateful for all of your life because it is YOUR life, YOUR journey, and it has brought you to the place you are at this moment. No other path would have led here....

Merry Christmas to All!