Tuesday, November 27, 2018

My Dream About Remembering

Last night I had funny dreams about a town where everyone forgot things. They all knew that in their special town that was prone to happen and they adapted as best they could in their collective partial remembrance. I woke up thinking, 'This would make a good series of books if it hasn't already been done.'

Then I opened my, 'Ariel's Harmony of the Gospels' to pick up where I left off yesterday and it turns out I'm in a section called, 'The Rejection of the First Sign of Yonah' page 181. In the next few sections the author has collected different portions in the Gospels where Christ was rejected.

After Lazarus came alive again the Pharisees had a meeting. They were sure that Jesus' actions were going to bring the fury of Rome down on Israel. The logic was that Jesus would displace their influence and they would no longer be able to protect the people. They decided Jesus needed to die so that wouldn't happen. This is all recorded in John 11:45-54. After that Jesus withdrew from preaching openly and starting operating in the wilderness of Ephraim.

That brought me back to my dream. Don't we all live sometimes in the 'town where everyone forgets'? We cope as best we can but we know in our heart that things are not right. There should be more clarity.

Jesus withdrew long ago because the powers in charge refused to see Him as being the embodiment of resurrection life. Instead they saw Him as a threat to their fragile control over their situation. He withdrew like our memory can withdraw leaving us struggling to recall the name associated with a familiar face.

It is very human to want control but exercising control has a price. We can miss the moment. We can forsake the mercy God wants to give us. Perhaps our tight grasp doesn't resemble the murder plot described in John 11 but I think it mirrors it far more than we realize. Those simple uneducated fishermen were thinking much more clearly in that situation.

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