an interesting dream

One of the students in the class I teach came up to me and said, "I've been really thinking about what you've been saying, and I've been practicing some of what you teach, and I've really been growing closer to God." Awesome! I can't tell you the excitement and joy that comes over me when I hear that my pitiful teaching is at least reaching one heart and helping to draw them closer to God. Class today went well: we discussed perseverance amidst suffering, temptation, persecution, and doubt. So many of the kids had all kinds of questions, especially about the sacrifice of Jesus and what it meant. It was exciting. The youth minister's wife, Heather, jumped in and helped me teach, which I thought was amazing. Co-teaching is wonderful because when the fool who is supposed to be teaching can't get his words straight, the other teacher can explain what he's trying to say in words that are fluid and understandable. I really have a passion for teaching, especially with Jr. High kids. This summer will be awesome.

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I had a dream last night.

In this dream, I saw a naked, bony, skinny, skeletal prisoner standing alone inside a cold, rusty prison cell. His head gazed downwards, and his skin shivered in the frigidness. His white-knuckled fingers wrapped around the bars, and he wept, "Help me..." As the words came from his mouth, something astounding happened: he suddenly found himself clothed and warm, and he looked at his arms to see muscles forming over the joints, sinews connecting them together. Organs began to grow in his abdomen, and a heart evolved and began to beat. Smooth skin covered his muscles. The darkness of the prison cell vanished with a brilliant white light, blinding him; when he opened his eyes, he found himself standing in a beautiful meadow, the sky burning high overhead, seagulls singing in the distance. Elephants and giraffes grazed nearby. A figure sat on a rock next to him, smiling.

The prisoner, confused, asked, "What happened?"

The man replied, "You asked for help, didn't you?"

"Where am I?" he asked, looking around. "This isn't my prison cell."

"No," the man said. "It's not. This is your new home. I freed you."

"You freed me?!" the man exclaimed. "Don't you know who I am? What I've done?"

"Of course I do." He spoke without a flinch: "I know your crimes."

"Then why did you release me?"

"Because you asked for help."

"I don't deserve to be here. I deserve to be back where I was."

"I know you don't deserve to be here. But that doesn't matter. I've brought you here."

"And where is 'here'?"

"'Here' is, simply, with me."

"And who are you?"

"Your Redeemer."

The man shook his head. "No, no... I don't belong here. This isn't right. It isn't fair."

"Of course it's not fair! But it's my will. Look." He pointed to a waterhole several yards away. "You see those people crowding around it? Do you know who they are? No? They're people just like you: rapists, murderers, con-men, alcoholics, porn-addicts, and adulterers. Do you know why they're here? With me?"

The man shook his head.

"Because I want them to be. But I won't force anyone to come here. They just have to ask."

"And I asked," the man said, "so you brought me here."

"Exactly," the Redeemer replied. "Now. Enough with the questioning. You are too tense. Run around. Stretch your legs. Explore. Relax. You're in my community now. You're safe with me. You're mine, and no one is going to come and drag you back to prison."

When I woke up, it struck me: This is grace.