“And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy.” Hosea 2:19
A lady with silver hair dropped her lilac-colored slippers beside her bed, and crawled under the lavender chenille bedspread. She dreamed that she was traveling on a familiar path with a group of hikers. There was a deep sense of peace as they all walked together and talked with soft voices. The grass and trees were lush and green, and they came to a brook with pebbles and rocks in it.
The lady was slower than the other hikers and afraid that her feet might slip. The guide stopped everyone and came back to where she was struggling along. She recognized him from another dream! He held out his hand and walked with her through the water to the other side, and she felt the strength of his arms as he held her up.
She asked him, “Are we still headed north?” “Yes”, he said, “sometimes it may not look like it, because the road winds around at times, but you can rest assured that we are still headed the right way.”
Then the leader addressed the group, “Some people are going to be passing us in a moment. Just ignore them. Don’t listen to anything they tell you.”
Just then, a strange crowd drifted by. They were flat and fluttered in the breeze as if they were cut out of paper. Their faces were very odd and evil in appearance. They were headed the opposite direction, and laughed as they passed the hikers, saying, “What’s wrong with you guys? You’re heading the wrong direction. Can’t you see that? How stupid can you be?” They kept laughing wickedly, and the lady was glad when they had passed by. Everyone trusted the guide and whatever he said, and there was a beautiful sense of love and unity among the travelers.
The lady woke up with a familiar feeling of peace around her. She had often visited this world of warmth and brightness in her dreams, and felt that she belonged in these idyllic forests and meadows with soft pastel skies and dew sparkling on the flowers.
Sometimes a beautiful fox would appear, and she would run like a child laughing out loud as she chased it. In her recurring dreams she was young and strong, and her heart would ring with joy as she ran.
One night, she dreamed that she was at a beautiful wedding banquet and she recognized a man that she knew. He had on exquisitely lovely garments when she saw him, made of unearthly looking fabrics in rich hues.
She also dreamed once that the stones in her rings were all being removed and replaced with new stones. She saw the most incredible gems she had ever seen, and she was told that she could pick anything that she wanted.
Once she dreamed she had been serving the familiar man, when he suddenly made her sit down and he massaged her feet, and asked her how she was doing. She was astonished by this act of humility, because she only wanted to serve him. He gave her a diamond ring that had been glowing on his own right hand, and light was streaming from the stone in golden threads. He said that he would only give the most beautiful gems to his daughter or his bride.
The lady woke up shivering with joy and peace, and tears sparkled in her eyes. She loved this man more than life itself. In a previous dream, she had asked him the way to the gates of the city, and he had handed her a key without giving directions, as if she already knew how to get there.
Now she possesses two priceless gifts- a key and a ring.
“Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also. And whither I go ye know, and the way ye know.” John 14:1-4
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