A week or so ago I had one of those waking dreams where you’re not completely asleep but you’re certainly not awake yet. I was in a meeting with an unlikely assortment of people, and we were going around the room with everyone offering an opinion on something-or-other to do with the church and its nature… what exactly, I don’t recall. Dreams are like that. Anyway, I was the last to speak, and it seemed that I was somewhat at odds with some of the people in the group. This, of course, is nothing new to me. The strange part is what I said — I forget most of it, but it played off some things that others had said and then drew a conclusion that stuck with me, plus a further explanation that did not. I remember thinking how profound it was and that I’d have to remember it when I woke up so I could write it down. This, as you know, is a sure sign you’re about to forget some part of your dream.

The part I remember is the ultimatum: “You can bear the cross or you can be the cross.” Somehow it had to do with either bearing the cross of Christ in identification with him or else refusing to do so — in which case you became like an inanimate block of wood not suitable for life, but for creating a cross like that on which he was crucified.

Hey, it was a dream — don’t expect it to make complete sense, especially given that I didn’t retain the explanation. It’s hardly Dream of the Rood, but I still thought I’d toss it out here… anybody want to take a stab at making some sense of it?

In the absence of a suitable explanation, I’ll just presume it’s just nonsensical… but perhaps some of yinz are wiser than I!