DREAM WITH A RECURRING THEME

Before waking today, I had a weird dream with a recurring theme.

I was walking around on my own in an expansive, modern hotel, trying to figure out how to get back into my room. I lost my key and my purse and could not remember my room number.

The hotel covered a lot of ground. Like a sanctuary, everything was readily available; it was self-contained.

Earlier, I had three glasses of wine----and though fine at first, I became groggy, almost lethargic. Moving in slow motion, I tried to act normal, hoping to find my things and remember my room number.

To no avail, I continued walking the same track within the hotel, not sure where to go, trying to figure it all out. I kept returning to the indoor swimming area.

At first, I was wearing red shoes with a broken heal on the right foot. I walked lopsided for a bit. Later, I looked down and was wearing all black shoes, unbroken.

The only time I sat was in the pool. The ceiling was one big skylight. The temperature was controlled and very comfortable.

There were children swimming around. Just a few boys were rude. As I sat in the water by a ladder, a lady about ten feet away looked me straight in the face.

Rather snidely and looking down her nose, she said, “You’re drunk!”

"I had two glasses of wine and then just a dab more."

Though fine at first, the wine effected my gate and demeanor. My speech was slow, just a bit slurred. Like being in the twilight zone, I could not seem to shake the sluggishness.

Finally, I gave up trying to fix everything myself and asked for the concierge.

With dark hair and a long white face, he came over and looked me close in the face, strangely and quizzically.

Then I woke up. In reality, I was lethargic and groggy. I wanted to stay home from work. Since I am the only staff in an office with two attorneys, I cast that aside.

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The recurring part here: I have had many dreams where I wander around a very large hotel on the same track over and over----either looking for my purse, room key, room and/or shoes----though I am not usually groggy and lethargic.

Because of my relationship with Jesus and membership in Al-Anon, I often wonder whether having a little wine now and then is okay, for me.

Well, I received two more confirmations----no more wine. Albeit I only drink it once in a while----not regularly----but I always wonder if it's okay with God or not.

1st confirmation: Someone said something about being "double-minded" and the words went straight into my heart----like they were from God. This caused me to check out double-mindedness, using self-reflection.

2nd confirmation: I was watching a Christian program on TV and the speaker said, "Be not drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit." Again, it went straight into my heart like an arrow----but I didn't understand, it was not clear because I do not drink enough to get drunk. Then immediately, the Word came to me as follows: Be not drunk with wine, which leads to dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit. So, I looked up the word "dissipation," which means "overindulging in sensual pleasures." This got my full attention.

Now, I know for a surety, I (me personally) am not to drink wine. I will also carry this over into other parts of my life (such as, overeating, watching too much TV, etc.) so as to keep myself focused, avoiding sensual pleasures and casting off double-mindedness.

God is good! He disciplines those He loves. Oh, how He loves me.