Anita Whitney (Arcadian Correspondent) recently wrote about a program helping young people to realize their dreams. Living life requires that we have dreams and visions—no matter how old we are.
Remember the Dutch woman Corrie Ten Boom who helped Jews escape the Nazi Holocaust? In midlife she was arrested and sent to Ravensbrück. Her triumphant story told in Hiding Place touched the hearts of many, including myself!
Well into her 80s, Corrie continued to work on a long list of goals. When someone asked why so many, she said, “Because if I only do one of them, I will have done more than most people.” Here was a woman who continued living her dreams, not counting the cost.
The Bible makes it clear that without vision and purpose, we dry up and wither (Prov 29:18). Life loses its luster and we fall prey to depression, apathy, and many physical ills.
Created to dream and imagine
The good news is that God has created us with a capacity to imagine and to dream, even while we sleep. Dreams in the night can offer us new vision and goals for our lives.
Church father Athanasius said, ”
Often when the body is quiet, and at rest and asleep, man moves inwardly…and the soul…imagines and beholds things above the earth…” (Dream Treasure: Learning the Language of Heaven).
The renowned Joseph Campbell describes this as dreamtime: “It is the time you get into when you go to sleep and have a dream that talks about permanent conditions within your own psyche as they relate to the temporal conditions of your life right now.” He sees the dream as an inexhaustible source of spiritual information about ourselves (The Power of Myth).
The power of dreamtime
At midlife, I discovered the power of dreamtime, and because of it, I’ve been able to do far more than I ever imagined possible—even as I approach my 80th.
Without my dreams in the night, I’d never have discovered my gifts and talents, conducted retreats in Europe, started my small groups, have a live radio program in Europe, gone to grad school, published books about dreams and forgiveness, and so many more things.
I want to tell you about a few people who have affected our civilization, culture, and history, because they too lived their dreams. You can read more of their dream stories in Dream Treasure: Learning the Language of Heaven and 33 Ways: How to Unlock the Mystery of Your Dreams.
Musical, literary & artistic creations
- Wagner: after composing Tristan und Isolde said “I dreamed all this; never could my poor head have invented such a thing.”
- Paul McCartney: received the complete melody for Yesterday in a dream.
- Robert Louis Stevenson: plots for stories like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde came from his dreams.
- John Bunyan: wrote Pilgrim’s Progress from a series of his dreams, visions, and contemplative experiences.
- Jesse Monongye: dreamed his mother gave him jewelry tools, telling him he would become famous; he won honors at the Gallup Ceremonial for a piece inspired by his dream (Arizona Highways, April 1979).
Scientific advancements & inventions
- Elias Howe: invented the sewing machine because of a nightmare.
- Albert Einstein: traced his theory of relativity back to a dream in adolescence.
- Kekulé: discovered the benzene ring structure from a vision of snakes in a ring chasing each other’s tails.
- Niels Bohr: developed his Quantum Theory from a dream of a race track.
- David A. Parkinson: the first all-electric antiaircraft gun director design came from his dream.
Famous Christians
- John Newton: author of “Amazing Grace” ceased being a slave-trading ship captain and became an Anglican clergyman because of his dream.
- Elector Frederick the Wise: dreamed that Almighty God sent him a monk, who asked permission to write on the Wittenberg Castle church door.
- A.J. Gordon (founder of Gordon College): his dream of Jesus sitting in the pew while he was preaching changed his ministry—“We are most awake to God when we are asleep to the world.”
- Mother Theresa: received direction for her life’s work after encountering St. Peter in a dream.
- Catherine Marshall: author of Christy dreamed of a stinking head of a woman on a pedestal-stand—warning about over-reliance on her intellect, rather than the Holy Spirit.
Famous world leaders
- Constantine: in his quest to liberate Rome, was instructed in a dream to paint the sign of a cross on his soldiers’ shields, which led to victory.
- Dr. Benjamin Rush: signer of the Declaration of Independence, shared his dream with John Adams, resulting in reconciliation between Adams and Thomas Jefferson.
- General George Patton: received intuitions for military maneuvers during sleep.
Famous sports figures
- Jack Nicklaus: improved his golf swing and scores because of his dream.
Wisdom comes in dreams
The Nes Perce Chief Shohalla says: “Wisdom comes to us in dreams.” Dreams enable the soul to reach the source of all learning—the knowledge of God (Dream Treasure: Learning the Language of Heaven).
But regardless of our spiritual orientation, evidence shows that dreamtime is powerful, offering us a source of wisdom, guidance and counsel that can affect the world around us—if we wake up and listen.