Thursday, September 27, 2007

Deep Question: Dreams

Last night at OG, one of the staff there told me this bizarre dream he had about being tempted by another woman. What really interested me was the impact it had on him. He truly did not know what to make out of it; he seemed to have conflicting feelings of guilt and shame yet but his mind told him that it was nothing. I started thinking about my own dreams. It seems to me that in some of my dreams I am a mere spectator and don't feel like I have any real control over what happens. Other times I very much do feel in control and that I am making my own decisions and choosing my actions. Is my sense of control an illusion? This got me thinking about a deep question; if you sin in a dream, does it "count" as a sin in real life? In other words, since sin can be a mental concept, is sin done in dreaming "really" sin?

By the way, the The painting at the top is Frederick Lord Leighton's "Flaming June," painted in 1895.

May Light increase!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

It all depends on your concept of sin, God, dreams or altered states of consciousness. If dreams are literal and control of them is a given, then you are in control of whether you sin or not. If dreams are a dumping ground of all of the mental debris left over from the day, then the chance is that you sinned during the day but possibly only realized it after waking from the dream. If God holds you accountable for “what is done in secret” which includes the cognitive of the day, and you have control of dreams, then it will be on the list. One question I would have is, does God hold you accountable for a sin if the sin is unknown?
I think dreams are dreams. An altered state that depends largely on events that are familiar however they take the form of a Picasso and are as random as rolling 12-12 sided dice. I also think that there is enough crap in the waking hours to worry about that the dream state should be rated roughly -100 on the worry meter. Here endth the lesson. TP

Aisling said...

Hi Mark,

Thanks for stopping by.

'Flaming June' caught my eye - I believe I've used it in the past to decorate a post, as well :)

Anonymous said...

Does it really matter? I couldn't find the verse, but when you break part of the law haven't you broken all of it? (Is this logic bad? So what's "one more sin" in a list of a million trillion.) Without Christ, one sin separates us from God, but because of the work Christ did All of our sins are forgiven. "Yes, Adam's one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ's one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone."

I don't think we should condemn ourselves for what happens while we sleep, I do agree with a previous post though that we should watch what we put in our minds in the day to not encourage our subconscious to retain garbage.

Here's a question? Do you suppose our dreams can be a place for Satan to attack us, drawing us into fear, guilt, shame, etc.?

Jacquie

Mark said...

Interesting comments folks. "TP", thanks for your comments! I agree with you (and Mervin) that dreams are a dumping ground for our mental debris (at least most of the time). But debris can be manipulated, right? God did it for Joseph after all. I think God is holy and keeps you accountable (so to speak) for all sin - known or not (and I believe the Bible would back this up)."I think dreams are dreams. An altered state that depends largely on events that are familiar however they take the form of a Picasso and are as random as rolling 12-12 sided dice." Interesting conceptualization, I for the most part agree! "I also think that there is enough crap in the waking hours to worry about that the dream state should be rated roughly -100 on the worry meter." Hmmm. So when people are severely disturbed by their dreams or think God has spoken to them in them, I'm curious how you would respond? I must admit that I have woken from dreams before thinking I had committed some heinous crime and after the initial relief, prayed for grace after choosing certain actions in my dreams. I prayed because I felt like I had made the decisions. Other times, I've awoken and just thought "Wow, that was some crazy dreaming. I wonder what I ate last night that produced that!" I guess I lean towards an integrated understanding of dreams: mental debris that one can sometimes choose to manipulate in certain ways. I like your tagline "Here endeth the lesson." That's awesome Terry, it would be the perfect name for your new blog (which I know you have time to start!). Good thoughts!

Mark said...

Jacquie: I agree that we should indeed be careful about what goes into out heads (images, thoughts, desires, etc) as this certainly does affect the content of our dreams. No wonder those who go through traumatic experiences have frightening dreams! Can Satan attack us in dreams. Good question. My first impulse is to say yes, but I'm not sure. Definitely in our sleep, but in our dreams? There might be a difference between what is usually our dreams and what might be considered spiritual attack (maybe). Differentiating between guilt produced by our flesh (human corrupted desires) and Satan's temptation is pretty difficult stuff. Great thoughts so far!

Anonymous said...

my "worry meter" comment was basically of my own opinion of my own dreams. If I were faced with someone troubled by the content of their dream, this is fodder for the session. But I would approach it from the client's perspective of their interpretation and move it into their life experience. I would not dwell on the dream but use it as fuel. H.E.T.L.
TP