Matthew 3:16
16 And Jesus, when he was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and, lo, the heavens were opened unto him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove, and lighting upon him:
Mark 1:10
10 And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon him:
Luke 3:22
22 And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.
John 1:32
32 And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it abode upon him.
Luke 3:16
16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire
-Holy Bible, KJV
Doubts- We all have them. Dreams- We all have those, as well. Dreams in the context of things we hope to accomplish, and of things we hope to be so. And dreams in the context of the places our minds take us as we rest, our subconscious. On our journey through the routine drudgery of life, we sometimes look for symbols and signs, omens of things to come. On this journey, we sometimes ask ourselves “Is this it? What’s the meaning of my life? Does my life, or any life for that matter, even have meaning? Should I go in another direction, and if so, where and how?” As I’ll often state, I’ve had these ruminations since childhood, contemplating them constantly. My biggest fear has always been, despite all my instincts to the contrary, that what I see here, in the world of mortal men, is all there is: no meaning, no importance, or existence beyond it. And at the end of this journey, that’s it. No hereafter, just completely ceasing to exist. No different from a mere beast, or vegetable, for that matter. Every experience we’ve ever had, every effort we’ve ever made, any passion we’ve ever possessed(in the dual sense of the word), all for naught. A very chilling thought, indeed! And honestly, I just can’t accept that!
Usually, we forget our dreams shortly after waking up. On to the next thing, I suppose. But in rare cases, we remember dreams in vivid detail, an impression left upon us as we ask “What was that about? What did it all mean? One night(I can’t even remember what I did that day, but it was obviously something mundane, routine, and unimportant) a year or two ago, I had a dream where I stood on a balcony of a high-rise building, on what seemed to be a dark and ominous night, staring off at the building just like it beside me. On that building, a dove of fire descended down above the head of the person there, as if they were being chosen, or anointed. Moments later, I look up to see another dove of fire descend down just above my head, as well. And then I woke up, a certain calm coming over me, pleased at what I’d just witnessed in my subconscious. Let me add that I either usually dream of random nonsense, or something that may be bothering me, or occasionally, something I’m after. But these occurrences all seem muddled, somewhat fantastical, and unfocused, at best. But THIS was the most important dream, I feel, I’ve ever had. Occasionally, believe it or not, I even have premonitions(yes, premonitions, that I seldom speak of) to where when they actually occur in the real world, it feels like deja vu! This dream to me, was a Divine sign, The Most High communicating with me. Perhaps reassuring me, and a sense of purpose as well: The dove represents several things, including the presence of the Holy Spirit, the fire representing the power of The Most High. Since there is no Burning Bush(Exodus 3:1-22) or Speaking Donkey (Numbers 22:1-41) to do the job, this sign will have to do! I interpret this dream to be communication more in the vein of the Pharaoh of Joseph(Genesis 41:1-57)
We’ve all also heard the expressions “God(The Most High) is never there when you call, but He is always on time” and “God works in mysterious ways”. To be brutally honest, these expressions on the surface seem like cliche cop-outs and platitudes when we are going through tribulation and adversity(Most of us tend to think life is supposed to be easy, and not think of it as a journey, but that’s a tangent for another article), but they certainly almost ALWAYS ring true, even if we don’t understand it in the moment. I’ve always second-guessed my understanding of TMH, the tenets of my faith, and whether I was truly walking the path of righteousness(Lets just say, I’ve always had my doubts about the religious practices and doctrine I was exposed to). I’m overjoyed that I received such an answer. That dream, among other experiences and encounters, have motivated me to create this platform to share that understanding and to fellowship with those of a like mind. All PRAISES TO THE MOST HIGH, YAH! Shalom.
