January 15, 2010

Psalms 16 and 17 both have allusions to what happens when we are asleep. To me that means dreams.

Ps. 16:7b - in the night also my heart instructs me.
Ps. 17:15b - when I awake I shall be satisfied, beholding your likeness.

I never paid a lot of attention to my dreams until I began taking pastoral care and counseling courses a couple of years ago. The focus of those first classes was decidedly Jungian. After discussions with the teachers and classmates, I began to pay more attention to my dreams and learn what others with similar interests had to say about dreams.

The two Psalm "clips" above are definitely taken out of the whole message and purpose of the psalms, but they tell of a truth. If we believe we are made in the image of God and have God's stamp on and in us, then it is not a big leap to believe that when we dream, there is apart of us which belongs to God and has a close affinity to God that is reverberating, causing our dream images.

I refer people to John A. Sanford's book Dreams: God's Forgotten Language. Here are some thoughts from his "Introduction":

"This book is about dreams and religion and in particular about the relevance of the dream to the Christian experience. It is not a textbook on dream analysis.... Nor is this a textbook in psychology; though much Jungian psychology is discussed....[This book is intended] to give a feeling and insight into the religious function of the dreams that are dreamed every night."

This spiritual approach to dreams affirms that our dreams are not only interesting, but they have something to tell us and are worth listening to. Quite often we push important pieces of ourselves out of the way because they interest with our, say, getting ahead in our careers, or wanting to maintain a strong outward appearance. Sooner or later, what we deny in ourselves comes out in unexpected ways, and dreams can have something specific to tell us about that process.

John Sanford is a Jungian analyst and Episcopal priest, and is the author of many books including The Kingdom Within and Between People, both good reads.

Daily Office Year Two
Gen 6:1-8; Ps 16, 17; Heb 3:12-19; John 2:1-12