Subtitle: Can I return these new spectacles if they make me too peaceful, joyful and contented?
A few years ago I had a dream that rocked my world and will stay with me for the rest of my life. Here it is in a nutshell:
Summer 2002
Title of dream: Perfect Vision
I need glasses. I call the eye doctor's office and say to the receptionist, “I need to be seen today.” She says, "That is highly irregular, you need to wait for an appointment, etc." I say, "That is all well and good, but I need to be seen today." So she somehow gets me an appointment. I sit in the waiting room. The optometrist/ophthalmologist comes out into the waiting room, pulls up a chair directly facing me. He is bald and very kind. He looks directly into my eyes, without distraction or defense for a long time.
Somehow I know that this is my vision exam and ‘I’ve been seen’. The eye doctor then goes into the back of the office and comes out with the ugliest pair of glasses I’ve ever seen! I don’t want to be ungrateful, so I put them on, and I can see everything perfectly—not just my bodily vision, but my spiritual sight—I see everyone’s beauty and perfection. I even see the receptionist's great beauty, and I'd been feeling pretty grumpy with her before the glasses. Then I glance sideways at myself in a mirror, and I’m stunned to not see any of my imperfections, weaknesses, flaws. I take the glasses off--they are too much for me. I write the name of them on my hand (as if the doctor wouldn’t give the name/prescription to me if I asked!) and give them back. He just smiles sweetly at me and takes them. I know that I’m not ready for them yet.
I've done a lot of work with this dream, and the Doctor in this dream works with me each day of my life. He is very kind and gives me all the opportunities I need to make a new choice. I'm resistant, but persistant.
So when a friend sent me this YouTube video this morning, I started to cry. Here you go...
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About Beth Patterson
The Virtual Tea House website became 'word-ripe' when, over a cup of jasmine green, I realized that the web has an expanding part to play in the communal aspects of spiritual growth.
With a master's degree in religion, my career spans 30 years in end of life care and child abuse intervention and advocacy.
Here in beautiful Central Oregon, my spiritual homes of the high desert and the mountains are both in proximity. And for good measure, four hours away is Grandmother Ocean and the stunning Oregon Coast.
I'm making decent progress on the goal set by my mother early on: she taught us that the goal of humanity should be to become ever-more eccentric, i.e. more fully human.
Entering the 'forest-dweller' phase of life, I am honored to host the Virtual Tea House for all who wish to explore how our lives are enriched and made new a thousand times each day by the spirituality we embody. Exploring this engagement together is the purpose of the Virtual Tea House.
Welcome! Let's have a cup of virtual tea together and share what brings us joy, what we are being taught by life, how we are leaning into the Big Questions posed to us each day in sometimes 'distressing disguises'.
Follow me on Twitter, if you must
http://twitter.com/MyraB