The path between dreams

Very early in the morning (Jasmine, my cartoon character was in a hurry for me to render her in 3D)...

In my dreams...

I walked through the slumbering village. Behind half-closed windows, I can see the sleeping inhabitants. I’m touched by this unexpected intimacy. These people are so precious to God and yet they don’t know it... like all of us (including me, sometimes) they beg for a few cents’ worth of affection each day, without realizing they’re sitting on a huge seam of unconditional love…

I cautiously wend my way through their dreams until I plunge into a forest as impenetrable as their slumbers.

The invitation

Amidst the silence of this secret, awe-inspiring place, I come to talk with my Maker. As usual, I haven’t really thought through what would happen if He granted my requests...if I had, I’d perhaps have had second thoughts about what I asked for (especially this morning!):

- Hello God, I’ve a ticket for you to our concert tonight…will you be there ?

Silence.

(His silence means something to me...but I’m not sure what exactly.)

That evening

The concert

From the vantage point of the stage, the view over the lakeshore is lovely. My wife gets the audience singing and we’re off! Barely two songs in and the incredible happens. Without warning, a massive lightning strike hits, like a huge camera flashbulb going off, everyone’s shadow is plastered against the ground as a result.

Its sudden appearance lights up every cloud with such intensity that we are suddenly all very much aware of the enormous expanse of sky around us (this sky, which is normally so understated). For miles and miles in all directions, everything alive is very much awake now.

The downpour

Torrential rain, almost as dense as the lake itself, tore down on the audience. Unthinking panic took hold and the crowd rushed into the two or three refreshment tents that had been set up.

Stuffed to the gills, these cramped premises saw personal spaces invaded in less than a minute in a way that normally is reserved for very close friendships built up over the course of years.

The show must go on

The surprise guest!

I may have been a musician on the covered stage (thank goodness there was a roof to shelter under!), but I had no less a feeling of being a mere spectator. That’s when I recognized him…

Silence.

The natural world unleashed, this electric atmosphere, this strength…He’s here! He who I invited this morning…has come! The Ancient of Days, the maker of the universe, the Creator Himself is at my concert!!! My awareness of my lack of musical talent only makes this visit even more of an honour!

Like a child playing with their father

I reply to His lightning with a guitar riff which rips through the sky. At this moment in time, I play for Him and Him alone, with all my heart. I leap for joy with all my might (in time to the music too!). The thunder that shakes the ground at the end of the song is the best round of applause I’ve ever received.

A strong wind, mixed in with cool raindrops, caresses my face and my clothes billow and flap in the wind.

Away in the distance, a hundred balloons rise into the air in one go, creating a magical spectacle in one small part of the sky. Only those on the stage witnessed this last act in a show that was worthy of any fairy tale (ok, ok, the balloon salesman was there as well).

In the middle of the town square, abandoned by all the ‘sensible’ people, in the driving rain, a woman in a wheelchair was clapping her hands in time with our songs. She was really living life to the full, much more so than all the rest.

Her joy was so palpable that I could see her soul through her smile.

There were also two young girls dancing and laughing, absolutely soaked to the skin.

Crash landing

A shower of sparks flew out from the second guitar’s wet amp before giving up the ghost. The sound guy in the tent opposite the stage would normally never give up but he threw his hands up into the air, signalling he was doing just that.

– We heard him say: There’s nothing I can do !! There’s nothing I can do !!

His voice was drowned out by the music (I didn’t want to stop !). By some miracle of technology, sparks continued to fly out of the speakers.

See you!

I left an astonished crowd behind me. A strange kind of whirlwind passed through them, but I know that they won’t have been aware of the real significance behind it… As I left the stage, I nodded to my God, off in the distance. He saw my wink and understood what I meant by it:

– See you tomorrow in the forest!