A strange discussion

A few of us were talking tonight about dreams, which led to a discussion about demons. Yeah, I know: What were you guys doing? What we came to realize is: 1) How much dreams have an impact on an individual (directly and indirectly), and 2) How alive the demonic powers are in our lives.

Dreams are powerful things, and I think that we can all relate to that . . . sometimes I'll have a dream in which a friend may do something awful to me. I'll know that I have dreamt it, and that, in real life, nothing has been done by the other to me. However, I'll react strangely to that friend, afraid that he / she might hurt me again like they did in the dream.

As for the demons: Being where I'm at, Satan doesn't want me here . . . in fact, he hates the fact that any of us are in the seminary. He tries to frighten us and discourage us so that we want to leave. If we do so, he's won the battle. What we need to remember in all of that is that Christ has aready won the war - the Lord has triumphed over anything that the devil can do to us. We only need to have faith in the power of Christ, and call out to him when things get dark in our lives.

In all of this, I was reminded of a reoccuring dream that I had when I was 5 / 6 years old - and then again in college when I was taking my synthesis course in dreams and nightmares: The setting is the Biblical: I'm hiding behind a pillar in the Praetorium where Jesus is being tried by Pilate. The Pharisees are there, and Jesus is bloody from the scourging, crowned with thorns and draped in the purple robe. At one point, I peak out from behind the pillar, and Jesus sees me. He becomes furious at me: I can see absolute anger in his eyes. He begins to chase me all around the palace, including some walkways that are outside. At one point, I trip and fall. I turn around and see Jesus bending over to pick me up, his hands soaked in blood and his eyes filled with rage . . . . and that is where I would wake up. Not the most pleasant dream to have when you're 5, but it's one that sticks with you.

Dreams can tell us things about ourselves . . . and some dreams are just fluff. Like anything, it's knowing when you can look at your dreams and hopefully pull something good out of them. Recently, all my dreams have been comedy-like, and rather confusing. I've been lucid in a majority of my dreams over the years, but some control me the following day.

In any case, dreams are dreams . . . and how we handle them is better then allowing them to handle us, to control us. Dreams can also be ways in which God communicates with us. (Look at Saint Joseph and a number of the prophets!) Hopefully, our good dreams will outnumber our nightmares in life.


Enjoy the journey . . .

A beginning . . .

Hello . . .

This blog will just be a way for me to "think out loud", if you will. Nothing fancy. More will come as time progresses.


The title of this blog comes from one of my favorite Gospel passages: Matthew 20.20-28, the story of James and John (and their mother) asking who will sit on the left and the right of Christ in the Kingdom. Jesus asks them, "Can you drink the cup that I will drink of?" They reply, "We can." Are we all not supposed to drink of the cup that Christ has drunk from? Can we accept the will of God in our lives?

I hope to reflect upon these thoughts, and some others, in the course of this blog, and allow myself room to grow. Hopefully, you will be able to join me in this.

Enjoy the journey . . .