Joe

Ten years ago, my friend Joe died.  I had just gotten back in touch with him after having lost contact with him for several years, but I never got to see him before he died.  He and I weren't close friends in high school, though we were good acquaintances, but in college, he was the one guy I could always count on.  Since he was still in Kokomo, he was always home when I was (including when all my friends had returned to school in the fall and I was waiting for NU to start the much-later fall quarter), and we hung out all the time. 

When Joe got back in touch, he told me he had cancer - he couldn't make it to any of the high school 10th reunion activities because his doctor didn't want him being around all of the potential germs and bugs.  I didn't make it either - I was out of town for a wedding that weekend and barely made it in for an informal picnic with some members of the class.  I figured I would just see Joe the next time I was in town.  I didn't expect that "next time" to be for his funeral.

Now here we are, ten years later, and Saturday night I dreamed about Joe.  The dream was rather strange (including a bit where I was running a long distance race that went through a barn filled with angry cows - I turned around and tried to sneak out before the bull saw me), but at the end of the dream I was hanging out with Joe. 

Somehow, I think I realized that I was dreaming, because even though he was right in front of me, I realized that Joe was already dead, and I knew that once I woke up, I wouldn't see him again. It was as though I knew I was going to wake up.  I knew I had to say my goodbyes. We said goodbye, and shortly thereafter, I woke up.

I frequently remember my dreams, but this one seemed really vivid.  And (I should add) though it's said we dream in black and white, I dream in vivid color.  And I can still see it in my mind, a full day later.

Last Night's Weird Dream

Last night I was craving salsa, so before I went to bed, I ate some chips & hot salsa, and I was just expecting some weird dreams.  I was not disappointed.

I dreamed that there was some super-evil bad guy who was plotting some kind of super evil, and he had hostages he was planning to kill.  He and the hostages were on a bridge over a large river.  I was not on the bridge; in fact, one other person and I were the only ones who could stop this bad guy, because we knew how to cross the raging river.  He didn't know that there was a ford where one could walk across in water only up to knee level.  We had a plan and a gun, and we were planning to cross the river and kill him before he killed the hostages and wreaked his evil havoc.

We were crossing the ford when there was a terrible splash.  Somehow the evil guy had fallen from the bridge. He did not land on or near the ford; he landed in deep water, and it became quickly apparent that he could not swim.  He was drowning.

Shortly, he washed up on the bank, not breathing.

We rushed over to where he was; I knew that he would  die if CPR were not administered right away.

...and I woke up.

What would you have done - would you have saved his life, even though your original plan was to kill him?

Going the Extra Mile

I think our culture has largely forgotten the extra mile. I know it's a hard concept for me to get my head around, let alone my actions.  I have had several recurring dreams in my life. The first one I can remember involved a huge locomotive barreling down the tracks at me - I was probably 6 years old.  Most of them involve school: showing up at school sans clothing - though usually I have a towel and/or underwear (sorry for that mental picture).  And then there's the one about forgetting my locker combination (the other night I had that dream, but I remembered the combination!).  Often I end up on my way to a final exam in a class that I had never showed up for and somehow forgot to drop (and I often don't even know where the class is going to be held). For a long time I had church-related nightmares (those stopped when I got to a place of forgiveness for some hurtful things that had happened).

But one of my frequent recurring dreams is the one about running.  You have to remember that I actually like running, but in these dreams (often I'm running a cross-country race) I can hardly move.  I'm running, but my feet feel like lead.  Kind of like how they felt when I was running the last couple of miles of the Columbus Marathon, when I couldn't lift them enough to stomp on a paper cup.  So I stop running and walk.  But I can hardly move while walking either, so I decide that I'd be better off crawling.  And that doesn't even help.  So I can hardly move.

I know, there are probably other reasons for this type of dream, but it got me to thinking about going the extra mile.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, it's when Jesus was talking to his disciples and the crowds and he told them "If someone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." The idea was that the Romans could force their conquered people to carry their stuff for a mile.  That was the limit.  But Jesus tells his followers to go ahead and go way beyond what is required.

I don't know about you, but sometimes just doing what is required is hard.  It feels like those running dreams I was talking about.  My feet are made of lead.  Even when I know I should do it.  But then to go the extra mile... that's like crawling!  Uphill.  In the snow.  And honestly I don't want to do it.

But that's what Jesus is telling me to do.  And he's not just telling me to do it with a "do as I say" kind of attitude.  He lived it out.  2 Corinthians 5:21 is a good verse to take to heart: God made him who had no sin to become sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

That's a good reminder to me... to go the extra mile, because I won't travel it alone.  Jesus already walked it, and He walks it with me.