Best. Dream. Ever.
I dreamed I was in some kind of open-ended pavilion. I was working on an event, standing at a high table, looking at floor maps and seating arrangements. I was standing with a friend, Chris Davis, discussing where we were going to put people. Another friend, Jen Smith, walked up and handed me a couple of voucher slips for payment. I very much remember that one was for $10, and it was marked, "payment for services rendered." The other one was a reimbursement for $7 (from the Dollar Tree!). Jen wanted me to see the vouchers - apparently she was in charge of the budget for the event! I remember saying, I don't need the payment, but I'll take the reimbursement. And she said, I'll take care of it and walked away. Chris and I went back to working on the floor plan for our event.
About that time I looked out the end of the pavilion and glanced up at the sky. The sky was blue - beautiful, pure blue, like the most perfect summer day. There were clouds racing across the sky, swirling and changing, but not in a frightening way.
I started to say, hey, look at those clouds, they look like -
And then suddenly I realized they didn't look like . . . they were!
They were taking the form of turrets on a castle, but in my dream mind I was thinking the word spires. Chris and Jen and I ran out of the pavilion, and I said:
It's happening!
Pure white clouds were chasing each other into view, but they weren't just clouds. They were taking the form of a city, in the sky, all around us. We stood there, transfixed, smiles as wide as miles on our faces. Suddenly I looked up to my right, and saw people being formed out of the clouds, stepping down into rows and rows and rows. Some were angels, some were people, and they stood around us - in the air, on invisible risers, it seemed.
I thought, the Great Cloud of Witnesses!
I looked at one woman in the sky. She had long hair, pulled up in a bun, and layers of beautiful white robes. She looked down at me and smiled. I waved, feeling very foolish for doing so, but she chuckled and waved back.
All the people I saw in the sky were moving while standing still. I don't know how to describe it adequately. They were formed of clouds - pure, white, bright clouds. Just as clouds move and form in the heavens, so were the clouds within the people moving. They were all smiling, expectant, loving.
There was a city forming behind them, also made of clouds. Buildings, houses. Even trees. Bright, dazzling, pure white.
Everything - people, angels, buildings - were waiting for something. Waiting for something to happen. Happy, joyful - like children on Christmas morning. I waited and watched with them, hoping to see what they were seeing, and what they were waiting for.
And then I woke up.
So I looked up the verse in Hebrews about the great cloud of witnesses, and suddenly I knew what the people were expecting:
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (12:1-2)I can't wait to see that throne, and my God, and my Jesus, and that city, and those witnesses.
Best. Dream. Ever.
