I had a dream, but was I listening?

Boy Scout Hill, White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas

I dreamed a dream the other night. It was a dream that filled my heart and lungs (a cardio-pulmonary dream?) like taking in a long, deep breath of fresh, cool air. It was one of those "deep dreams" you have during R.E.M. sleep. It was a vivid, full color, stereo sound dream that caused me to wake up and just lay there in my bed wondering about it. Why did I dream this, and why was it so powerful?

It was a simple dream. I was standing on the side of a hill overlooking White Rock Lake, a location just a mile from my house. This hill is known as Boy Scout Hill, and is covered in native prairie grasses. Unlike some native prairie grass areas, this is an original area that has never been plowed. This small hillside is just the way it was before Europeans invaded Texas.

Seated in the grass on this hillside were groups of people. I recognized some of them as people I might normally call adversaries. Others were friends. Most were strangers. I was walking from group to group, with my arms open and my hands held out. In a basso profundo voice, I was singing to them: loudly, strongly, clearly. I was singing the old African-American spiritual, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands".

He's got the whole world in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands

He's got the fish of the sea in His hands
He's got the birds of the air in His hands
He's got the fish of the sea in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands

He's got the gamblin' man in His hands
He's got the sinner man in His hands
He's got the gamblin' man in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands

He's got the little bitsy baby in His hands
He's got the little bitsy baby in His hands
He's got the little bitsy baby in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands

He's got you and me, brother, in His hands
He's got you and me, sister, in His hands
He's got everybody here, in His hands
He's got the whole world in His hands

It was a vivid, full color, stereo sound dream that caused me to wake up and just lay there in my bed wondering about it.

Why did I dream this, and why was it so powerful?

In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.

Acts 2:17-18