Saturday, June 02, 2007

A Stephen King Dreamscape

I had this dream last night. What a doozy.
In the dream there is an ambitious young preacher and his childhood friend who works under him. In the early days, they work together well but as they grow older, the preacher grows more and more prideful, greedy and his hunger for power multiplies tenfold. For a long time the friend keeps his mouth shut to the wrongness of the preacher's attitudes but eventually he finds it difficult not to say anything. He confronts the preacher and everything seems to smooth over and return to normal...for a while. Eventually the preacher starts to lust for power again and the friend becomes more and more uncomfortable in his job. Before too long, the friend is fired for no apparent reason other than to remove a barrier to the preacher's goals. The friend becomes angry and bitter about the situation for a long time but he eventually puts it all behind him and finds peace pursuing his career as an artist. The preacher continues his rise to power.
At this point in the story, an apocalyptic event occurs. Through whatever means, the preacher gains control of the Eastern portions of the USA. He has grown deceptive and evil. The young man, living in the Pacific NW, through no ambition on his part, gains leadership of a large portion of the Western USA. He is a reluctant but fair leader. The continuing story escalates to a showdown between the 2 former friends.
To me, this dream seems very Stephen Kingish. At least that was the impression I got during my waking moments after the dream. The preacher was very evil and the friend was a flawed reluctant hero. I remember one scene where the friend confronts the preacher after the apocalypse. The preacher is in his makeshift office and it just seemed to exude evil. I can't describe what it looked like but it seemed perfect for an evil preacher.
I really, really, really wish I knew what dreams like this mean. Are they prophetic or the result of pizza eaten too late at night?
Actually, it was a turkey sandwich.

2 comments:

Cassie said...

My first thought was of the Left Behind series. It also made me think of that passage (Matt 10:34-42) where Jesus talks about not bringing peace, but a sword....We each have to choose which side of the battle we're on. If you choose the good side, you have to be diligent and not allow yourself to be taken over by "the dark side."(Which can happen gradually & subtly). You also have to be willing to allow God to use you in ways you may not otherwise choose.

So where are you in all this? (rhetorical) Self-absorbed preacher? reluctant hero/artist? Is this a picture of an internal battle?

Or it could just be the turkey talking! :)

Take this for what it's worth (the paper it's printed on?)

Anonymous said...

It's not prophetic, but it's a revelation of your inner struggle. The dream is you, your struggle for inner peace in life, your commentary over your redefinition of Marty.

You've constantly struggled with your calling, your place, and your past. The dream shows what you think about the parts of you and your history back East. Note what you would've become if you'd stayed the person you thought you were supposed to be! The benevolent leader in the NW is how you feel about your control over your own life now.

Think of it as you revealing yourself to you, god speaking to you through a dream, whatever. I think, though, that the biggest thing the dream shows is that you are much happier with yourself pursuing the more benevolent, artistic path, and that you are where you are supposed to be.

I just want to know - what was the outcome of the showdown? Hope you win!