I had a dream last night…. a vivid single-frame image dream. The kind of dream God often brings me that is a bit of a puzzle, a challenge, or sometimes a call to a think deeply and clearly. Sometimes they are accompanied by some brief word from the Lord that shocks my senses into a sudden realization that He is giving me a new instruction or insight.
last night’s image was silent but potent in the contrasted mixed messages of its components. To the left of the frame was a small smiling yellow rubber duck, the kind of bathtubs and kiddie pools and Jeep dashboards.
The left edge of the yellow duck rested on the middle right edge of a seriously professional looking pair of dark colored diver’s fins. A foot was sliding into the right fin. It wore a white shoe of some kind, maybe a water shoe or a sneaker. The foot seemed to be mine. It was very brief, no more than one or two seconds.
If I reflect on such frame-image dreams and ask for understanding I generally receive a comforting thought that seems to be associated with the vision that only settles more firmly as the day unfolds.
The contrast of emotions invoked by the contrast of the components left me unsettled. On the one hand the safe, innocent naïveté of the smiling duckie and the prominence of the large, dark all- business diver’s fins was jarring….. especially with my foot going into one. I’m a fairly secure swimmer, but it’s always been in mostly safe environments, more recreational and relaxing than intense and purposeful, like I imagine deep diving to be.
I recall a National Geographic many years ago that featured some Asian Pacific divers who dove into deep water oyster beds with only swim trunks, strong limbs, and lungs trained for maximum air capacity. Their goal was pearls, probably “of great price.” The memory of those divers reminded me of summers and taking Red Cross swimming and life-saving classes as a youth. That is the closest to intentional and purposeful diving I’ve experienced.
In relating to a pastor friend what I was looking for in
fellowship, I remember telling him I didn’t want to be among just “surface floaters.” I wanted to spend some time with people who were ready for some “deep diving.” He agreed and I’ve watched him guide a group that I later joined deeper and deeper into spiritual growth and service to Christ’s Kingdom.
None of these ponderings has led me to a conclusion about the puzzling image. but it has helped me with some clarity in thinking about how I think about the meaning of this early morning vision. It actually raises more questions than it answers. And maybe that was the point.
( CBB 5/21/25)
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