After a great weekend away with my brother and his gals in Colorado, it was kind of hard to go back to work this morning.  It probably didn’t help that I didn’t get last night’s post finished until 1:30 AM.  That’ll take you out a bit in the morning.  I do remember having two really lucid dreams this morning before I got up- dreams that were so incredibly insightful about my life that I pledged to myself that I wouldn’t forget them- and I did.

I know in one dream, I was back in seminary at the beginning of a school year, and I was coming into my dorm room, and my roommate had moved in- and totally moved all the furniture around in the room.  Yeah, I was a little miffed.  And then as that dream went on, he turned out to be the most super cool dude ever.  What’s up with that?

In the other dream, I was giving my first lecture in some course I was teaching, and I was concerned about not having enough material, and it turned out I barely got out of the day’s opening point in the outline and class was over.  And for some reason in the dream itself I made some great revelation about my life and my heart and how it works.  And that’s the part I didn’t want to forget.  And that’s the part I forgot.

Deep stuff. Let me know what you make of those.

As for the rest of the day, work was uneventful.  A bug bite on my forehead itched and sat swollen like a big zit.  My tasks in the day were regular fare.  The office was quiet.  I drank some coffee.  My left thigh hurt much of the day, as if someone had punched it with a knuckle, like a charley horse.  I felt nauseous a bit around 2:30, and massively sleepy around 3.  How’s that for effectiveness.

I found time between work and tonight’s small group to read a few more chapters in Numbers.  I have to say- besides the digressions on census numbers and sacrifice protocols, I really enjoyed Numbers this time around.

I realized as Moses tried to lead the Israelites, first the nation turned on him because they were “without suitable food and water”.  “At least in Egypt”, they would whine.  In time, the leaders of Israel turned on him because they questioned his authority.  Then, in time, even Moses’ right hand man, Aaron his brother, and his sister Miriam also questioned Moses’ authority as God’s chosen leader.  Moses spent a lot of time on his knees, pulling the hair on his head off or from his beard out, throwing his arms in the air, wonder why he was leading these people, and in the next moment, pleading for God to cool down and not make a bad scene by frying his chosen people.

It was also great revisiting the story of the seer Balaam with his talking ass- a guy that a Midian king wanted to pay to curse the Israelites.  Five times Balaam pronounced a blessing on Israel and destruction on Balak and his people.  Four times Balak moved Balaam around, thinking he could get him to change his blessings and curses if he could only see things from a different angle.  Five times God spoke into Balaam the sorcerer and had him pronounce only what God asked him to- blessings for Israel, and destruction to the Midianites.  In time, so it came to pass.  And sadly, within the destruction wreaked by Israel, Balaam lost his life, after praising God and blessing His children.

Mostly, numbers reminds me that God holds man responsible for himself.   We’re all responsible for our lives.  And because we offend God so regularly, God had the Israelites offer sacrifices daily, weekly, monthly, and on feast days.  We are in constant need of forgiveness and purification. Heck, if an Israelite didn’t observe the Sabbath, he was worthy of death.  And vows.  Keep your vows.  At all costs.  If you pledge to do something, do it.

Well, there’s that.

Tonight’s small group was good.  We talked collectively about service- about times in the past we served that were special to us, and we might do as a group together in the future.  And we voted to start on a study of Acts next week.  It was a good night.

It’s before 10, so I will actually get to bed on time tonight.  I am tired. I need to write some thank you notes.  I need to do laundry. I need to do dishes.  I will, I suspect, instead just go on to bed.

Today’s lesson from my reading is really just to pay attention to God’s word.  Put him first, like Moses did.  Strive to be humble and faithful.  The story isn’t over yet: if you don’t have an answer now, you will sometime.  Just stay in there, engaging with others and with life.