Dream Weaver

     Often I remember my dreams and have always been interested in the science of dreaming.  I absolutely loved the movies Vanilla Sky and Inception.  The idea of controlling our dreams and experiencing life in a whole new way is alluring.  Whether they are totally lifelike or totally bizarre they are full of unusual opportunities.  They allow us to experience adventures we would never attempt in real life.  I’ve been flying through the air over mountains, and singing on stage in front of hundreds of people.  They can give us a chance to deal with things that make us angry.  I’ve given people a piece of my mind and threw a punch or two.  They even give us a chance to spend time with those we miss.  I’ve chatted with my grandma and grandpa, and have given them hugs that felt so real I woke up in tears.

     Last week I was watching a show about the science of dreams.  It explained research from the 1950’s that discovered the phase of the sleep cycle called REM or Rapid Eye Movement.  REM got its name because it is a period of sleep when ones eyes dart back and forth moving all around beneath closed lids.  It is also a time when the most vivid dreams occur.  The amazing part of REM is that during it, the part of the brain that allows muscle movement is actually shut down, rendering the dreamer paralyzed.  This happens so the dreamer does not move about the bedroom, acting out the intense imaginings.

     The scientist on the show made a statement that upset me.  He said something like…it's amazing that Mother Nature assured the safety of humans during REM sleep by paralyzing us during that phase.  It was frustrating that this scientist credited Mother Nature with something that only God could do.  He deserves the credit for the unfathomably intricate, astounding human body and all its wonders. 

When you consider the way the human body systems work together, from nervous to reproductive, digestive to circulatory, dreams are a tiny part of the show.  It is astounding to think about all of the miracles that happen in the human body every day.  REM sleep is just one of the millions.  I know science is all about logic, but to me it is illogical to believe the human body happened without a creator.  It makes me sad to think that so many people are missing the whole point when they think about the miracles of nature.  God put them here for many reasons and they help prove He is real.   The Bible speaks to this in Romans 1:20,  “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.”  Isn’t that true?  Looking at nature and all its unbelievable beauty and majesty, how can we deny it must have been created by some unearthly power?   And the “without excuse” part of that verse is kind of scary.  It is saying we have been given enough evidence in nature to know God created it and there is no excuse to believe otherwise.

     God created human beings and all the wonderful things our bodies can do.  He had a purpose for giving us the need for sleep and a reason for allowing us to dream.  Some people think dreaming is a way to sort out all of the things that happened to us during the day and compartmentalize it to prepare for another day’s adventures.  In the Bible God used dreams to communicate with people and He accomplished many important things through them.  In the Old Testament, God spoke to Solomon in a dream and told him to ask for whatever he wanted in 1 Kings 3:5.  And Joseph’s dreams in Genesis 37:1-11 led his brothers to conspire against him.  In the New Testament, Joseph was told how to protect Mary and baby Jesus through dreams in Mathew 1:20-25 and 2:13.  And in Matthew 27:19 Pilate’s wife warned him Jesus was innocent after a terrifying dream.  Whatever the purpose of dreams, God saw fit to bless us with them and he built our bodies to handle them.  They are one more reason to believe we serve an amazing God!