Safety

I've been having a lot of weird dreams lately, most of which I don't remember or remember only the smallest of details. Frequently I just wake up with a sense of discomfort.

I have more memories than usual of a recent dream. I was in Scotland, and I ran into my father (dead) and cousin, and then my aunt (dead) and my cousin's wife. Then suddenly, I was in China. Even though I was in a restaurant, the waitstaff was most uncooperative, and it became a trial to try to sit and eat my piece of cheesecake (yes, cheesecake in China).

During this restaurant chaos, I realized I had lost my phone and my purse. I had no way to call anyone for help, and of course, I didn't speak the language. Somehow I had the means to get on a bus, and I knew that if I took the bus it would eventually get me to the train station, and I would be able to find Dave there.

(It's a good bet that Dave can be found at a train station.)

It was a weird dream, but not unsettling. In fact, it was calming.

I knew where I was going, and I knew I would find help and safety at the end.

In this case, it was the safety of being with my husband.

As chaotic as the world has been this year, we have always had the safety of the church.

Many of us know Psalm 91 as the hymn On Eagles Wings. It's a psalm used for evening worship. There is a certainty of safety in God that is calming.

Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.I will say of the Lord, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust." (Psalm 91:1-2)

I pray you find St. Stephen's a place of safety: a refuge and a fortress.

And that you have someone of safety waiting at the train station for you.

- Ann Iona Warner