Dream on

Schlaflosigkeit. The German word for insomnia.

Our family recently visited dear friends in Germany and my body performed its usual stubborn revolt against the rude imposition of foreign time zones and unfamiliar schedules. Sleep has never been the kind of thing I can force.

One day, over coffee, my friend told me that she’s been thinking a lot about whether or how God speaks through dreams and what they might mean. She’s started keeping a notebook by her bed to write down her dreams as soon as she wakes up. She wants to be open to the voice of God. I told her that I hardly ever remember what I dream and that even when I do, they are so incoherent that I could hardly imagine them meaning anything. I disliked how the words sounded even coming out of my mouth. Sometimes I weary even myself with my skepticism.