Nightmares like the Gulf Oil Spill

Nightmares come in many forms and fashion the state of our minds. My nightmares have run the gamut.

There was the early nightmares of being chased by horrible, ferocious wild animals – none of them had I ever seen at the zoo. These soon passed into the nightmare of falling into huge gapping holes that would simply swallow me up. This one was then combined with the typical adolescent nightmare of being found in a very public place totally naked as friends and family pointed and laughed … horrible ridiculing laughter.

As an adult the nightmares ran from the embarrassment of preaching away only to discover that I was standing in the pulpit in only my underwear to the more confusing nightmare presently haunting my subconscious … of being invited back to become senior pastor at one of my previous churches only to discover that the buildings are multi-combinations of most of my churches and I’m simply confused, cannot make my way through the corridors making me extremely late in getting to the worship center to lead in worship.

Then I wake up and life is what it is … Naturally one can be living a nightmare, but most come in the safety of sleep … safety, because they are not real, but merely the exposure of a persons fears or hopes. So I am beginning to wonder as to when I am going to wake up to find that the nightmare of the Gulf Oil Spill was simply one of those never ending maze of confusing corridors that lead nowhere except to simply more confusion.

I am sure that there are experts out there someplace who would be more willing than I am to take my money and unravel the dark secret meanings of my nightmares. Dreams have never been a problem. I am usually able to decipher the meaning of dreams for others, or myself but nightmares are a total different part of the human psychic. But this Gulf Oil Spill is beyond me and evidently, beyond the so-called experts. When will it end … especially for those who are most affected by this disaster … the people whose lively hood is directly dependent upon the health of the Gulf region?

I wake up from my nightmares and get on with my life. It might be weeks or months before a particular nightmare returns, but those poor people of the Gulf coast are living in a never-ending nightmare from which they cannot escape nor simply wake up. One of my favorite quotes is included at the end of this blog. It is about Dr. Salk conquering his nightmares by fulfilling his dreams … making his dreams become reality. As for the people of the Gulf coast their dreams were taken from them by this nightmare.

I have to admit that I am one of those who have been affected by Gulf Oil Spill fatigue. I’m sick and tired of hearing the same people say the same thing every night … of hearing the BP speaking heads make empty promises … of politicians trying to position themselves in the best light possible for their “electable” future … of promises made and not fulfilled … of solutions offered only to fail … of the so-called experts speaking as if they know what they are talking about. Truly it is a living nightmare … when will we actually get to wake up and get on with our lives?

Quote for today: I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams. Jonas Salk