Dreams and Discord

Today, oddly enough, I will be talking about a dream I had last night, not so much for the content of the dream as the thoughts it inspired afterward.

The basic premise was that I was with a group of FOCUS people doing something (with a suffecient quantity of dream ambiguity) and there was someone in the group (the person in question being a creation of the dreamstate) who was not trusted by the others (I can't rightly remember why, if there was a why).

This mistrust continued to build throughout, expanding from the one person to others involved, until people started fighting each other refusing to do anything together. In the end it seemed as if everything was falling apart.

In many ways this is the way mistrust works. It is contagious and harsh, building off itself. If you can't trust one person you know, why should you expect to be able to trust anyone you do not know. The mistrust can then spread from that one person to other people you know by virtue of uncertainty.

Mistrust is a shadowy issue, for the trustworthyness of a person is not visible on their bodies, but hidden in their souls. Glancing at someone, even knowing them for a while, cannot tell you how trustworthy they are. You must entrust something to them and see how they respond, and that is a very vulnerable action, something you would not like to do unless you trust someone, throwing the whole thing into a loop.

In the end, the only way to trust someone is to trust God first, and place trust in others as an extension of that first unshakable trust. It is not foolproof, but it is also not foolhardy.


Glorious Saint Benedict, sublime model of virtue, pure vessel of God's grace! Behold me humbly kneeling at your feet. I implore you in your loving kindness to pray for me before the throne of God.
To you I have recourse in the dangers that daily surround me.
Shield me against my selfishness and my indifference to God and to my neighbor.
Inspire me to imitate you in all things.
May your blessing be with me always, so that I may see and serve Christ in others and work for His kingdom.

Graciously obtain for me from God those favors and graces which I need so much in the trials, miseries and afflictions of life.
Your heart was always full of love, compassion and mercy toward those who were afflicted or troubled in any way. You never dismissed without consolation and assistance anyone who had recourse to you.
I therefore invoke your powerful intercession, confident in the hope that you will hear my prayers and obtain for me the special grace and favor I earnestly implore.

Intercede for us in the heavenly realm that we may be guided to do the fullest will of God, both now and forever.

Help me, great Saint Benedict, to live and die as a faithful child of God, to run in the sweetness of His loving will, and to attain the eternal happiness of heaven.
Amen.