Spiritual scaffolding needed

Matthew Huish
December 21, 2011

An overhanging top floor, rather similar to this picture

This morning I awoke with the vague details of a dream still lingering in my thoughts and feelings. After sharing them with my wife, I realized that there might be more to the dream than just a random sequence of fantastical events. Perhaps there was a prophetic message to interpret from these signs and symbols.

I'll let you decide – if you have any insights, please share by leaving a comment. Here are the details of the dream: I was in the far east of tundric Russia, in a grand house, like a palace. There was an attic or storage area at the top of the building, into which people were storing away antique furniture, precious jewels and other items of historical value (including a grand piano). Keen to help, I offered my assistance to move items into the storage area. Soon the room was full from floor to ceiling, wall to wall with valuable items.

One night there was an earthquake, shaking the building in a way that part of the building, especially the wing beneath the storage area, collapsed. Several housemaids who were living in quarters there perished. The building now had a cavity in its side where this section of the building used to be, only with the storage area precariously hanging without support above this gap. There was a sense of urgency because the items of value could not be accessed and there was a fear that without support the unusually strong beams of timber above which the attic had been built may collapse, sending the stored treasure to their destruction.

The strategy employed was to erect a scaffold structure to support the overhanging attic: Metal sockets were attached to the ground and to the underneath surface of the attic into which metal posts were inserted that supported the attic. In my dream, this process took a year to complete, after which the contents of the storage area could be safely accessed. Needless to say, the scaffolding did not repair nor replace the part of the building that had been destroyed; nevertheless it provided a temporary structure to secure the stored treasure above.

I've had a similar a dream similar to this in the past, and for me I interpret the earthquake to represent anything that can shake the faith of our community's members. The loss of structure and of life to me represents the emotional and spiritual damage experienced by members when the community's faith is not strong enough to protect them. The scaffolding represents the faithful devotion of those members, especially the community leaders, who create the framework to support the treasures that our community have been storing away in anticipation of better times.

Fundamentally I interpret this dream to be a warning: If the faith of the core members of our community is not strong, there will be many spiritual casualties and there is even a risk that all the work we've been doing will be for nothing if we lose all the treasures we've been storing. Now is a time to erect an emergency scaffolding of faith to protect what we've already established and support the future.

Maybe this message is really just for me, highlighting the need for me to improve my own life of faith. What do you think?