THE GLORIOUS LIGHT

365 DAYS OF THANKSLIVING — DAY 107

Do you ever have nightmares? I had a strange one last night—not quite a "nightmare" in the traditional sense, but something straight out of Stranger Things. Admittedly, I couldn't make it past the second episode of that show because it was just too weird, but apparently, my brain missed the memo that I am strictly a "low-drama" kind of guy.

Let me share this dream. It was like a Clive Barker novel, only I didn't have to pay for the Kindle version.

It started with a young boy, maybe thirteen, lying on his bed while his mother kissed his forehead. I swear, this dream had a Hollywood budget, because the mother looked exactly like a young Susan Sarandon. I couldn't hear the dialogue, but she was comforting him, clearly knowing something terrible was about to happen.

Cue the scary, synthesizer-heavy music.

As soon as Mom left, this "Sandman" creature—who looked like an ordinary man, which is always the creepiest part—arose from the darkness. He snatched the boy, pulling him straight through his mattress into the world below. He was dragged into a dark swamp filled with roots and branches. The boy drowned, but instead of, you know, staying dead, he was transformed into a creature that resembled the undergrowth of the underworld.

His new job description? Become the surviving apprentice who would one day take down an antichrist-like figure, the "imam of the world." Talk about a stressful first day at work.

The boy wasn’t alone, either. He had two "brothers" his age—twins who were also being "changed." Their job was to learn the secrets of darkness and out-survive one another through deception. They were a trio of terror, yet somehow best friends. Think The Goonies, but with more dampness and significantly more demonic intent.

One by one, they hunted their targets. The main boy was assigned to take the life of a girl who refused to accept how God had made her. In the twisted logic of this dream, she wasn’t a beautiful soul with bright potential; she’d become a manic, hopeless, dark-souled drama queen who just wanted to die. Bleak, right? He did his duty, then snuck back into the world of the living just to tell his mother what he’d become before slipping back into the muck.

The scene shifted one last time for the final test: a battle royale against his devilish brothers to be the lone survivor and the harbinger of doom. One used the darkness as a cloak; the other used smash-and-horror.

Who won? I have no idea. I woke up before the credits rolled.

Look, I don’t usually remember my dreams, and I’m certainly no psychologist (thank God for that, right?). I don’t think this was "bad pizza" or a cryptic message from the heavens. It was just... odd. Truly, I’m thankful I awoke and that my actual life involves significantly more caffeine and significantly fewer swamp-based apprenticeships.

We all dream. Sometimes they mean something, and sometimes they’re just the brain's way of clearing out the trash. Why we have dark dreams is beyond me, but today I’m just thankful I woke up into the light. The Apostle Paul wrote about this transition when he said:

“Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light” (Romans 13:11–12).

Thank goodness Jesus came to shine His glorious light into the darkness of our world. Today, I’m thankful for dreams that remind us that darkness exists—but only to remind us that God has called us out of it and into His glorious light.