Loss

The ‘dream‘ begins:

A great gathering of people from far and wide had assembled to this one place; a regal, well established and ornate hotel. I had a room on an upper floor for the stay. Yet this event was to take place on a lower, near street-level floor in a vast banquet/event hall with lovely glass windows all around under a high, sculpted ceiling. The hall was divided in part by a wall that was a mix of craftsman-carved dark wooden panels topped with tall, framed glass windows. The main hall was brightly lit by chandeliers., while the other half was illuminated only by what light came through the glass panes of the dividing wall. This wall also featured double doors to close off one section of the hall from the other. A prep kitchen was at one end, behind a set of swinging doors of its own. The floors were wood, like an old dance floor. The banquet/event room carried the rich air of timeless elegance and antiquity.

Though I was helping to set up the funeral service with others who had also assembled in the banquet/event room- I did not know the person who had died.
The body was under a heavy linen sheet, laid out on a portable stainless steel chilling table.
While many went to work setting up chairs in the main hall, I kept looking at the body which was positioned just on the other side of the dividing wall (in near darkness). People were coming and going from the kitchen area, scooting chairs across the floor in the main hall while others tended the banquet tables of food; making certain everything was properly iced and covered. As I peered at the body on the table (covered completely) something disturbed me greatly. A single finger had somehow been separated from the body, and was laying by itself on the chilling table next to the deceased, linen draped form. The finger was not under the cover but was exposed to the warm, room air.

As we continued to set up tables, placing decorations and arranging flowers; the finger began to bother me even more. I kept walking around the divider wall to look at the finger as it lay next to the covered corpse. The finger had started to deteriorate as the hours passed; growing to resemble rotted meat. The finger turned from nearly translucent white, to a mottled brown shade and then to gray-black. As even more time passed it wasted away to where I could see the nail and nail bed had separated from the flesh; the nail curling upward in a very grotesque manner. It began to let off a putrid stench, yet only I was bothered or concerned.

With greetings and handshakes the people entered into the main banquet/event section (where the chairs were set into proper rows) to be seated. They all noted the bad smell in the air. I returned once again to the body-in-state on the other side of the dividing wall, noticing that it (the body) had started to rot as well.
Yet the service was to be carried out as planned. Those attending took time to enjoy the fine surroundings, a variety of prepared foods, conversation, dessert and coffee; regardless of the rotting corpse. It was as if no one really cared or noticed. They would not be deterred.
I was beside myself in disgust.

Afterward I was assigned to be a pallbearer. On taking the body outside, we carried it (still covered on the portable chilling table with wheels) and stopped at a gray stone building with no door. In unison all pallbearers lifted the table up and over our heads, moving towards the front wall of the building. The weather was overcast, heavy gray clouds coated the sky. It was neither hot nor cold. At the top of the gray stone wall-facade there was a slot, an opening of some eighteen inches in height and three feet in width. On unspoken command we tilted the elevated chilling table so that the body would slide off, head first into the opening of the stone building. We had to hold our breath for nearly two minutes because the stench was so intense.

(end of ‘dream‘)

A pounding headache was present on waking – as apparently I’d been holding my breath during this sequence of the very vivid ‘dream/vision’.
All day I have wondered what meaning it held. Now I understand some of the vision as-given.
As we approach the end- and plan for a big event… the church is busy with plans and tasks. We (The church) are unaware of the decay in the Body. It (the Body) is not cared for properly. It goes unnoticed by all (except from my viewpoint in the dream), dismembered and rotten; growing more fetid by the hour. The Body is of no use and will be burned in the fire.
(I am so sorry God, as You so loved the Body)
The Body is the church. The bride is rotten.
Oh how the Holy Spirit mourns, how it hurts at the death of the church. We covet pride, ego and self-interests above what is Holy and well for the church body. We take a stand for our purposes, what we demand as our rights, our requirements; leaving the core essence of the church mission in the dust…outside its walls. Me, me, me. Mine, mine, mine. Our way, our plan and our end result which best serves us.
But where is God in this? Oh how the Spirit mourns the death of the church..

We have it all wrong.