I recall going to sleep as a child and my mom would tell me to have sweet dreams. The thought of having sweet dreams was comforting, because the real world wasn’t always that kind of escape.  In your dreams you can move from one situation to another in an instant and when it becomes too much to bear, you can wake up.

I’ve always been known to have unusual, unexplainable, indescribable and creative dreams.  On occasion my dreams have even helped me solve a problem.  For example – we had just completed auditions for “The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe,’ and there were three actors who could easily have played the White Witch.  That night, as I lay my head on my pillow, I had visions of a three headed, white witch. With some creative costuming and a sleigh that would accommodate all three, we were able to use all of them and in the process the part was played perfectly.

Lately I’ve been having more unusual dreams.  I often feel that the devil is within those visions, trying to draw me away from my God.  There are moments when every sin I’ve ever committed is laid out for the world to see.  It has even gone so far as to cause me not to want to go to sleep – perchance to dream.  When you get to be my age, you do a lot more sleeping.  The body slows down, the reflexes aren’t as sharp as they once were and like a newborn child, you simply need more of it.

When we come to the final journey of living, I imagine that we experience some doubts about what lies ahead. Even if we’re grounded in our faith, the devil is still active even when we sleep.  So my prayers lately have included requests for quiet sleep, with out dreams of any kind.  The sweet dreams of youth have long since passed away.

My prayer now is that God will grant me the rest I need and when my final day arrives, He will give me eternal peace.  I am confident that He will.