A Dream About Carrying the Cross

In a spiritual dream this morning I saw a man...a Jesus-follower...going about the normal course of his life. He was riding his bike in a town, like on a college campus, and at one point he felt compelled to ride to a certain point at the foot of a high and rocky hill. It seemed that the city was preparing for a gathering at a large meeting place on the other side of the hill. He then felt led to hoist his bike on his shoulders and hike up the hill to this gathering rather than riding around to it. As he did, his bicycle transformed into a cross like the one that Jesus carried. It was very heavy and he strained and strained to get his footing and climb the hill. The rocks were loose and he was slipping.

As he was looking down, he noticed that there was a little ledge near his right foot. Moss had grown over it but as he cleared it just a bit with his foot, he realized that it was a "foot-sized" step that had a number 1 chiseled into it. It gave him the foothold he needed and he simply placed his foot there and then looked for the second step for his left foot. Sure enough, there was a series of ancient chiseled-numbered steps that led up the hill to its top. It was still very strenuous to do so, but he managed to make it to the crest. He then intuitively understood that Jesus had somehow created and marked these steps in his wake as he ascended to the site of his execution long ago. This man was called, but also willing and desirous, to follow in his Lord's footsteps.

He approached the gathering site from the backside of the building that was built into the side of this hill. As it turned out this building was a cathedral. Some people were entering it for the gathering and others were walking past it with no intention to enter. No one would have normally approached the cathedral from the back side as this man was doing. People began to notice him and the cross he was carrying as he was walking toward the entrance in a direction that was against the flow of all the human traffic. He was a witness raised up to bring the cross of Christ back into plain view of all kinds of people...the "churched" and the "unchurched".

His presence created the social tension that always attends a move of God's Spirit. At the same time, there was a rather sneaky and compelling effect of his presence down deep inside the hearts of all the people despite their various reactions. They wondered if Jesus might be "more real" and "more alive" than they had considered before. Moves of God's Spirit always unsettle the status-quo and create a sense of urgency for people to truly come to Christ and follow him. Climbing this hill in this way and approaching the cathedral from this angle had prepared this humble servant of Christ to look beyond various the human reactions and remain at peace with both God and people in his counter-cultural mission.