WHEN DREAMS COME TRUE
Charlie emerged slowly from a peaceful, good night’s sleep as his consciousness opened like a smiling, grateful Morning Glory, he felt wonderful. The sunlight was so pristine and beautiful streaming through his bedroom windows and he began reciting his little morning prayer as he threw his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up with his arms stretching up over his head toward the ceiling. shocked, when his fingertips jammed into the rough acoustic ceiling, he lost his balance and fell back on the bed. Charlie shook his head, looked around, apparently verifying his reality, ready to try it again. A few moments after he stood up, he felt himself losing balance and rising, he reached up quickly for the ceiling, touched it but fell back again. Charlie was dismayed, confused, and wrinkled up his brow with a few worry lines but tried it again with the same result.
“Jean”, he called out to his wife, who heard a strange mixture of alarm and amazement in Charlie’s voice as she headed for the bedroom.
Charlie grabbed Jean’s arm as she reached him saying, “what’s wrong Charlie?” But he said nothing. He just stood up and she watched him rise higher and higher, then reach up and touch the ceiling. Her hand flew up to her mouth as she gasped, looked down at his feet that were six or eight inches off the floor, and squeezed his arm tighter, feeling his unsteadiness.
Jean and Charlie were dumbfounded, they couldn’t even articulate one good question to pose to themselves or each other. Jean just watched Charlie sitting on the bed, held his hands, and looked into his face with wonder and worry on hers, Charlie just looked back quietly at her perplexed. Jean finally just started asking Charlie how he felt, did he feel any pain, numbness, burning, tingling, or paralysis, and everything else she could think of, but Charlie kept saying, “no honey, I feel great physically, it’s just this whatever this is.”
Jean stood up and took both Charlie’s hands, “OK, honey let’s look at this again, this is impossible.” Charlie obeyed, absent any ideas of his own. They went through the whole thing again except this time she backed away a step to better test his balance but he, instinctively, followed and he came down to the floor like stepping off a stair-step but began to rise again when he stopped. Her breath caught in her throat, but she understood and turned slowly and carefully leading Charlie out of the bedroom, with delight on her face, into the living room. She glanced up at him and saw her delight reflected in his face. He began walking normally about the room with her right beside him but if he stopped, in moments he began to rise again. jean, now calmer, said, “oh, Charlie what is this? We are going to see Doctor Wallace right now.
Charlie caused quite a stir at the doctor’s office There was no way to hide a man levitating eight inches off the floor. Annett, the receptionist, who knew Charlie and Jean very well practically ran back to Doctor Wallace’s office to get him out front to handle the shocking, possibly scene-causing, patient demanding to see the doctor immediately.
Doctor Wallace was a devout Christian and when he saw Charlie, without question, levitating eight inches off the floor, he quickly ushered him and Jean back to a fully equipped examination room. When the door closed the doctor looked at Charlie and said, “what on earth is this, Charlie?”
Charlie, looking a little mystified at the doctor, shrugged his shoulders and said “that’s why I came to see your doc.” After grilling Charlie and Jean for over thirty minutes about all their activities for the last week or two, going over through Charlie’s medical records for the several years he’d been a patient of the doctor, and questioning them about several subjects, Doctor Wallace sat back in his chair and looked at Charlie. “Not a single clue Doc, Charlie questioned?” The doctor just shook his head, no.
Charlie, I’ve got calls into two of the sharpest doctors I know; they’re both retired now but highly qualified and very experienced, one’s an M.D. and the other is a psychiatrist. I also called my minister and after explaining why I called they are dropping everything and should be here any time now.” Just then a nurse knocked on the door, stuck her head in, and advised the doctor that his two colleagues were indeed anxiously waiting to see him and Charlie.
Soon, Doctor Wallace’s minister arrived, and for the next several hours the three doctors and the minister questioned and examined Charlie physically, mentally, and spiritually. During the exhaustive questioning and consulting, the minister hit on a point that Charlie thought might be the answer to this incredible miracle. He didn’t share what had popped up in his mind but he thought it, as wild as it sounded, could be the answer to this miraculous mystery.
What Charlie remembered was that last night before he went to bed, he was reading, thinking, studying, and praying about, for the hundredth time, a section in one of his spiritual teacher’s powerful, spiritual books how to bring God’s miraculous healing power into your life. The section detailing how to bring God’s power to heal not only your health but also your finances and mental health, etc. Charlie suddenly felt what he understood as a quickening in his whole being and since he had read the instruction so many times, he, without thought, took his financial problems within himself and closed off any further thought about it and went to bed. Earlier, Charlie also remembered about reading how to levitate and had the wild thought that if a person could actually levitate, they probably could raise a lot of money and, at the same time, share with people a new way to understand, as he believes he understands, the deeper truth and reality of God Almighty’s life and will. But, Charlie wasn’t about to tell anyone about his wild thoughts, he wouldn’t even tell his wife.
Charlie continued to meet with more doctors, scientists, and clergymen but he never admitted his true thoughts until finally, he couldn’t take the pressure anymore about this strange miracle he was living with, the pressure of everyone wanting to know what was it and where did it come from. Finally, he admitted what he thought was happening with him and in him. So he began to share a little of what had been building in him and what he thought was a much-needed new view of an explanation of God and a relationship with God. He was sure better theology wasn’t the answer but insightful simplicity, led by a person whose credibility was very hard to assail and quit trying to save everybody; if we’re living by the spirit and truth of the Gospel, they will come to us. Everybody knows about Jesus Christ and they know He’s right; we’ll attract them by living in Christ not competing for them or with them. Not one person on the big team of smart, brilliant people examining Charlie offered any argument against his broad statements. they certainly had no ideas or explanations of their own. Jean was so relieved with Charlie’s revelation and very much agreed with his views. She just didn’t think he had had thoughts of actually taking them to the world. In fact, she didn’t think he’d had any idea of planning anything. Charlie has been chosen she thought to herself.
After a few more days, Charlie had all he could take. He told Doctor Wallace he might be back or he might not, he would let him know. Charlie went home to think……… In his younger days, Charlie had been a bit of a rounder; however, after he met Jean it wasn’t long before they were married and he settled down and became a very solid, loving family man who loved to read stories to his two boys or tell them highly embellished stories of when he was in the military and the favorite cook of everyone in the office’s club. These days, he was mostly retired, having turned his restaurant over to his two sons.
Even though Charlie tried to stay out of sight as much as he could during these weeks of having his “problem” assessed, it was getting out all over town, Finally, one day, he just told Jean that he had had enough hiding; he was going out to the park and the playground near his house, which he often did, and enjoy the sunshine and the activities of the people.
Well, Charlie didn’t get far with his plan before he was spotted by friends and strangers alike. He kept moving on his way to his favorite bench and sat down but of course, he was recognized and quickly surrounded whether he was suspended a foot off the ground or sitting down.
Charlie answered, as best he could, all the questions of the adults. He explained the balance problem he’d had at first and how it had slowly worked out by itself then he demonstrated how he could even change levels now or stretch out horizontally with the ground. Charley was getting into sharing and interacting with everyone, having fun which was his favorite thing to do The children in the crowd had been taken quite, mesmerized, standing right up front staring up at Charlie but now with acrobatics, they took over.
Charlie and the children, what a sight; they touched him and felt his clothes, they examined all that space under his feet, and when he did the horizontal pose for them, they got under him, between him and the ground, they got up on him, sitting on his long stretched out body, all the while, giggling and laughing as they demonstrated for each other that he really was suspended in the air. After examining Charlie very thoroughly, they began to ask questions………. they wanted children’s answers for this miracle.” Charlie would say later.
Charlie was in his element, in the zone, talking to these kids. After he explained step by step all he knew about this miracle, he asks if he could ask them some questions. They all turned their bright young eight to thirteen-year-old faces to him and waited.
Charlie leaned forward and said with a bright face matching the children’s, “how many of you believe in God, the God of the Bible? Over half the hands shot up; the brightness of the faces of the others dimmed to a little boredom or confusion. “OK, that’s a little over half, that’s not good”, Charlie said. “So, how many have had their parents or someone else explain God to them?” This time a little less than half went up. “Well. that’s not fair to you kids. Let me tell you about God the way He has explained who He is to me when I pray to him and then get really quiet and meditate on one of His messages from the bible. After years of praying and meditating with Him, He has given me some very simple answers and this gift of levitating to get your attention to listen to me. So, do you want to hear what He told me inside of me, inside my brain?” Everyone including the adults, who had been very attentive, responded with a resounding, “YES”
OK, my young beautiful friends, here is the simple truth that was given to me…….. God is a spirit, He is not flesh, bone, and blood. He is the invisabel spirit and power behind everything. God, is all there is. He is everything from the tiniest thing you or anyone can imagine in the world to the largest star or galaxy up in the sky. God, is the whole world; He is the whole universe and anything or everything beyond the universe,………” Charlie leaned forward and turned his head side to side looking in amazement into each tense, attentive face and then continued……… “and at the same time,” Charlie brings his right hand to his heart, “He is completely inside and with each one of us, His children…….. He made us all……..He actually made you and me and never leaves us, He never leaves a single one of us, not even after we’re grown up and become what He created us to be, and after that, we go on with Him forever and forever in our new life to come for eternity.’
NOW, here is the most important part of being a child of God……. Staying closely connected to God …….If you don’t stay connected to God every day you will get lost in this dark, confusing world, you will get led astray……. The world can seem to be a place of almost endless excitement and fun but that’s because your parents want you to have a wonderful childhood until you’re ready to start the adult part of your life where you have to be a grownup, responsible, be a good member of your community, and start preparing the way for your own children and all the new kids that are coming along behind you. God wants us to be very involved in our world, find what we want to do with the life He’s given us, and be enthusiastic, happy people. If we just stay connected, God will help us; He’ll be right with you while you accomplish all these things.’
“So, what does being connected to God mean? ……. It means everything,” Charlie accentuated the word everything heavily. “Jesus explained it by comparing Himself and us, you and me. to a grape vine and the branches of the grapevine, He is the vine and we are the branches. Does everyone know what grapevine is and what it looks like with branches growing off the vine?” Most of the kids and all the adults raised their hands. “Well, Jesus said that we must stay as attached to Him, as close to him as the branch is to the grapevine because if we don’t, we will lose our way and start worshiping things in the world instead of God, like money new bikes, new toys, new cars, new houses, even movie stars and singers; of course, you can have new stuff and enjoy fun movies and wonderful singers and stay close to Jesus, we just have to always remember that Jesus comes first because God with Jesus has given us our whole life, and God and Jesus come first always.’
“That’s why we have churches, with prayer meetings, youth groups, and lots of other activities; we need to hang out with other people who want to stay close to Jesus Christ because they understand how important it is. If we fall away from the vine, fall away from the power of God we will be on our own in the world without God’s help and we will die alone. Jesu Christ is attached to the divine power of God. So, God is the power, and Jesu is connected to the power, and we are connected to Jesus. Everything I just told you can be found in the Bible, in the Gospel of John 15:1-17 where it is said much more beautifully. I just told you the simple truth about staying really close to Jesus.”
“So, when you go home tonight ask your mom or dad if you have a family Bible because you want to read the Gospel of John, chapter 15:1-17 then come back tomorrow and we can talk about it. I’ll be here at the same time tomorrow”. A big cheer went up from the kids and the adults as they rushed toward Charlie who stood up towering over everyone but quickly sat back down to hug or shake hands with every single soul.
As Charlie walked away, he stopped, turned back to the crowd, and said, “Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about the light bulb that’s as big as the whole universe.” Charlie left the park, crossed the street, and walked lively down the sidewalk toward his house with a head full of ideas of where this miracle was going as a bigger thought put an even bigger smile on his face……….. Isn’t it wonderful, when dreams come true.
Jack