Amazing Dream

     Never do I remember having a religious dream.  I have never dreamed of church, Mass, etc. that I can recall.
     But a few nights ago, I was crying myself to sleep.  I was missing my dad, my mother in law, and my father in law who is moving away from us.  So many losses at one time.  I cried and cried, grieving certain supportive ways my dad used to talk to me, ways that my in laws have supported me.  I said to Jesus, "You are going to have to fill this hole.  It is canyon-sized--but I know you are doing this all at once so that I will be propelled to a much closer friendship with you.  I am ready."  I fell asleep with wet cheeks.
     When I woke up, I had had the most amazing dream.  A WONDERFUL priest whom I adore, Father Phi, was piloting a 2 seater airplane, and I was the other passenger seated next to him.  We were flying over Tampa Bay.  The waters were shimmering blue.  In the dream, he was laughing like a child, and he said to me, "Ready for a ride?  Watch this!"  And he zoomed the plane in circles in the air.  Then he took a nose dive toward the water, swooping up just before we hit.  He laughed and laughed, and I started laughing.  We laughed together, my hair flying in the air, and I shouted as I raised my hands above my head as though I were on a roller coaster.  Truly, Jesus (represented by the priest in the dream), was saying to me, "I am your friend; stay with me.  I will bring you great joy!"  The dream went on to a celebration of Mass in a church, with another one of my favorite priests, Fr. Anthony G.  The Mass was full of a palpable goodness, and I was relishing the lightness of the glory of God.
     I woke up and started to laugh.  God was so quick and deft in responding my my cry.  The dream was clearly not the usual processing of the dregs of my miserable unconscious; it had nothing of the eerie strangeness of most of my dreams.  It felt like a gift from heaven, and invitation to a new level of friendship and intimacy with the one who is a perfect fit for my soul.