Had a dream the other night – the details of which elude me but the images won’t leave – black high boots with HUGE gold jingle bells parading down the front, a big long black insect with a semi-human male face. I’m searching my closet for my boots . . . but can’t find them, only jingle- bell-boots which I would never wear – calls too much attention, too weird, not my style. In the search for my boots I see the insect crawling high up the shower tile. I hesitate, wondering if I should kill this critter that doesn’t belong in my shower but the thought of smashing him doesn’t appeal to me. I return to look for normal boots. 
The images a week later are unshakable, did not fade into the morning, and I’m plagued by what the dream might be telling me.
I have the habit of walking through the stacks of libraries and picking books at random that catch my attention. Some of the books I check out I never finish and some of them are interesting “finds”. My recent finds are 3 books: Medical Marijuana; Ursula Le Guin’s No Time to Spare Essays (thank you Lisa!) and 7 Lessons from Heaven by Mary Neal, M.D.
The night of my boot-dream I read Dr. Neal’s book before going to sleep. It’s an easy read, no thinking necessary, which meets my bedtime book criteria. Dr Neal is an orthopedic surgeon who had a near death experience (NDE).
Something I just read or watched on TV does not usually appear in my dreams so I didn’t immediately think about the book. When deciphering dreams I trust my instincts and almost always go with the first thoughts/associations that come to mind. Suddenly the dream images, religion and Dr. Neal’s reluctance to talk about, much less publish a book, about her NDE coalesced.
I’ve always disliked proselytizers as their “pitch” feels invasive and disrespectful. On another level I envied people of such deep faith that they had the where-with-all to share their beliefs with such resolve and never seemed dogged by religious questions, skepticism and searching that I experienced.
As I wrote in my “Mini Sermons” Interconnectedness of all Beings I’ve studied most of the major religions and in my 60’s landed in the Baha’i World Faith. It provided several “aha” moments for me the more I delved into Baha’i writings and tenants. There’s a sense of wanting to share what I know, what I hold to be true and wanting to connect with others with a common spiritual “knowing”.
I have a bit more compassion for “proselytizers” (but they still bother me).
I’ve never wanted to proselytize, wear jingle-bell-boots . . . How do I share my deeply held Baha’i beliefs without jingling my bells, calling attention to my own walk, and still being respectful to others. What constitutes walking the talk or talking the walk respectfully?
Baha’is are respectful of all regions and beliefs – one of my “aha” tenants of the Baha’i faith is that it embraces all major religions – we all pray to the same God who has sent Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad. Bahá’u’lláh, the latest of these Messengers, to explain that the religions of the world come from the same Source and are in essence successive chapters of one religion from God.
My dream, the sermon writing workshop, and posting my writing was a boot . . . with a couple of bells.
The HeART of Spirituality 