Monday, November 12th, 2007
I had a very strange dream last night. It was quite impressive and vivid. I prayed over it for some time, and tried to gain some insight from the Lord. He showed me bits and pieces, and I know that I need to write it down in order to capture the details of it and see how things come together.
It started out with a scene where I was jumping and leaping on top of high walls, rocks, and rooftops. I would jump from top to top with much ease as if I had been able to do so for some time. (I have had such dreams before.)
007
As I was leaping and jumping, another person jumped in front of me. Obviously he had been jumping and leaping all along as well. He was no other than the famous 007, sir Sean Connery. It dawned on me that he was the one started this, indeed a forerunner before me.
I tried to pay my tribute and respect. Yet he looked at me scornfully with a sense of contempt and criticism, as if I was ruining such an artful practice. Evidently he thought that nobody should do it without his permission or endorsement-seemed I could almost read his mind. Even though the jumping and leaping seemed to be effortless for me, he thought that my skills were terrible and incorrect. After much scrutinization, he decided to leave me as soon as possible. As he took and I looked from behind him, I could see that he had aged and his body was a bit out of shape, not quite fit for the robust movements any more. It seemed that he had lost all the charms and strength shown in the movies. He didn’t quite make the first leap, so I approached him and tried to lift him up. Quickly brushed me aside, holding up his chin, he gestured to me that he knew what he was doing and he was better off without me messing around. I felt very embarrassed-I just wanted to help. He left me with an unmistakable impression that I should never make the same mistake again, never. A Chinese saying came to me: the man indeed was hard as iron.
What a strange encounter.
Mr. Bean
I continued on my journey, now felt very much free to run my own course, which was the opposite direction of 007, heading toward where he came from. Now, we were running in exact opposite directions. (I have not received any understanding about this, yet intuitively I know I need to stress this detail and its implication is significant.)
With no one around, I began to pay attention to the attractions on my way while bouncing forward. I peeked into this window and looked at that yard. It was an area where there were many houses. As I was enjoying myself, suddenly I sensed someone was watching. I looked straight ahead. Well, there it is. A man with only his eyes over the wall was enjoying himself, watching me enjoying myself. I quickly examined myself. No, I was just curious in my wandering around and did nothing with a bad intent.
Now, I forgot what happened next, whether it was he called to me first or I just leaped up to him. Anyway, we made acquaintance, went and sat down somewhere under a tree. The man was Mr. Bean with that funny, innocent, and dumb looking face. He seemed, however, wise enough to me. He seemed to know my tricks and had once enjoyed them himself. Watching me doing them brought him back to some fun memories from his past.
In our short conversation, I really began to love this honest, open, and wise guy. There was no pompousness or self-assertiveness in this man. He seemed as young as I was in his manner, yet at the same time was old and wise in his thoughts. He was easy and plain like the water, as the Chinese saying goes. What a wonderful personality!
The Widow and Her Children
He invited me to visit his home, just short distance down my way. During my journey, it seemed I intuitively knew that my direction and destination.
Suddenly I was transferred to an idyll place. Its beauty and elegance is much like the village of Feredo in the movie of The Lord of Rings. Small residences scattered here and there, with such beautiful designs that make the use of them as living places unthinkable to me. Following along an artfully paved path, we reached a twin structure at the end. In a distance I saw some young girls were running to the left one. But the right was a house used as a living room or something.
At the moment, it dawned to me that we were making a visit to some long-missing relatives of mine. The hosts-a woman in her 40th, with her two or three daughters, 15 or less, received us kindly, suddenly I recognized who they were, The mother was a widow of one of my dearest uncle. Evidently they were not accustomed to see strangers around here, especially one being introduced by my friend, whom they seemed to hold in high regard. The girls were extremely shy. Cautiously, I introduced myself, and it was a great surprise. Someone from home! The girls began to jump around, laughing and crying. The mother sat there solemnly there, in shock.
(A bit about my relationship with this uncle. He was about 10 years younger than my father, a son of one of my father’s uncle. Our two families were very close. Actually because of my father was the oldest in these brothers, he naturally became the big brother for all of them. They would turn to him for help and counsel every time they had difficulty in life or disputes between themselves or with others. He got enrolled in the army when he was young. Later on he became of the manager of a successful business in a region far away from home and started a family there. When I was quite young, whenever he visited home, he would always come to my father to pay respect and tribute. He was very fond of me, so after their conversation, he would carried me around wherever went. We did not see often as we used to after he got married. One special things about him as a uncle was that he treated my as if an equal, different from any one else. However, I never met his wife until I was a grown-up and really never get to know her. And one more strange thing is that my uncle was still alive last time I heard of him. )
Then she began to share with me her life after my uncle passed away. They were left alone in a land with no family and no help. Then the precious couple, my friend and his wife, approached them and kindly offered their help. They had been living peacefully and happily with them ever after that. My aunt was full of thankfulness to the people accommodated them, but also she had always missed our family and wanted to get back to our home village.
As she was talking about her past life, a deep sense of sorrow and compassion gripped me. I began to weep uncontrollably. I just could not get over a keen empathy of her heart. I could almost feel myself her deep loneliness and her sorrow of abandonment through all these years. This sudden outburst of mine caught all of them in surprise. I could sense in the midst of my tears and cries that they were quite puzzled and at lost with my unusual emotions. I felt a little awkward for causing such a scene. I should be comforting them and now it seemed I need more comfort than anyone else. I tried to stop my weeping and I just couldn’t. It was as if I was gripped by another. Finally my emotions simmered a bit and I managed to collect myself a bit.
Journey unto a Mountain
I was then transferred into the next scene. Again, I was on my journey with leaps and bounds, just of more robustness and speed. I could sense it in the way how I rush from height to height and moved relentlessly to the direction that I know would lead me to the destination, which was on my northwest, a height required much effort to get unto.
An Overview and Review
Suddenly, I was caught up somewhere far above. Now I was looking down from far above at the whole mountainous region where I had been traveling, with a clear bird view of the terrain and the road on which I had been journeying on. Then I saw something very strange unfolding before my eyes. It was like a play back of motorcycle race in which I won the first place without ever knowing it. It seems to be very meaningful for my life so I would write it down in detail.
In the vision, I knew that my journey on the mountain starts after I set out from Mr. Bean’s place. Before that, I was traveling on a plain. If this detail has a prophetic application to me, then it should imply that the journey I saw in the vision is still ahead in life.
007 and Mr. Bean, who are Britons, clearly embodies the different types of spiritual leadership in the older generation in western christianity. So they clearly symbolize two major seasons of my life in which I would be treated by different streams of western christianity. The 007 type has, for the most part, been played out in my life by now.
(It just happened that I was talking to a sister last night, who bears clearly a prophetic gift. While addressing to her of her personal situation, the Lord revealed to me a danger laid before some spiritual leaders in western Christianity. A season of transfer of leadership is now being unfolded. God clearly wants those of the older generation to lay their lives for the Lord, thus would willingly pass on their baton and offer their service of help and support to the next generation, which is in many ways a new breed.
They would not be restrained by old ways of doing things anymore. They would be kingdom-oriented rather than merely relation-oriented, or even lower, activity-oriented; spiritual-need-driven rather than human-need-driven. They will move like wind, a mighty wind, so much so that their practices could not be formulated or regulated. They will be quick to yield to the fruits of the Spirit rather than the gifts of the Spirit. Actually God will pour out His spirit on them in such an amazing way that they will never lack in spiritual power or gifts. Rather, they want to please their heavenly Father so much that they would know intuitively that it is the good fruits that the Vine would make grow and the Gardener would delight in. They want and will be granted with the “real thing”.)
The Overview:
I had a clear view of the mountain. There, extending from the height which was in the northwest corner to the south and then east, was the route zigzagging its way up. It started from the south west corner ran directly up to the north where the destination was. There it was. Along this slope was a path to the left, the very west edge of the mountain. It was much straighter and broader, leading to where the other treacherous and meandering path all ended with. Looking down from above, it seemed to lead up to the summit of the mountain right from its foot.
The Reviews:
I then saw tiny figures like ants moving quickly along the routes from the east side of the mountain, rushing unto south-westward. As my view zoomed in a bit, I saw that what appeared to be a motorcycle race with me and few others in the leading position. Now we were climbing with great speed along the treacherous routes through rocks and steeps. We were bouncing down and up, with such vigor, courage, and relentlessness that were seldom witnessed in any other racers. We raced as if this was the strenuous course of our very life, which indeed was. Winding ahead to the northwest, we first arrived the southern foot of the mountain which had huge cliffs along the western edge. I saw myself, in the leading position, made a shape turn toward north. Many of those following who were not aware of the turn thus prepared for change of direction, tragically rushed over the cliffs and destroyed themselves. Only few left, as we raced more robustly to the mountain top. In the end I won the race with my teammates’ help
It was very intriguing to experience the complications of thoughts and emotion as I presided in two persons at the same time. Up in the air, I was a spectator. But down on earth, I was rushing along the western edge, began to head straight north without much knowledge of what I was doing. But the me above, while observing things unfolding as it was, was able to contemplate and came to a revelation that there had always been a hidden way on the further west side of the mountain. If only I could start my journey from that route, I would not have to make such hard struggles to get on to the top. Yet, in retrospective, across the ages, no one seemed to have ever journeyed along that path. In the dream, I asked the Lord for insight. He revealed to me that my impression was wrong. There Abraham journeyed unto Mount Moriah; there, Moses ascended unto Mount Sinai; there, Elijah rushed unto Mount Horeb; there, David marched unto Mount Zion. It is the hidden way that Lord that he has reserved and reveals to only a few.
How I wish all of us could have rode on that route! Then how many casualties we would be spared of! Yet a flash of revelation came to me that no one could climb on that route with a bike. Laid in the middle part of the path were block after block of huge cut rocks heaping upon one after another. It was impossible for a bike to ride on.
I now knew that the Lord ordered this generation to have a people, regardless all the complications of their lives, to ascend unto His mountain. And He will order the way for them. I was dumbfounded by the pictorial fashion how the ways of the Lord was revealed to me.
In one of the Psalms, it was said in the wildness all the Israelite saw the wonders of God, yet only Moses knew His ways. On Mount Sinai, holding the wonderfully-made tablets of the Law, witnessed the awe-struck power of the Lord, privileged as the unprecedented equal in their conversation, entrusted with the unbelievable task of leading His people, empowered with undoubted authority to work out signs and wonders, revealed with the awesome pattern of the Heavenly Tabernacle, Moses yet cried out to God: “Let me know your ways”. And God was ready to grant unto him the glory He is aching to share with his chosen. Oh, how few would even dare ask Him of His ways!
I also recognized that a new age is dawning in our sight. It requires a transfer of leadership in the midst of the deterioration of western christianity. This will be a sounding alarm for our time. Yet it is also an old theme in the relationship between God and His chosen people through the ages. He wants all of us to come to the fullness of His glory. Yet man would be content to walk as a creature of their time and restrain themselves with its ups and downs, joys and sorrows. It is as if they would always want to camp at the foot of the mountain. Sure, because of His mercy, these are also considered as the camps of God’s people , Aaron or Mr. Bean, whoever they are. But sadly, many will fell into their own destruction and never come to the knowledge of God’s ways.
Oh, Lord, help Your people, especially me, to NOT turn to the way where the man of pride came from. Grant us a singleness of our desires and a pure devotion of our hearts to run the race that is worthy of Your Name and Glory.
Show us Your ways, Oh, Lord, and allow us to finish the race, whatever it takes.
