I beseech Thee, by the potency of Thy will and the compelling power of Thy purpose, to make of what Thou didst reveal unto me in my sleep the surest foundation for the mansions of Thy love that are within the hearts of Thy loved ones, and the best instrument for the revelation of the tokens of Thy grace and Thy loving-kindness. Do Thou ordain for me through Thy most exalted Pen, O my Lord, the good of this world and of the next. I testify that within Thy grasp are held the reins of all things. Thou changest them as Thou pleasest. No God is there save Thee, the Strong, the Faithful. Thou art He Who changeth through His bidding abasement into glory, and weakness into strength, and powerlessness into might, and fear into calm, and doubt into certainty. No God is there but Thee, the Mighty, the Beneficent. (Baha’u’llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u’llah, p. 249)
I used to take my dreams very seriously. I had a pad and pen of paper at the side of my bed so I could write them down before I forgot them. I had a set of dream cards which guided me through questions about the content of the dream and how it might relate to present day issues and I had a dream dictionary app on my phone, to help me in my understanding of what the dreams were trying to tell me. As I’ve come to recognize how much of my life is driven by fear and how much I try to figure out and control, instead of just giving it to God to sort out for me, I’ve been somewhat unsettled about continuing this practice. So I was very happy to find this prayer, which does two things for me:
- “to make of what Thou didst reveal unto me in my sleep the surest foundation for the mansions of Thy love . . . and the best instrument for the revelation of the tokens of Thy grace and Thy loving-kindness”: Here I can clearly ask God to use my dreams as a foundation for His grace and loving kindness, Since I’m trying to open my heart for His love more and more, repeating this prayer is a wonderful way to turn over my dream and remember His love.
- If this wasn’t enough, the rest of the prayer reminds me of God’s Power and Majesty. It’s a reminder that it’s His job to change my abasement into glory, His job to change my weakness into strength, His job to change my powerlessness into might His job to change my fear into calm and His job to change my doubt into certainty. It’s not my job!
Remembering whose job it is to change me, I can let go and I am grateful!
What jumped out for you as you read today’s meditation? I’d love it if you would share so we can all expand our knowledge of the Writings!
If you liked this meditation, you might also like my book Strengthening Your Relationship with God
Worrying to me is when you doubt the power of the Holy God . I promise to practice not to worry.
I’m powerless over my worrying thoughts, Maria, and need God’s help to dispel them. I also use some affirmations from a prayer attributed to ‘Abdu’l-Baha that starts “O God refresh and gladden my spirit”. The parts that help me to let go of worry are: “I WILL no longer be full of anxiety”; I WILL NOT “let trouble harass me” and “I WILL NOT dwell on the unpleasant things of life” I stand up when I’m saying these, and stomp my feet as I raise my voice on the words “Will” and “will not”, and it always makes me smile and laugh at myself and I can lighten up.
I agree Maria, doubting the power of God and losing my steadfastness is something that causes me to worry too. When I find myself fretting about it, it helps to remember this quote:
Question are Hallucinations the same as dreams, in meaning. To day I was sitting reading a paper with a very nice border on it, and looking at my watch strap, turned my wrist over to see the time, and the watch disappeared, then looked back at the paper was gone. Would this be the same as dreaming, only doing it while your awake.
I haven’t come across anything in the Baha’i Writings about hallucinations, Hilton. The American Sleep Association has some information you might find helpful