| A Child in the Road I was walking toward home and I had to go under an overpass. As I entered on the sidewalk I noticed a little girl standing in the road in front of a parked car. She was just standing there. The little girl was of African decent and she was wearing a green dress with a pocket on the front of it. Her dress seemed a bit dirty and the little girl had a blank stare on her face. Her eyes were a little glassy as if she’d been crying, but now she was just staring blankly. She didn’t look at me directly or acknowledge me. It seemed to me that she had been through some sort of trauma.
I felt compassion toward her and wanted to do something to help her. I reached into my pocket and pulled out a piece of candy. I put the piece of candy in her mouth and she started to smile. Still she didn’t say anything. I reached in my pocket and pulled out another piece of candy. I gently tucked the other piece of candy in the pocket of her dress.
As I wondered why the girl was by herself, a policeman appeared on a motorcycle. I asked him, “Why is this little girl standing here?” He said to me, “I can take her to the children’s home if you like. They have a ministry where they accept little children. Do you want me to do that?” I remember thinking to myself, “why is this guy asking me this?”
I kept looking at the little girl and didn’t know what to do. As I was standing there staring at the little girl, trying to decide what to do, I started to cry.
+ Click here for interpretation:
| The crying must have woken me up, because when I awoke from the dream I was still crying. When I later told the dream to my wife I began crying again. Usually it’s my wife that has dreams with this type of detail. My wife’s dreams are the ones posted on the site not mine. |
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| Anyway, the little girl is the church. That’s how she is right now. The fact that she’s black represents the powerlessness and the oppression the church is currently facing. She’s in a state of emotionless trauma symbolizing that’s she’s not being protected or cared for - enough. I represent the clergy. I stop and give her a piece of candy. The candy represents the teaching of this age – sweet and pleasing but only for the moment with no real benefit. I leave her another piece of candy thinking I am doing something good. |
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| The policeman represents legalistic authority only offering to help when someone dares to ask a question. The policeman has a ready response. He offered to take her to a ministry, which sounded nice, but the child really needs nurturing and care and real food – not an institution. |
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| I as the clergy have a decision to make. I need to give her more than candy. I need to take her home with me - to let her actually disrupt my life and to begin to offer her what she really needs. I began to understand the dream while it was unfolding. That is why I began crying and why I was still crying when I awoke. My crying was my response to the dream, the seemingly hopelessness of the situation and the shame of my own indecision. |
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| Pray then for this little girl, because she is who we are. Sometimes we need the jolt of a vision to get us to pray. Pray also that the Lord would either change the hearts of our leaders or raise up a brand new batch that will offer more than candy to those who need love and nurturing and solid food. |
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