Months ago I began having a new kind of nightmare. The theme of these dreams is always the same, even though the details vary. Recently it was a horrifying car ride with a former work supervisor. Another time I recall trying to fight my way out of an unwanted hug. Maybe it\u2019s little more than an absent-minded handshake, or an unexpected slap on the back, but each nightmare leaves me feeling the exact same way when it\u2019s over:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Afraid\u2026and full of remorse.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n The reason my aforementioned dream so easily reached \u201cnightmare\u201d status, has nothing to do with the character or personality of my old boss. Rather, it\u2019s that neither of us wore face-coverings <\/em>in that car, and I didn\u2019t realize it until after<\/u><\/em> we\u2019d parked! Nor is it that I have haphephobia<\/em> (fear of hugs) which makes certain dreams so chilling nowadays. Rather, it\u2019s when I\u2019m being hugged by someone from a different<\/u> household<\/em>! Handshakes and backslaps aren\u2019t usually too alarming\u2026until they\u2019re done with un<\/u>-sanitized hands<\/em>! I can hardly sleep lately\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n I\u2019ve confided in a few others about this issue, and realized that I\u2019m not alone. Some of you are experiencing these same types of dreams, and I think I know why: Our brains have been so flooded with COVID warnings that we can\u2019t stop thinking about them. The fear of violating these guidelines is so pervasive while we\u2019re awake<\/em> that we can no longer escape them by falling asleep<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dreams like these are an uncomfortable byproduct of being deeply concerned\u2026as we should be<\/em>! Who (in their right<\/em> mind) would want to be sent away from their friends on account of their own negligence? We\u2019re living in a time when truancy reveals something about the heart. I, for one, don\u2019t want to be missing church right now all because I won\u2019t deny myself the pleasure of indiscriminate hugging. Our attendance at church these days says more than ever about the depth & sincerity of the love we have for our own Christian community\u2026(or the lack thereof).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call it what you will: Quarantine, isolation, or banishment, nobody wants to be \u201cout of the club\u201d. Ancient Jews called it \u201cbeing unclean<\/em>\u201d. Anything from skin diseases to physical contact with a corpse could win you an extended trip away from your worshipping friends. Even secondary contamination was taken into account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk about a nightmare! These guys had to be careful about everything<\/em>. Neglect came with awfully strict penalties. Eat the wrong food, touch the wrong plate, and you\u2019d be kept from corporate worship. Tread the wrong ground, and you could miss the annual celebration (see Jn.18:28). These were deep and abiding concerns for the people of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Uncleanness would weaken a person\u2019s spiritual stamina, endanger that person\u2019s life, and put the future of the entire congregation in a precarious position. It\u2019s safe to assume that no kind-hearted Hebrew wanted to be seen as the one responsible for such inattentiveness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Every community, however, has its own \u201cviolators\u201d. These are people who see the \u201c2-week\u201d stipulation, not as a consequence<\/em> for violating faith-principles, but as permission<\/em> to do so. \u201cAs long as I\u2019m willing to step aside for the necessary time<\/em>\u201d, they reason, \u201cits ok for me to postpone all prior commitments to the things of God<\/em>\u201d. A week or two \u201coutside the camp<\/em>\u201d, they suppose, and all goes back to normal once the time expires.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But is that really true? Two or more weeks away might eliminate the viral<\/em> threat, but what has happened to that person\u2019s heart<\/em> while they were away? And what kind of mindset does a person have to begin with, that they can so easily \u201cneglect the gathering of ourselves together, like some people do<\/em>\u201d (Heb.10:25)?<\/p>\n\n\n\n Truancy reveals something about the heart<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Simply put, fellowship isn\u2019t a high priority for them. They aren\u2019t too concerned about whether their chosen lifestyle will require time away from their Christian community, they just want to enjoy life, and they aren\u2019t going to let some silly hygiene recommendations slow them down one bit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Exclusion from fellowship is a nightmare to some, but it\u2019s a vacation for others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The campout was a real pleasure this year, wasn\u2019t it? In spite of all the cancellations and restrictions we\u2019ve seen, we were still able to safely come together for fun & fellowship. The extra care we\u2019ve all taken in our personal lives may have been a bit of a nightmare, but I hope that our time together this weekend made it worth the effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thank you all for making the necessary sacrifices to spend the time with me, my church in Duluth, and the rest of God\u2019s family. Bad dreams or not, the reality is, your love for us is noticeable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Months ago I began having a new kind of nightmare. The theme of these dreams is always the same, even though the details vary. Recently it was a horrifying car ride with a former work supervisor. Another time I recall trying to fight my way out of an unwanted hug. Maybe it\u2019s little more than … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7836,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}I\u2019m Not Alone\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
We Aren\u2019t the First\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Some Sleep Well\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Others Go Camping\u2026<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n