Word for 2025 - Home

 I have spent the last few days revisiting the choices of my words of the year over the last decade. The first time I chose a word for the year was in 2012 - the word was Integrity. Although I was certain I had continued this tradition faithfully since, my journals indicate otherwise. There seem to be a few missing years early on. Some years my word of the year has been obvious, almost slapping me in the face. Other years have taken more time and more soul searching. As I look back - Courage, Cherish, Awaken, Behold, Horizon - I can recall what was happening for me in those years and the growth that occured for me. At times the word develops a life of it's own, emerging with life's circumstances. Who knew when I chose "Flow" for my 2024 word that we would buy a block of land where a winter creek flowed and filled us with so much anticipation and joy.

I have been resistant to my word for 2025. It seems too obvious - perhaps too literal. We will be building a house this year. I am very aware this is going to take a lot of our energy and time. It is exciting, daunting and grounding. Beside all the choices of colours, textures, tiles and taps, there is also an ongoing conversation about creating a space that is home for us. This takes us beyond choices of colour to how we create a place of peace, calm and welcome.

Although there is no building on our block at this stage, the space already feels like home. We are coming to know the creatures we share the space with, our friendly neighbours who take the time to say hello, and the homecoming feeling of that first deep breath when we get out of the car. There is something about this space, this place, that brings calm to both of us. We love tending this piece of land - pulling weeds, watering new plants and connecting with the various birds and critters. We cannot wait to truly call this place home and have our postal address match where our hearts reside.

My inability to ignore "home" as my word of 2025, however, comes from a different place. Throughout 2024 a deeper meaning of coming home has continued to disturb me. I have dreamt about trying to get home, things preventing me from returning home and renovating houses. In spiritual direction sessions it is not uncommon to end up talking about a sense of my spiritual home or where I feel I belong. Although I have done some work on this, it seems a perfect opportunity for the external journey to mirror the internal. While I am exploring different aspects of my new house and watching it become reality in the building, I will also pay attention to my inner home. There are so many questions to ponder: How does it feel to be "at home" in myself? To "come home" to God? What does this home look like? And who shares the space with me?

There are numerous cliches about home. Home is where the heart is. Make yourself at home. Home sweet home. And even one of my favourites - There's no place like home. But finding a spiritual home, a space where we are at peace and feel loved and known can be difficult. The irony, for me, is that I long for a place to be at home but find myself restless and wandering. 2025 is a year for me to be intentional in my desire to find a home - both an inner and outer journey.

Disturbing Dreams

In Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical 'Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat' there is a song about Pharaoh and his dreams. It starts with 'Guess what? In his bed Pharaoh had an uneasy night'. The chorus then goes on to say, 'Poor, poor Pharaoh, what'cha gonna do? Dreams are haunting you, hey, what'cha gonna do?' I can say now, that I know a little of what Pharaoh was feeling.

I have been dreaming a lot lately. About a week ago I counted waking up five times during the night each time after a different dream. It was a restless sleep and in the morning I was too tired to even think about what the dreams could mean. Usually, I might have one significant dream a week and I welcome them when they come. At the moment, it is getting beyond ridiculous.

Whenever I remember a dream, I know something is going on. Yes, sometimes they relate to an event or a person that I have come across during the previous day, but the story and the characters are often trying to help me get in touch with something much deeper. I am a firm believer that our dreams help us to tap into our unconscious and as they are sometimes called, are God's forgotten language. Dreams have certainly been important aspects of my spiritual growth over time.

I have mentioned in a previous post about the benefits of working with our dreams. I find it takes practice to work with your dreams, but with guidance and repetition it becomes easier. This also takes time. Sometimes you can reflect on a dream on the way to work and that's enough, but often it requires a lot more working through and soul searching. This is my problem right now. Life has been rather full over the last few weeks and I don't foresee a reprieve for the next little while. The irony of all this, is that I know until I decide to make the time to work through these annoying dreams, they will keep occurring. Perhaps the answer to my own dilemma is to take a few hours to sit and journal. Maybe then I will sleep a little easier and life won't seem so full. Poor, poor Cathie what'cha gonna do? I don't need to find a dream interpreting Joseph, but need to listen to how God might be trying to get my attention right now.

Understanding Your Dreams

Tomorrow evening I will be presenting a talk in Margaret River on the topic of dreams. Most of you will be familiar with the introductory sentence, "I had the weirdest dream last night..." The following tale can often have us in fits of laughter as many dreams are rather way out and bizarre. As puzzling or entertaining as dreams can be, they actually teach us a lot about our life.

In the talk tomorrow I will outline some of the research that has been conducted by scientists and psychotherapists. I will give some of my own wacky examples of dreams and what I have learnt from them. We will then explore one suggestion for how to understand our dreams. The truth is, we do not necessarily need an expert or a good symbols book to help us with dream interpretation. Our dreams are our teacher and we only need to grow in our attentiveness to gain from them.

I am going to propose to those who come that we think about commencing a dream group. This would be a circle of trust where we can bring our dreams and help each other to understand and learn from them. If you are in the area and would like to join us, we are commencing at 7pm at Margaret River Uniting Church.

I will keep you posted and tell you more about how it went soon.

Dreams, dangers and distractions

It has been a while seen I have posted on this blog. I could make up lots of excuses, tell you how busy I have been and have a good whinge, but none of this would be taking responsibility myself. The truth is that sometimes I need a wake up call, an alarm system that monitors my emotional and spiritual health and gets my attention. Well, lucky for me - I do have one.

I am a great believer that our dreams are our subconscious' attempt to get our attention. If we can be aware of our dreams and befriend them, they may just have a lot to teach us. I have read some of the books of John Sanford who describes dreams as God's forgotten language. It is a very valuable book, moreso than 10 dream decoders or symbol books. The first battle is to actually remember your dreams, but sometimes they are so vivid that we cannot help but remember them. I could write a novel or two based on some of the dreams I have had. 

Two nights ago I had a dream that I now call my "alarm system". I discovered, a few years ago now, that when I dream about a particular person, who for me symbolises freedom, vitality and life in its abundance, this is a message to myself about my deepest yearning. I used to be disturbed having dreams about this person, but now I know that all it means is that I have lost the love of life and have become too busy with the stuff of life. 

I have not had this dream for a long time, but was not surprised when the other night it cropped up again. It appears to me like a warning sign. It is a siren blaring out in the fog of life. Life had become super busy and, in my opinion, full of all the wrong things. So many things were distracting me from what I feel is the core of my life. I was spiritually dry and exhausted. Its difficult to write a good blog on Spirituality when you are in this place. So, now I have two warning systems; my dreams and the inability to post in this blog. So, if you don't hear from me for a while feel free to ask me how things are going :)

Epiphanies in the Night

Today the Christian church celebrates Epiphany - the time when the maji followed a star to visit the infant Jesus. There is a magic about Epiphany. For me this year, it is about focus, guidance and direction. Quite often, the guiding stars in my life are my dreams. Dreams have a a special language that tell us what is really going on in our life. I have always had very vivid and significant dreams. Some I remember in such detail that I could write a book about them.

How appropriate then, that last night I had a dream that reminded me of my focus and direction for the year ahead. It began with me receiving a written profile from a congregation in the Metropolitan area asking if I would come and be there minister. (My dream didn't follow the correct procedures of the Uniting Church!) This particular congregation was very diverse. It had people of all ages. It had at least two cultural groups worshipping in their own languages. It had mission outreach programmes, playgroups, kids' club, youth groups, young adult groups and much more. The range was exciting and the possibilities endless. 

In the dream, I decided to go to Perth and meet with these people to find out more. It was at this point that I got caught in a rollercoaster ride. It was like a blur. I was totally caught up in the frenzy of meeting new people, talking about the future and the whirlwind of activity that it came as a shock when I discovered that the decision had been made that I was going to move. 

It was like the world stood still, but I was so dizzy. I felt physically sick and had to retreat from the action to find my feet. Once I had regained my composure I returned to the large crowds and gave a passionate speech about God's calling on my life. I explained to the people that I was not meant to be torn in every direction, but to be loyal and focussed on the people of Augusta and Margaret River. Funnily enough, the people were not too disappointed or disgruntled. It was like it had all been a game, a ploy all along. All the bells and whistles were an attempt to distract me and pull me away. All they would do is move on to the next victim.

What a timely reminder to focus and not be distracted. Just to allay any concerns from my congregation members, I am not in any way thinking about moving on. It is easy, however, to become distracted from the task at hand. This dream has come at a time when I am reflecting on the year ahead. What will I focus upon? Where will I direct my energy? What will my priorities be? Maybe in my daily life I can take heed from my Epiphany in the Night and take the time to retreat and reflect first rather than get myself into a dizzy spin.