the dream.

do you ever dream about your work?
when I was a waiter, I used to have this reoccurring dream, that I would get to work and walk into a huge hall of hungry people, seated at tables, and waiting for me to serve them. it was overwhelming.

now, I have this reoccurring dream that I'm talking to a huge group of kids, and they are bored out of their minds, and I can totally tell. the room is distracting, the sound board is making weird sounds, people are walking in and out of the room, and its hot and stuffy. the kids can't wait to get out. but I'm not finished with my talk- and the talk isn't particularly good. and I know it. I'm disorganized, I can't find the words to say, and I just want to get out of the situation, but I can't until the last point is made. the dream seems to last forever.

I have told the students about the dream. Sometimes, when I'm talking and they are being distracted and chatty, I just stop and say, "this is it. this is the dream. I'm living it. right. now." just saying it out loud seems to break the tension inside of me and helps me to get back on track. it helps them to recognize how distracted they are too. sometimes when I'm listening to a speaker, I can almost see them notice that they are losing the crowd, and they do all sorts of things to get them back: they talk faster- they talk louder- they move around more- and in my mind I think to myself- "its the dream- they are in the middle of it right now." and I usually pray for them and encourage them on the way out.

they say that if you can speak to middle schoolers, you can speak to anyone. I've been doing it for 12 years now, and I still have a lot of room for improvement! and somehow I think that no matter how long I speak to students, the dream will stay with me.

do me a favor: the next time you are listening to someone speak publicly, make eye contact with them, nod as though you are listening, smile, laugh at their jokes, and thank them for speaking to you when they are done. my guess is that they just did something that was very scary and intimidating for them- and hopefully, you can spare them from dreaming the dream on that night.

God is love.
-rev-rob