Dream with God

	God's Dream With Us  Do you have any dreams with God? It is safe to assume that you do, since all of us dream while sleeping, even if we may claim that we do not. It has been estimated that more than 95 percent of all dreams are not remembered. Which ones do you remember? Actually, those we usually remember are the ones we have just before awakening. Dream investigators have found that sleep is a progressive process that is deepest in the first few hours and then becomes lighter later on. Dreaming occurs especially during periods of rapid eye movement, called REM sleep. This alternates with non-REM sleep. Each cycle of non-REM/REM sleep lasts about 90 minutes, and these cycles are repeated five or six times during the night, with the last one occurring just before we awake. It is a mistake to think that your brain is at a low level of activity during sleep. It has been found that the brain is more active in dreams than in some states of wakefulness, with the exception of certain neurons in the brain stem, which are related to attention and memory. These appear to rest during REM sleep. But in general the nerve cells in the brain have continuous intercellular communication. Our brain is an amazingly complex part of the body with billions of elements that are generating signals at approximately one hundred to two or three hundred a second. There are more elements in one human brain than there are people on earth. Some researchers estimate that it contains from 20 billion to more than 50 billion elements. Its complexity confirms what the Bible writer David said about the human body: "I shall laud you because in a fear-inspiring way I am wonderfully made. Your works are wonderful."— Psalm 139:14. The World of Dreams During our waking hours, our five senses are constantly conveying information and images to the brain, but during sleep this is not the case. The brain generates images within itself without any external sensory input. Therefore, what we see in dreams and the actions we experience in them are at times like hallucinations. This makes it possible for us to do things that are violations of natural laws, such as flying like Peter Pan or falling from a cliff without injury. Time may be distorted so that the past is seen as if it were the present. Or if we are trying to run away, we do not seem to have control of our movements—our legs do not want to respond. Strong impressions and experiences that we may have during our waking hours can, of course, affect our dreams. Many who have experienced the frightful atrocities of war cannot easily forget them, nor can some forget the feeling of being attacked by a criminal. Such disturbing experiences while we are awake can emerge in our dreams, causing nightmares. Common things that are on our minds when we go to sleep can surface in our dreams. Sometimes when we are trying to solve a problem, the solution comes to us during sleep. This may reflect that not all sleep consists of dreaming. A portion of it is thinking. A book about dreams and our brain notes: "The most common form of mental activity in sleep is not dreaming but thinking. Sleep thinking is not accompanied by sensory illusions and is not bizarre. It tends to be commonplace, often concerned with the real-life events of yesterday or tomorrow, and is usually banal, uncreative, and repetitive." Some people feel that the subjects of their dreams have special messages for them. In order to have the dreams interpreted, they keep a notepad by their bed so that they can record them when they awaken. Regarding the usefulness of books that try to give meaning to dream symbols, The Dream Game, by Ann Faraday, says: "Dream books in which you look up the meanings of dream themes and symbols are equally useless, whether they be traditional or based on some modern psychological theory." Since it seems that dreams originate principally within the brain, it is not reasonable to think that they have special messages for us. We should view them as a normal function of the brain that helps maintain it in a healthful condition. But what about those who say that they had dreamed of the death of a relative or a friend and learned the next day that the person had died? Does not that indicate that dreams can foretell the future? In the following article, we will consider what is behind prophetic dreams.