'We Are A Dream Of God

Dr. Wendy O'Flaherty is a professor of History and Religion at the University of Chicago. Thirty odd years ago she wrote a book where she spoofed (and I am paraphrasing here) that, as the Hindu people say, when we dream it often seems so real that when we wake we almost can't believe it was just a dream we experienced. I was listening to an interview she was giving on CBC radio. It was about her new book where she makes this analogy:

What if this life of ours is just that; a dream of God and when he, or she, wakes, well that's the end of the world. Or the end of our world and we die. Just like when we wake from a dream the story of the dream we were having ends. It's kind of funny, interesting to think about, but it opens our imagination to the what if's of life. Unless of course you believe the story of the Garden of Eden and how God parted the Red Sea for the Israelite's. Or he sent his only son to earth to be tortured and crucified on a cross cause we were so sinful, he needed atonement. That's a scary dad.

Isaac Singer the great Jewish writer and thinker, who lived for a long time in New York City, was asked in an interview with Pierre Burton, also in the 1970's, who was himself an atheist, why he believed in God, and he answered with this story;

There were two men who got stranded on a deserted island, and one day one of them walked down to the beach and eventually returned with this watch. "What's that?" the other asked. The first man explained, "It's a watch and it tells time by going around the dial every 12 hours". "And who made it?" the other asked. "No one", he replied, "it just formed on the beach from all the minerals and stones. "Well that's impossible," the other said.

So Singer continued, "We know a watch is too sophisticated to just make itself. Someone had to make it and if we agree on that, then we have to agree that the human being, which is infinity more complex also had to be made by someone and I call that someone God." Great story. I never forgot it;

I grew up as a Catholic, and my fear of God and his wrath was complete, but as I got older I changed and that fear, I reasoned away. I figure if God is real he would never be mad at me for not believing in him. What reason could he give for that. Other than making the world and all it's glories, he has never shown me a sign clearly that he is watching my every move, and if I don't behave as the Catholic Church ordains, I am somehow going to be punished when I die and punished well. All loving Gods don't behave like that.Basically I decided that God was much nicer and more enlightened than our christian religions tell us he is.

I think when I die he's going to say, "Well Ignatius, or Frank, you scored about 75 per cent on that little test but it was fun right? You got to live your life in one best countries of the world. And you learned a lot. You certainly were human and imperfect and didn't always do the right think, but hey, wanna try it again?" And I'm going to say, "You mean a do over? God, No. I think I'll just hang out here with you guys and watch the show down there. OK?"