When playing on this field of dreams, the question is, what do the coach's signals mean?

Like hearing the parables of Jesus, people feel they have to ask for explanations

Those who have read about famous dreamers may think of psychiatrist Carl Jung foreseeing World War I or the “sleeping prophet” psychic and Protestant preacher Edgar Cayce’s thoughts about the end of the planet. However, anyone can jog onto this field of dreams. It’s not as if only millionaire quarterbacks are allowed to show off their skills.

Everyone sleeps. So they all enter the state of being able to dream. Some people say they don’t dream, but maybe they just don’t remember. Or maybe their mind is blocking out something uncomfortable. Then there’s the frequent, “I wonder what that dream meant.” It wants to attract your attention so you’ll really think about it. In a very different situation, Jesus preached in parables and left his listeners asking what lessons those stories taught.

People talk about politics or news events or entertainment just about every day. But what about their dreams? Working on these tales of the night can simply be discovering the meanings of lessons for betterment, like examining Jesus’ parables.

A few evenings ago I was dreaming that my sister was visiting me from out of state. When the phone down the hall actually began ringing as I was asleep, I thought she would answer it. When it stopped ringing, I figured she did. When it rang later as I still slept, I again thought she’d answer it. When it kept ringing this time, I managed to awake enough to realize that she was nowhere around my place and that it was up to me to answer the phone.

Awake now, I figured out that when the phone had stopped ringing the first time, it wasn’t because it had been answered but because it had not been, and the caller gave up. My voicemail then revealed who had called.

Exterior conditions affecting dreams

We hear that sometimes the conditions around a sleeping person affect dream contents. A hot room may lead the sleeper to believe he’s in the desert or on a summer sidewalk or in a sauna. My dream about my sister visiting me modified itself to incorporate the fact that my phone actually began to ring. The dream supplied the thought that I needn’t get out of bed because my sister would answer it.