Premonition of a Desert Storm
A Dream, a Flood, and a Lesson of Our Interconnectedness.
The desert tests us. If you haven’t noticed, you are connected to everything. All things in the universe are derived of the same Source. Whether you are a person of faith or of science, whether you believe in God or the Big Bang as the beginning of the Universe, and even if you believe they are one and the same… we can agree that all things came from the One. Bursting forth into multiplicity, the cosmos expanded and became all that we now know it to be. If you have ever studied Quantum Entanglement, you would be aware that any two particles that come into contact with each other are endlessly entangled no matter how much apparent distance or separation there is in-between them. Considering that all things came from one singular point at the beginning of known time, it can then be assumed that you are in fact quantumly entangled with everything. You are bound to the wind, to the waves, and even the earth beneath your feet.
Last night, I dreamed I was digging trenches to divert water from my home during a storm. The vision was vivid, urgent, yet I dismissed it upon waking. No storm was forecast, and I had more pressing tasks. But as I worked, a rumble shook the air. Then another. Flash flood warnings blared on our phones. I stepped outside to a deceptively calm sky—heavy clouds, beautiful, peaceful even… but I saw no immediate threat. Half an hour later, hail blanketed my yard, and a rushing river roared alongside my house. Muddy water leaked into my office, kitchen, and guest room
.
Storms are both beautiful and dreadful. I love the action of them, the attention they command, and their raw, natural power. I also dread the cleanup, the sheer amount of time and towels it will take to soak up the mess, to clean out rooms of my house.
I’m taking this as a lesson to trust my dreams, to listen to the messages that feel like premonitions even when the evidence that they will come about doesn’t add up according to the systems of the world. In this case, that dream couldn’t have been more correct; my subconscious could have given a more accurate prediction than the waking world’s weatherman. A little effort digging those trenches could have spared me hours of mopping.
When an event like this occurs, I remember that I am connected to the wind and the waves, to the earth and the sky, and that my dreams are connected to reality. All things are more intertwined than we know. If we knew and truly believed in the interconnection of all things, what wouldn’t we be able to do?
Jesus once spoke of faith that could calm storms and move mountains. I think that the secret to that must be in learning to perceive our interconnectedness and oneness with all things. If we truly understood the nature of interbeing, we wouldn’t just be predicting the future through dreams, we would be commanding the storms and they way that they would go.
We wouldn’t just be telling the storms outside of us what to do, we would be looking inward toward the storms within ourselves, knowing them not to be separate from the ones outside of us. We would shift them into a state of peace. If we truly cared about the world outside of us, wouldn’t we bring love and attention to the world within us just the same? Wouldn’t we see that what was within was also without? Maybe then, selfless service actually heals us too.
There have been so many occurrences lately in dream realms that have nudged me to pay attention, and I have ignored them. I have kept my waking life separate from my sleeping. Today, that did not help me at all.
May we all awaken to our interconnectedness, may we bridge the divide between worlds, and may we learn to listen more deeply. As we listen, give us the strength to put our deep inner knowings into fruitful action.
Thank God Noah listened.
Thousands of years later, I am still learning to.
Sincerely,
Britain Vanderbush
The Desert Monk