Guacamole in bed

This entry will be one of the musing (amusing) entries.

I had a dream several nights ago. But before I share the particulars let me share a little background.

Karen and Jasmine have been in the States for over a month now. With Karen gone, I've been reading whatever I can get my hands on in English. At first I started with ... well the Bible of course... but the extra-curricular reading has included the repair manuals for our stereo, microwave, digital camera, etc. After which I found several novels for women that Karen had stashed in the bottom of her closet. I started feeling a little too sensitive so I visited our team leader and asked if he had any reading materials. He let me look through his stash and I chose a testosterone-filled Clancy novel and a missionary biography, which caught my eye. It is entitled "The People Time Forgot," by Alice Gibbons former C&MA missionary to Irian Jaya. I think it caught my attention because Don Richardson wrote the forward and his book "Peace Child" had a big impact on my life for missions.

I began reading the book that same night. Irian Jaya during this time (mid-1950s) was by-and-large a prehistoric society. Cannibalism was prevalent, minor wars between neighboring family groups were commonplace, strange familial practices were normal (strange from a western perspective), and it also was (and probably is) a very animistic society (strong belief in and relation with the spirit world). So my nights have been filled with tribal wars, pig sacrifices for spirit appeasment, and the "unusual" practice of giving your children to another woman when your wife dies.

Monday evening I made some home-made guacamole (by the way, the Paraguayans put sugar in their guacamole... ewww!) with some extra spicey peppers (yummmm)... I was actually eating it in bed while reading the book (something I could never do if the love of my life were at my side). I went to sleep and dreamed one of my strangest dreams ever:

Karen had died. Jasmine was not in the dream, only Jeffrey. An old girlfriend arrived in Paraguay (no names to protect the innocent... namely myself). This "ex" was angry... I'm not exactly sure as to why (although I could make several educated guesses). Her husband also accompanied her. I wanted to appease her anger so I gave her Jeffrey, at which point they left Paraguay and headed back to the States. I think I must have been on the mends in the grieving process of the loss of Karen. Because I began realizing what a lame-brained idea it was to give away my son. And I was pretty angry that someone had taken advantage of my weakened emotional state. So, I did the only thing reasonable... I grabbed my bow and arrows and headed for the States. I hunted those two down and filled them full of flint. Jeffrey and I returned to Paraguay and continued our lives as Christian and Missionary Alliance missionaries.

I think an appropriate Moral to my dream can be taken from Henry David Thoreau's "Essay on 'Love' in letter" where he writes: "If to chaffer and higgle are bad in trade, they are much worse in Love. It demands directness as of an arrow."

No more guacamole in bed... my wife is back :)