Sleeping Tiger

I have a very active dream life, in fact my first book was based on a dream I had. Most times I don't think my dreams mean very much, but occasionally I have one where I know God is speaking to me. It's obvious to me in several ways. First, the memory of the dream is uncanny and second the symbols within the dream are unmistakable, as if the Spirit is whispering in my ear... “here's what this meant... you better listen!” I had one of those dreams the other night and while I think I know what it means in my own life, I feel like I am supposed to share it. I believe it is supposed to mean something to one of you as well. I don't know who you are or what it means to you but I believe whoever you are, God will point you to this page and you will get the message. So, here it is... the dream...

My husband and I were looking to buy a new house, not because we needed a house, but because we wanted something bigger and better at a good deal. There was this one house we thought would be perfect so we asked our real estate agent to take us to see it. Before arriving, our agent warned us not to get too interested in the house because there were some legal issues surrounding the “owners” of the house; yes the house was for sale but there was some question as to who actually owned the house. Until that got figured out, nothing could happen. Our agent confided in us that he didn't believe the house would be able to be sold. Right before we went inside, we were given one more piece of information: we were told to ignore the tigers that lived there. HUH? Tigers??? Yes, there were two REAL full-size tigers that roamed freely in the house. Our agent assured us if we ignored them, they wouldn't bother us so it was safe to go in. Okay.... in we went.

To summarize: we want a bigger, better house but don't need it, the house we are looking at doesn't appear to even be available and we enter the house even though we have full knowledge there are two tigers inside. Hmmmm... we aren't sounding too smart, are we?

So we go in. Immediately I see one of the tigers in the living room. It was curled up sleeping soundly on the floor. It looked cute... big, but cute. We looked around, loved what we saw (aside from the tiger) and moved on to see the rest of the house. My husband and I finished looking around without ever seeing the other tiger. We left without incident. Despite the tigers, we really liked the house. We decide we want it knowing that it probably isn't available. Perhaps this is one of the reasons we really want it. How human of us!

Next thing I knew we are back in the car with the agent to go see the house again. This time we have brought some friends with us to see what they think of it. We were so excited, telling our friends all about this perfect house we just have to have. We waited until we got to the front door to tell them about the tigers, and we told them as though it were no big deal. Our friends looked at us like we were completely insane and refused to enter the “den of pending death.” Finally, someone with some intelligence! It took some convincing, but we finally talked them into going in with us. Again, there was a tiger sleeping in the living room. Our friends were totally freaked out but we tip toed around the big animal and moved on to see the rest of the house, still no sign of the other tiger.

We’re almost ready to leave but one of my friends was missing so we got a little worried. We found her in the living room staring at the sleeping tiger. Her fear of the animal had been replaced by intrigue. We warned her of the danger as she got closer and closer to the tiger but she didn't listen. Her fear didn't seem to exist anymore... her fear had become false confidence that nothing could happen to her. She reached her hand out slowly to touch the sleeping animal as we watched in petrified horror. In slow motion I saw the tips of her fingers stroke the fur for this first time. As if shocked herself, she smiled as she continued to stroke the tiger’s soft hair. She knelt and continued. One by one, each of us began to relax as her affection of the animal seemed to be accepted without problem. Before long she was scratching the large cat behind the ear, as the resting animal purred loudly appearing to enjoy the attention.

It was time to leave, so we began to head out the door. My friend was happy to have had a chance to be so close to such an amazing creature. It was a once in a lifetime experience she was pleased to have had. She was smiling and proud she conquered her fear. She felt invincible as she rose to her feet and took a final look at the motionless, giant, sleeping cat.

With a sigh of relief that the petting was over, I waited for my friend to walk out the front door. She turned her back away from the tiger with a giant smile on her face and began to leave. Just when all seemed perfect, the tiger awoke to see my friend walking away. In the blink of an eye the tiger stood, snapping out his massive paw, and grabbed my friend. His claws tore into the flesh of her back. Her face changed from joy to shock and then to torturous pain. I stood witnessing the animal dragging her back into his full grip. I watched helplessly knowing he would devour her without guilt, for that was his nature.

My sleeping tiger dream faded to black and was thankfully over.

This dream means many things to me personally... I have played all of these roles within this dream many times in my lifetime: the consumer driven by want rather than need that flippantly draws others close to danger, the homeowner who is trying to sell something they do not own, the middleman agent who speaks the truth yet does nothing for the sake of prevention, the once cautious yet curious friend who is drawn to danger and ultimately consumed as a result, and the ultimate predators - the tigers (the one in view AND the one in hiding). I'm thankful the Spirit cares for me enough to take the time to make me aware of the role I am playing right now. I don't like it, but it is the truth. I know the only way I can do better is to see the truth. In short, we can pretend it is only a dream but I believe awareness of the role we play in every situation is the only way to keep from being devoured by the tiger. And just so you know, I also believe the ultimate way to be devoured by the tiger is to make the choice to be the tiger.