I had a strange half-awake dream this morning.

[summer_in_TX]

Since the first time I heard Rush Limbaugh, then soon after Fox News, and the anger, grievances, and lies they pushed, I've been worried. My church Faith Meets Life small group can attest to decades of prayers about healing the growing partisan divide and how we could be instruments in that endeavor.

In the dream, it brought to mind the two world history-shaping miracles that have happened in my lifetime, the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of apartheid in South Africa, neither of which I ever thought could happen without a terrible blood-letting. And I realized that those events were a result of a lot of things including diplomacy, protests, letters, advocacy, earlier clashes and violence, economic sanctions, but also much prayer. Sustained prayer pouring forth voluntarily because that is what people of faith believe can make a difference, making a way out of no way.

In the case of the media ecosystem that is providing powerful incentives through their platform to sociopaths who are filling the airwaves with a toxic stew of conspiracy theories, grievances, and fuels distrust and hatred, I was praying for the symptoms to be healed but not for God to take action. The media ecosystem is one of those things that is beyond easy solution for any of us though many have been working for change for decades. But those of us of faith may not have thought of it as something to lift up to God.

Anyway the dream had a compelling feel to it, like I shouldn't just keep it to myself but check with other people of faith for feedback and to see what possibilities might come from throwing the idea out into the universe.

[Karadeniz]

1. Always a good idea to share such messages. The Mind is capable of changing the material

reality, as Hogan showed in the first chapters of Your Eternal Self.

[summer_in_TX]

3. Thank you for that.

[Backseat Driver]

2. Well, years ago I had a nightmare; I didn't need Rush to

tell me things were messed up! I dreamed of standing by a mass grave; one placed one's hand on the bible being offered or BAM and over one went...swear or die...I'm no longer active in any organized church with its corruption and hypocrasy, but I think about that dream at times and say the first prayer I remember saying as I was taught:

Now I lay me down to sleep; I pray the Lord my soul to keep; if I should die before I wake; I pray the Lord my soul to take (somewhere). I now just equate a soul to the energy of life everlasting in some form of energy.

No matter, guess I'm still that child speaking like one...I Corinthians 13:

Science claims our brains are categorizing and cleaning up the debris of our thoughts. Sure seems there quite a bit of debris to clean up...

It also seems that I'm likely in my last season, but one never knows what the future will bring for those we leave behind...so be kind; learn all one can; know yourself and live and defend by the example of love; vote; pray if one must, with faith that it reaches out with energy to others and a Creator.

[WDLAL]

4. Thank you for sharing this.

My prayer group regularly prays for the leaders in our nation. We also include those who report the events taking place to help people understand the impact of policies. I will now add commentators to my prayer list, to seek God's will. Our beloved nation needs all our prayers.

[summer_in_TX]

5. Thank you!

That encourages me. I have been dealing with some illness and hadn't shared the dream except here. But I will have some conversations with others who pray. The incentives built into the media system (at least all the for-profit media) makes sensationalizing a high priority, at the expense of a healthy democracy where rebuilding the ties that bind us together and helping us understand one another should be happening.

[WDLAL]

6. I'm sorry to hear that you've been ill.

I'm praying for you. And I agree completely about the need to bring people together. I'm saddened by the way partisanship has impacted our society. I pray regularly for healing in our nation. I think about reaching out to other church leaders in my area to try to bring our church members, at least, together to focus on the message of love and forgiveness that Jesus modeled for us.

[summer_in_TX]

7. Clearly you are modeling your life after that of Jesus.

Getting together with those different from ourselves gives the opportunity for building connections that will eventually, I pray, bear fruit.

After praying for healing and reconciliation for the last 25 years or so, I wondered if I wasn't specific enough about what I consider the force multiplier, the media (especially broadcast and social). So that is now an added focus.

Thank you for your prayers! This has been longer and harder to resolve than my usual respiratory illnesses. Complicated by asthma.