From the Rector…
“There is a dead body somewhere in this house.”
They say our dreams can reveal something buried deep in our psyche—or even come as messages from God. Last night, I dreamed there was a dead body hidden somewhere in my house. It wasn’t my current house, or any house I’ve ever lived in. I wasn’t even my adult self, but a younger me, still living with my parents and sister.
In the dream, we were moving into a house with a large storage area in the middle. Somehow, someone was already living there and threatened my sister and me. In the struggle, he fell, lost his arm, and died. Kelly and I didn’t know what to do. We were in shock and a little terrified. We hid his body in the storage space while we tried to figure out what to do, feeling guilty even though he had attacked us.
Days passed as though nothing had happened. Kelly and I seemed to have forgotten all about it. At some point, it began to dawn on me that we had hidden a dead body in the house. When I asked Kelly, she looked at me blankly, and I thought perhaps I had imagined it all. Relief washed over me—until our mother appeared, calmly telling my father, “There is a dead body somewhere in this house.” My sister and I looked at one another in horror.
We searched through boxes, closets, and cabinets. At last, my father opened the storage area. Just when it seemed we wouldn’t find anything, he pulled back a cart—and there it was. The body. The truth we had hidden.
I woke up in that half-dream state, heart pounding, unsure if it had been real. Slowly, I remembered: no attack, no death, no hidden body. Just a dream. But the unease lingered. What was I supposed to learn from this?
The more I reflected, the clearer it became: this dream was about hiddenness. We had tried to hide the body. Then we tried to hide even the knowledge of it from ourselves. It was only when I was willing to “wake up” and face it that the truth came into the light.
How often do we do the same in life—stuffing away the things that scare us, hurt us, or shame us? But what is hidden festers in the dark. It is only by bringing it into the light that healing and redemption become possible.
We all carry things hidden deep within—sometimes fear, sometimes shame, sometimes the weight of the world itself. But God does not leave us there. God enters the shadows, draws us out, and promises us strength to face whatever is hidden. Hear the words of Isaiah: “Do not fear, for I am with you; do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand” (Isaiah 41:10).
Right now, many of us feel threatened by the brittleness and incomprehensibility of the world. Fear whispers to us: Hide it. Don’t look. Pretend it isn’t there. My dream seems to be telling me that hidden things remain in the dark and fester anxiety in the soul. If we are willing to bring them forth into the light, we might find redemption for ourselves and for the world. The prophets remind us again and again—fear leads to death, and life is found in the light. Christ himself is the light that shines in our darkness. When we dare to name what is hidden and bring it to light, we find freedom, hope, and the courage to live again.
Light and Life,
Candice Frazer+