Monday of the Third Week of Advent
“Scientists tell us to pay diligent attention to dreams,” Aristotle wrote in his brief essay on the topic, “and to hold this view is reasonable also for philosophers, both speculative and practical.” The skillful interpreter of dreams, he says, is the one who can interpret the ‘resemblances’ in them. Interpreting the resemblances in dreams is like observing reflections in a pool of water. If the pool of water is still, then the reflection is easily understood. If the water is lightly rippled, then the reflection is distorted, and a special skill is needed to see despite the distortion. Most dreams may be dismissed as nothing more than an assortment of coincidental distortions, but some dreams “have a divine aspect,” which a skillful interpreter can make clear.
In the Bible, we find several skillful interpreters, like the biblical patriarch, Joseph, and the apocalyptic prophet Daniel, and especially St. Joseph, the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Joseph understood from his dream that his wife would give birth to a son who had been conceived by the Holy Spirit and would save his people from their sins. St. Joseph’s dream was no waste of time, and it was his correct interpretation of the dream that allowed the Messiah to enter into the world.
Ignatian spirituality creates space for a kind of a waking dream together with a proper interpretation aimed at welcoming the Messiah into every aspect of our dark and sinful world.