Unfortunately I can't remember the exact date of this dream, but I know that it was in 9th or 10th grade. It had a great impact on me that I did not understand at the time. God has told me that I'm to share it here along with the story that follows it.
The dream begins at the end of a school year at the Christian private school I had attended for a couple years in middle school. It is the end of the year and the students are having to clean the school. I am scrubbing the toilets and not very happy about it.
I leave the bathroom, still holding a toilet brush, and enter the lobby. I have a question for the principal and am going to find him, but as I walk across the lobby I am suddenly distracted by what I see through the door windows. The host of Reading Rainbow, LeVar Burton, is walking towards the doors carrying a large cardboard box. He enters and I am completely in awe since I used to watch his show all the time growing up.
The principal enters the lobby at the same time. LeVar Burton sets the box down and says, "I would like to donate these books to the school." I smile and think how that is just like LeVar.
The principal is not smiling, and coldly says, "We do not want your books." He immediately leaves the lobby. I am shocked and angered by the lack of respect the principal is showing. I think, "How dare he treat someone so nice like that!"
LeVar Burton turns and exits through the doors. After looking in the direction the principal went I thought, "Screw this place! I'm going with LeVar Burton!" I dropped the toilet brush and I ran out the doors and caught up with LeVar Burton in the parking lot. I said, "Hey! Wait up!" He turned and slowed down till I was walking beside him. We ended up sitting in a patch of grass in the parking lot, talking and laughing for hours (a childhood dream come true, right?). I don't remember any of our conversation, but we had a lot of fun.
I then looked over his shoulder and saw a flag being raised on the flag pole in front of the school. It had a lion on it standing on it's hind legs, roaring with paws in the air. I also remember two swords above the lion, but can't recall any of the other pictures on the flag clearly. I was confused because I didn't know what the flag was supposed to mean or why it had just been raised. I pointed to it and asked LeVar Burton, "What is that?"
He twisted around to look at it, then turned back to look at me and said, "The war is coming."
The air was suddenly very serious and I felt he meant that the war was literally just around the corner of the street.
I woke up.
"Whoa! What the heck was that?"
I know that the principal of the Christian private school represented a person who practices legalistic, religious, and hypocritical actions, because that is unfortunately what he was at the time I went to school there, and still was when I last heard news of him. The fact that he refused a free gift of books that would have benefited the students, and refused it from someone who is highly respected in the area of literary education, speaks a lot of the pride of the person (or persons) he is supposed to represent in the dream. But...I still had no clarity on what the dream was supposed to tell me. I wasn't even sure if LeVar Burton was supposed to be himself in the dream or represent someone else, like the principal does.
I started watching the show again as soon as I got access to it, which was several years later, but that did not give me any clues.
Then one day I saw an add on the internet for LeVar Burton stuff. One of the things was a book written by him titled Aftermath! I went to the local library. They did not have it, but said that they would have it shipped from a library in Texas or something ridiculous like that, and it would take several months.
Several months passed and I had pretty much forgotten about the book. Then one day, after running around all of creation doing something, I went to my room to take a nap. Someone knocking on my door woke me up. I didn't move, hoping I had just imagined it. The knock came again though. Reluctantly (oh, how I look back now and roll my eyes at myself) I said, "Yes?"
A man's voice said, "Jenny, your book came." I heard whoever was on the other side of the door (I was assuming it was Dad. He patronizes our library) set the book down and slide it under the door. I heard it stop by the side of my bed. Still reluctant to get up, I was still for a few more minutes. Then I got up and went into the kitchen. Dad had just gotten home, and I started to wonder....
"Dad, did you just come from the library?"
"No."
"But...didn't you just knock on my door and slide a book under it?"
"No...."
I ran around the house asking everyone if they had knocked on my door. No one had. I went to my room and looked beside my bed. No book.
I told my parents what had just happened to me, and Mom said, "You should probably go to teh library." I was out the door.
My book was not at the library. Disappointed, but not wanting to leave empty-handed, I browsed until I found something interesting. Heading back to the front desk to check-out, the nice lady behind it said, "Oh good! You're still here! Your book just arrived!" I stared blankly, confused. She continued, "The van, you probably saw it before you came in...well, it just came and dropped a bunch of books off." I remembered seeing the van when I pulled into the library parking lot, and suddenly realized what had just happened. God had sent an angel, or someone, to my door to wake me up and get my butt over here! This book really WAS the key to understanding what God was trying to show me. I took it home and read it.
The book is titled Afthermath>. Published in 1997, it is a sci fi novel set in a future America that has been torn apart by a war that came after the election of the first African American president.
Yep. That's right.
I'm going to stop here because you'll just have to read the book and ask the Holy Spirit what the significance of it is. ;-)
If you want to that is.
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