Nightmare Stirs Up Religion, Sexuality

Dear Cynthia: I am an openly gay Christian male. A straight co-worker of mine is ardently Christian, often reading the Bible at work and wearing or posting images regarding Christ’s salvation. I enjoy discussing Christianity with him and we only differ on homosexuality, sin or not. We get along well.

The night before I went to gay night at an amusement park with some friends, I dreamed there was a group of picketers--all from my co-worker’s church, including him. The picketers carried the typical “God Hates Gays” signs and chanted angry, hateful words. I walked up to my co-worker and saw he was crying. Then I noticed he was carrying a handgun. I asked what he was doing and he whispered to me, “They (referring to his fellow protesters) are making me do this.” So I told him, “If you have to shoot someone, then shoot me.” Reluctantly, he shot me in the abdomen and I fell to the ground. My co-worker wept uncontrollably as I died.

--ANONYMOUS BY REQUEST

Dear Anonymous: You have found a common ground on which to build your friendship with your co-worker. This is a very good strategy for making friends and for dispelling bigotry by relying on a common bond rather than your differences. Still you realize that your friend may be in the minority among his peers. Your dream reveals that you feel he may be pressured to conform to others’ beliefs or convictions. You are willing to be the fall guy or to take responsibility to protect those who are in your peer group.

History has shown that ignorance is changed one person at a time. Rosa Parks, the African American woman who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man, is just such an example. Your co-worker’s tears demonstrate a true caring for you; still he did shoot you in the gut. Since murder is a sin you would both agree on, this is not insignificant to the meaning of the dream. He knows you and still takes the shot because you are gay. Perhaps you would feel as though you were shot in the gut if he were forced to choose between you and the church he belongs to.

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Cynthia Richmond’s book “Dream Power: How to Use Your Night Dreams to Change Your Life” (Simon & Schuster) will be available Jan. 1. and may be pre-ordered at Amazon.com. Fax your dreams to Cynthia Richmond at (213) 237-0732 or e-mail them to in.your.dreams@worldnet.att.net. Please include your hometown and a daytime phone number. “In Your Dreams” appears every Tuesday and should be read for entertainment purposes only.