My Pope Dream

So it seems strangely appropriate to share the dream I had on Saturday morning, this being the day the cardinals begin deliberating on a new pope. First a disclaimer...I am not now, nor have I ever been a Catholic. Before I began my pagan ways, I was a Lutheran. Lutheran's don't believe in any need for other people to get between them and god, and all that stuff. Anyway, not Catholic.

So my dream was this: I, and some other nameless, faceless person, were called to the Vatican to provide counseling or solace to the pope. Even knowing he was dead, I was tripping off to the Vatican in a white coat that could have come out of Star Wars, but I thought made me look more religious in some way. We wander into a hall, give a little bow to the pope's grieving mother (yea, I know she's unlikely to be hanging out when her octagenarian son is dying), and walk through this huge group of cardinals, none of whom were wearing read. We get to the pope and I kiss his hand. He was funny and smiley and sweet. He seemed genuinely glad we were there. Then there was the photo op, but somehow I got pushed behind some Vatican secretary. Afterwhich we were led off to meet the pope's coordinator and get settled in our rooms. We were told that the pope had selected us for specific reasons, which made me wonder what reason the pope could have to invite a bi, pagan, Californian to the Vatican. This should be interesting, I mused. Then, damnit, my alarm went off.

Now, I'm sort of glad the alarm went off...it's probably the reason I remember this strangeness...but I do wish that I could have seen what happened next. It's like a good TV show that gets cut off when the power in your apartment goes out.

Anyway, I can now say that I've met the pope, in a dream. He was dead at the time, but, so gracious. Oh, and I should add for the pontifical record, I have experienced no miracles since.

Apropos of nothing - my movie watching this weekend was definitely more fluffy than last: Troy and Shaun of the Dead. I recommend them both for different reasons - Troy is just a good battle filled romp with all sorts of beautiful people looking more beautiful than ever. Shaun of the Dead was just the perfect use of zombies in a movie I've ever seen. It was hilarious.