Medicine of Immortality Remember you are dust

I need to stop watching the debatesPosted by Rachel on October 9th, 2008

Last night I had a dream that I was arguing with someone (not sure who) about how McCain’s healthcare plan made more sense, because while Obama promised that he’d be able to reduce premiums by up to $2,500 a year, McCain is giving $5,000 refundable tax credits — at least double the savings of what Obama is promising.

Unfortunately I didn’t dream long enough to see how McCain’s plan was better for the uninsured. Maybe tomorrow night.

Etymological dreamsPosted by Rick on May 12th, 2007

Do you ever solve problems or get questions in your dreams? I do. Here’s something spurred on by a dream.

Anamnesis is usually referred to as “bringing the past into the present.” However, the literal translation of that word is “the bringing near of memory.” “Memory” being a recapitulation of past events, not just a recalling of thoughts.

In the Hebrew, the word for “offering” is corban. Or so you see it translated. It is literally “the thing brought near.” Communion is a bringing near of Jesus by anamnesis.

If I had an Oxford English Dictionary sitting by my side, it would be interesting to see if there are any etymological connections between the two words.

Bizarre dreamPosted by Rachel on May 4th, 2007

I had several dreams last night, but one was especially strange. I have recurring dreams that our house has a basement (wishful thinking?) and it’s full of furniture (I KNOW that’s wishful thinking – in the dreams we find great new furniture and throw out the furniture we have in real life). Anyway, this was one such dream. I walked down into the basement, and I noticed a painting hanging on the wall. It had the ocean and a cartoony looking whale, and I noticed a very small crack between the whale’s lips. I went to get a steak knife to try to pry the whale’s mouth open, and eventually I was able to open it. It opened into a circular door, large enough for me to crawl through. I climbed inside and was suddenly in a tunnel of snow. I had to furiously dig through the snow with my bare hands until I came up into a land of paradise: sandy beaches, blue-green waters, colorful flowers in bloom. There were fairies and dwarves, and then there were the rulers of the land who were just normal people. The fairies were wearing sparkly makeup, and I was determined to touch one of their faces so I’d get a little makeup on my hand to take back to the real world and prove to everyone where I’d been (I figured that I could have a scientist conduct a test on the makeup to show that it was indeed from a different dimension). It didn’t work, however. When I tried to go back to the real world with the makeup on my hand, I was stopped by the rulers and told that I couldn’t bring any evidence of this world back with me, or they would all die. So they wiped the makeup off of my hand and then sent me back. I returned a few times, only to discover that there was a connection between this fantasy world and the island on Lost. The fantasy world was the “good” version, and the island on Lost was the bad version. The rulers told me never to speak of that place, but I was trying to find someone to help me go over there because I found out that The Others were holding my grandma in their “hospital” and injecting her with all sorts of weird stuff. And of course, my grandma thought she was in a real, normal hospital and was completely brainwashed. I was never able to rescue her, though she sent me postcards complaining that my aunt & uncle never visited her.

That was long. I have a very weird imagination.

WeirdnessPosted by Rachel on June 2nd, 2006

Last night I had a really weird dream…maybe due to the fact that I had eaten ice cream and pickles right before going to bed (and no, I’m not pregnant). In my dream, I was going to be on an SNL skit. I started out as a mouse, then slowly became a person. I asked a nearby bird about a bottle of pills that I saw, and the bird told me that perhaps it was a fish (no, none of this is supposed to make any sense). So, I took one of the pills and then the bird told me they were fertility pills. Then we went into the next skit which was entitled, “Rain Blue Forest.”

I have a very strange mind.

Weird dreamPosted by Rachel on May 5th, 2006

I had a dream that Rick and I were with my family and gathered around an altar. Our priest was chanting so horribly that at the end, even though the correct response was “Amen,” I said, “What was that?!” He looked at me angrily but before he could say anything, I continued. “I think you need to chant more from your diaphragm,” I explained. He tried it again, and this time it was much better. We all gave him a round of applause.

Oh, and he was wearing a biretta.