Advent, Day Seventeen

Sunday, 15 December: ²⁴ When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, ²⁵ but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. Matthew 1:24-25

I dream almost every night. Some are quite vivid, remaining with me for an entire day. Others, more fleeting, slip away before I shuffle into the kitchen and start the morning pot of coffee. The majority are flights of fancy. In fact, I often dream of flying. In some, the terrifying ones, I relive dark moments, trying to make sense of the incomprehensible. But for the most part, my dream life is pleasant. But, I never make decisions based on my dreams, considering them transitory phantasms generated by my mind sorting through the mental debris accumulated during my life. But Joseph chose based on his dream. He altered the course of his life, and mine, based on what happened during his sleep. He faithfully followed instructions delivered in a dream. He chose to trust. I wonder, could I summon the courage to take a wife and a child not my own based on a dream?