[Propertalk] A dream, and a healing

[Joe Parrish]

A Mystery Story: Children, Cancer, and Covenant
  By Diane M. Komp


Diane M. Komp, M.D., is Professor of Pediatrics,   Yale University School of Medicine, and Attending Physician at the Yale-New   Haven Hospital. Three of Dr. Komp's articles have appeared in THEOLOGY TODAY,   and she is interviewed in the March issue of LIFE magazine. A Deacon in the   First Congregational Church, Guilford, Conn., she is the author of a newly-released   book, A Window to Heaven: When Children See Life in Death (Grand Rapids:   Zondervan, 1992).



http://theologytoday.ptsem.edu/apr1992/v49-1-article5.htm



One of these blessed least, Baby Henry, did not survive his illness, and I   wondered how one could "find God" while hoping for healing and stay faithful   after that hope seems vanished. Several years later, Naomi wrote to me to tell   me of a dream she had.
  
She dreamed that she and the baby were in the kitchen of the church where     she grew up. Henry was crawling around on the floor and every time he got     to a certain place in the center, he'd say "God!" He was very happy, like     a child greeting a well-known and trusted friend or parent. In her dream,     Naomi commented to a friend that it gave her goosebumps. It was as though     Henry could see God although they couldn't. Then, the next time he reached     the center, he died. His legs buckled under him and he threw his head back     to look at her once more and reached out an arm. Naomi rushed over to him     and grabbed his hand but it was too late. His eyes were blank and he was dead.
  
"Suddenly, God strode in and scooped up my little one and perched him on     an arm. Henry sat on' God's arm with a hand on the shoulder, laughing and     chattering with God." Naomi could see that the baby was 










        fine and happy and he knew God well, but she was sad that she couldn't hold     him anymore.  
"God saw how sad I was and felt sorry for me so He handed Henry to me and     said I could keep him for a while longer until he returned from the mission     he had to go on. Henry was fine now although not as animated with me and I     held him. It was as though he had been handed from a Parent to a trusted babysitter."     He was in her arms, but watching God.
  
As God was leaving, Naomi asked, "Will I have other children I can keep?"     She goes on, "God stopped and looked at me with so much love, it was overwhelming     and said gently, in a way that made me feel especially cared for: 'Everyone's     life has a plan.' "
  
Naomi held Henry's cheek to her own and tried to figure out whether God's     look had betrayed any sorrow (that she would not get her wish) or amusement     (that good things were ahead for her). "But there was neither, just love,     overwhelming love. That was what mattered and that was what the answer was-not     yes or no, but God's love."12

In the years since this mysterious dream was first shared, I've tried many   times to write about it. I've failed to analyze it, but each time I've told   it, someone says that they, like Naomi, were "healed." The peace and healing   of God that defy all human understanding can keep our hearts and minds, even   when they don't satisfy our analytical inclinations.13



12 In the   years since Henry's death, Naomi and Jim became the proud parents of two healthy   babies.
  13 Cf. Phil. 4:7.


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