Hmmm, was it just an odd dream or a message to keep the faith?
I seldom remember my dreams other than a vague recollection. But one night earlier this week I had a dream about which I did recall specific details. Being an analytical person, I was able to connect most aspects of the dream with something in my day to day life. Most but not all.
The Dream: I was forced to find a new place to live on very short notice. I was able to find and secure a new apartment and move in within the improbable span of time of 48 hours.
Real Life: Back in March when COVID-19 hit Canada, things changed rapidly at my place of employment. On a Friday we were told our offices were remaining open, but we should take our laptops home just in case. By Sunday, within 48 hours, everything change and we were told we would be working from home.
The Dream: The apartment I rented was unusually large by modern standards and was in an unusual L-shape with two long, narrow areas.
Real Life: Our lives have been contracted into confined spaces during the COVID-19 lockdown and have been literally bent out of shape. Subconsciously, we long for more room and freedom to move around and for things to resume their normal pattern or shape.
The Dream: The entrance to my new apartment was odd. I had to pass from the hall through a set of doors into a vestibule which was a work area for the apartment building staff. I then had to pass through another set of doors to get into my apartment. Every time I entered that vestibule I was momentarily confused thinking I was in my apartment.
Real Life: In this work-at-home period, our home space and our work space are one and the same which can be disorienting.
The Dream: The entire floor of the apartment building had a wraparound balcony with no dividers. Everyone’s apartment opened on to this communal balcony.
Real Life: During the COVID-19 lockdown, we have had to avoid contact with others and are craving more human interaction.
But here is the odd thing in the dream. The building manager came to my apartment and told me I needed to provide extra cheques for $53 per month as I had overlooked a clause in the lease. 53 is an oddly specific number, but not one I could make any connection with.
I do not talk about it much, but I do have a deep faith and a strong church connection. So I turned to good old Google to see if the number 53 has a spiritual significance.
I stumbled on The Meaning of 53 website which maintains that 53 is a number of great significance. Why? The number 3 represents the trinity – the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. Certainly cannot dispute that. The number 5 represents man – by virtue of the fact that we have two arms, two legs and one head. A bit of a stretch, but it works.
53 itself is an indivisible number, meaning it cannot be divided equally by any other number. Hence, the number 53 is said to symbolize that we are indivisible with God.
I am not a religious scholar, so I cannot speak to the validity of this spiritual interpretation. But it provides an explanation for that one aspect of the dream that I could not understand.
53: Indivisibility with a greater presence. The metaphor provides me with some comfort in the odd and unsettling time in which we are living. It may or may not work for you – just putting it out there for what it may be worth.
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~ Michael Robert Dyet is also the author of Until the Deep Water Stills – An Internet-enhanced Novel which was a double winner in the Reader Views Literary Awards 2009. Visit Michael’s website at www.mdyetmetaphor.com .
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Tags: COVID-19 · dreams · holy trinity · indivisibility · metaphor · Michael Robert Dyet · the meaning of 53No Comments