It is really weird when you go through all of these tests when you are awake. But things get really weird when you start dreaming about taking tests. Dreams have a way of n
But this test wasn’t like any of the other tests that I have had in my many many hospital visits. This was the test of all tests. You know your final exam for a college course that is comprehensive of everything from the entire semester. And your entire grade depends on this one test.
In my dream it was like that, only on steriods you know how dreams are, it was all subjects for all grades K-12 & College. Even those subjects where as soon as the class is over your brain flushes all information on the subject and you can’t barely even remember you took the class, let alone any of the info you crammed for the final.
But this test I was going to be taking in my dream had a positive twist to it. Open book, open notes, you could even bring a laptop with a wireless card and search the internet. I could use google to look up answers to help take it. The only requirement was you couldn’t use the person next to you, and you couldn’t turn in somebody else’s test, or help them answer any question. Oh and it will be a timed test.
I was sitting in the back row trying to get ready for this test, I started looking for my pen or pencil that I always usually keep in my pocket. But I couldn’t find it. So then I went digging through my backpack for one that I almost always had in there as a backup. But to my surprise I only found broken pens and pencils, crayons, markers, really old ereasers that would crumble before ereasing anything. Nothing that would work to answer questions on this really important massive test. I finally found a short little stubby pencil about the size of your pinky finger that had a dull worn tip, the kind you dread using because your hand cramps after just a few minutes of writing.
Next I was going to need paper, I usually had lots of blank paper in my notebook during school. But this time when I pulled out my familure notebook all the paper had been already used there wasn’t any blank white paper. There were a bunch of my notes from my many classes like computers, physics, calculus, history, etc. But even more then the total of my notes I had tons of my ex-wifes note’s from all of her classes, high school, college, nursing. This confused me, why would I have brought all of her notes in my notebook. All these thoughts and memories why would I bring them to this test caring around all this extra weight, when what I really needed was a blank piece of paper. The other really weird thing as I was flipping through my notebook there was a lot of colored construction paper, and tissue paper. This too surprised me, what is this for?
I started looking around at my fellow test takers and they were already working on their tests, I wondered where is mine? I was about to ask the instructor that I was missed and didn’t get one when I noticed on the corner of my desk under all of these notes and papers I found the my test. It was about 50 pages thick. Oh wow I thought, I need to get organized and get all of this extra stuff that I pulled out of my backpack out of the way. I started making piles on the floor around my desk. Miriam’s notes, Micah’s notes, Bible study bits, computer code, tissue paper, construction paper. When I cleared enough space on my desk to get to the test and set up my laptop I finally got a chance to start looking at the test. Instructions “Answer all the important questions”. There was multiple choice, esay, and fill in the blank questions. Starting with with linear-algebra or advanced calculus equations. And some physics questions. A lot of them I didn’t even know how to do a word a search so google could find an answer.
So if this test in my dream isn’t weird enough already, the instuctor started putting extra papers on my desk. They where in the plastic page protectors. Pictures that young children would draw, and the parents would hang on the fridge. There were cut out magazine articles, and newspapers on all sorts of subjects, things that my dad would do all the time. There were even some very nice photographs that looked so clear you could imagine yourself right there in the picture. A lot of the the things on and around my desk were a distractions from taking the test. I hadn’t answered any questions yet and almost an hour had gone by
People around me had different size test books and some of them started getting up to leave. I started to thumb through it, thinking is there a trick here. Is this one of those test where you have to start at the back and the instructions say turn it in after a few minutes to get an “A”, or you have to answer every question to hope of getting a “C”. I was looking to see if the important questions jumped out at me. Finally there at the end of the book your test will be over at 10:10 (which was just a few minutes away.) Important questions: 1) Who are you trusting in to get into Heaven? Your own merits? Your head knowledge? Your relationships? Religion? Good works? Jesus Christ? Other...?
I started to understand what this crazy test was all about. All the head knowledge in the world, the billions of web pages of information, and looking through notes of past experiences and classes, and hanging on to old regrets and bitterness or anger, can all be a distraction. Spending all the test time trying to answer as many questions as you can on your own but ultimately keeping you from answering the really important questions.
I started looking around and saw the instructor walk over to a trash can and pull out more of the pictures and articles, to put on some bodies desk as another distraction. And like all good dreams you wake up right as you get to the good part :-)
How would you answer the most important question about where you are going to spend eternity? When you stand before God and he asks you why should you be let into heaven what will you say?
