"Are You Entertained?"

The dream this morning is set in a dystopian future. The earth in the near future will experience another long Ice Age. The planet has long gone through these hot and cold cycles and soon it will again. Civilized society will collapse and it will rise again with near complete amnesia of it's former glory. Mankind will somehow survive and civilization will begin anew with only dim memories and legends of it's once great history and achievements. Our present  time will be regarded like the lost continent of Atlantis is regarded today.

In this far future of the dream a new empire is on the scene. This empire looks and feels very much like the early days of the Roman empire and just like with Rome there are gladiatorial games and fighters. I am one of these fighters and I have a twin brother. The two of us are ex-soldiers and we fight as a feature act in the arena. We operate a school to train freemen, former soldiers, and any desperate men lured into the profession by the thrilled of battle, and the roar of the crowd. The fighters in these games are, like for a period of time in ancient Rome, freelance warriors.

I watch as my brother and I, dressed in armour intensively train, from sun up to sundown every day. The life of a gladiator demands that we be in top physical condition and highly skilled with weapons.  This sort of career is generally a violent and short one. There are very few who survive to become famous. My brother and I are the rare exception.  

It is at the end of a long day of training, my brother and I, are seated beside a campfire on rough hewn wooden benches, gathered around us are our student warriors. I precede to tell a story to my captive audience. I tell them of the world of the past (our present day). I tell them about what the world was like in the wonder years before the last Great Ice Age. This future world believes in the reality of reincarnation. They listen with great interest as I share with them what the world was once like, with all it's grand technical advancements, and how it was all erased by the long dark night of winter. It is at this point in the dream that I wake up.

The first thing that comes to mind, about this dream, is that it comes to somewhat of a clear conclusion and I am not startled out of it in the midst of having experienced some strange unresolved conflict.  This doesn't happen to me often. The narrative unfolds like some classic fantasy novel.  The Ice Age is a reoccurring dream theme for me. Life after the disaster is another revisited theme. The symbol of a twin is something new. I don't recall ever having a dream about having a twin. This is fascinating! I wonder what that is all about?

The dream suggests a long period of great change followed by hard work and a difficult challenge to survive. My waking life is a lot like this at this point. I feel like I have gone through a disaster followed by a period of difficulty and that it will take a lot of hard work to survive, and thrive when it has done it's work on me. Life has been hard. I just got fired from my new job today and presented with a new opportunity that will require me to pack up and relocate in two weeks if I take it. I do not like being under the gun to perform and make a snap decision. This puts me way out of my comfort zone and is giving me an ulcer. Argh!!!

Why must life be a gladiatorial contest? There is a quite rage going on in my soul. I want to scream, "Are you entertained!" at the top of my lungs to the universe. Is the emperor (God) going to give me a thumbs up or a thumbs down gesture at the end of this trial? My gut is wrenching and my sanity wants to snap. Sigh!

I like the idea of one day being at the top of my game and telling my story to future generations. I would hope they, like my students in the dream, will want to hear what I got to say, and find it interesting or instructive. Maybe that would give me some small comfort when life has run it's course and the story has ended or has at least taken a recess until next cycle of existence. Whatever or whenever, or where ever that may be.