People Who Have Visions

People who have visions Beginning Scripture: Ezekiel 1:1 and 4 On July 31of my thirtieth year, while I was with the Judean exiles beside the Kebar River in Babylon, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God... As I looked, I saw a great storm coming from the north, driving before it a huge cloud that flashed with lightning and shone with brilliant light. There was fire inside the cloud, and in the middle of the fire glowed something like gleaming amber. NLB Ezekiel's Visions This Scripture begins to describe the fascinating vision Ezekiel had and about which so much has been written. Ezekiel was a prophet sent by God to Judah in very dark moments during their Babylonian captivity. They were a rebellious bunch whom God needed to correct, just as he had sent Jeremiah to implore his people to repent. Today in Sunday School we begin to examine the book of the prophet Ezekiel whose people were in denial about the danger they were in, and who were believing in the false hopes given to them by false prophets. A desire for visions As I read the description of Ezekiel's visions I remembered some of the times I have wanted to have visions. When I was in the seminary on cool, clear evenings I would walk out into the courtyard and look up at the statue of the virgin Mary with the moon shining behind her and I prayed that she would speak to me. I have asked Jesus to appear to me and speak to me as I lay in bed feeling exhausted or unwell. I've never had a vision, although I did have an electrifying experience of God one time many years ago as I lay in a relaxed and meditative state in the presence of two of my spiritual teachers at that time who were helping me work through some difficult memories and feelings. I'll never forget that experience even though it happened probably more than twenty years ago. I am sure it was a visitation from God. Visions vs Dreams A vision is different than a dream in that visions come when you're awake and dreams when you are asleep. Webster defines visions as: "that which is seen otherwise than by the ordinary sight, or the rational eye; a supernatural, prophetic, or imaginary sight; an apparition, for example the visions of Isaiah." Visions and dreams often have things in common. They can both involve loved ones who have deceased or angels or other spiritual beings. I won't ask you to raise your hand, but I wonder if any of you have ever had a vision while you were awake? They may not be as unusual as you think. Scientific Research on Visions I did some research on visions that people have. And I discovered some very interesting scientific studies of this phenomenon. One study in particular was of older people who are near death, often in hospice situations. In fact these visions occur far more often than you might imagine. Sometimes they are very vivid waking dreams. The great majority of them are not scary at all, in fact the people who have them find them quite comforting. Some of the interviews with terminal patients reveal visions of their mother or sister or a stillborn infant. 80% of the visions described by people occur in hospice situations. Researchers believe that these visions seem to represent a sense of continuity between life and death. One man had very difficult visions of soldiers including the dead he had seen during wartime. But in the end a fellow soldier came to him in a vision to lead him into the afterlife and he had a smile on his face describing the soldier and telling those present that he would be leaving now. Then he passed away. Many of these visions seem to be preparations for the further journey, and people speak of a trip they are about to take. Dr. Christopher Kerr, the chief researcher in this massive study involving 1500 people was not a man of faith. In fact he was decidedly unspiritual as he started the research. He was not predisposed to find any evidence of spiritual experiences. However, when he had finished the study he had softened in his attitude and spoke of being privileged to accompany these individuals as they proceeded from this life to the next. Think about these three things: Dr. Kerr was giving a talk about his research to a large audience, and at the end of the talk, he asked the audience to sit for a few moments after thinking of each of three things. He asked them to think of 1. their greatest loss, 2. their greatest comfort, 3. and their greatest wonder. He gave an example of each: - loss of a spouse or a child - a dream, spiritual experience or person that was a comfort - and the wonder of child birth. https://www.post-gazette.com/news/aging-edge/2018/07/02/End-of-life-dreams-visions-terminally-ill-hospice-patient-research-kerr/stories/201806280003 I invite you to think of 1) your greatest loss, 2) your greatest comfort, and 3) your greatest wonder. And harkening back to Ezekiel's visions of the glory of God, envision how you can experience the glory of God in each of these things, your greatest loss, your greatest comfort, and your greatest wonder. Prayer Father, make us more open to experiencing your glory today and during this week. Help us to find you in moments of loss, comfort, and wonder. Give us the courage as you did Ezekiel to make you present even in situations where others reject you, hate you, or doubt you. We are not prophets, Father, but we can show people who you are, a God of love and gentleness of heart. We can show this by who we are and by what we do. We pray these things in the name of Jesus Christ, our precious savior. Amen.