divine intrusion

...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream…

…when Joseph awoke [he followed the vision]…

                                                                                                             Matt 1:20, 24

divine intrusion                                                                                Erling Shultz, December 2019

Matthew offers up a tale of vision;

          (dreams abound in his birth version)

     of character growth and reflection,

     of changing plans and new direction,

          all in response to sleep perception:

(some will say dreams are but an illusion,

  with Matthew, it is a divine intrusion)

when demands of life are out of control,

when we are anxious, lost, and vulnerable;

     God still seeks with mercy and grace –

          finds a way through our stubborn place,

     ‘catch them when their guard is at rest

          with a dream of alternative otherness’

(will we hear and take heed as a divine emanation

  or discard as a mere emotional hallucination?)

dreams, I think, is a way God gets through to us –

     to fresh us, push us, feed us, free us, birth us

dreams, I think, if they get past our repression –

     will guide to a worthy promise, purpose, passion

dreams, I think, are to give balance to our practicality –

     so we are free to live and act with Christ possibility

(dreams can release us from reality complexities

  that confound, confine with cultural deficiencies)

with his divine intrusion, our Joseph did heed,

     went beyond a reasonable, appropriate good deed

          to a riskier, bolder, excessively good deed

so don’t discard what you sense is only a dream

     for within there is a power beyond that frees