Mind the Gap: Messages from Beyond in Genesis 40 - 42.

Joe Christian's saga at work continues when the big boss (a.k.a Pharaoh) gets a couple of cryptic emails about the markets that almost make sense, but not quite. A bit like anything that comes out of the mouth of SA rugby coach Peter de Villiers. So he calls in IT, finance, and his brokers to try and make sense of them, but no-one has a clue (although the broker managed to sell an increase in life cover). Then someone recalls that Joe in cleaning once worked out the origin of some nasty SPAM using a technique involving a mop, seven pages of A4 paper and a glass eye, so the boss decided to give him a go. Joe - being Joe, remember - cracks the code and tells the boss that the emails are from Warren Buffett and outline what is going to happen in the markets over the next few years. This allows all the right decisions to be made and the company is saved. Hurray!

I am quick to dismiss many of the dreams and 'God encounters' in bible stories as explanations from people with a theological world view. That is the unfortunate result of a skeptical nature, too much time in university and an aversion to the paranormal. But I have to admit that what is logical and real to me might not count at all to God. I read a great article on the power of dreams in the bible and the author (Walter Brueggemann) makes some excellent points on why we sometimes need to take heed of things that are "outside our controlled management of reality". Dreams are a way for God to intrude on our ordered, well explained world and although the psychology greats have good scientific models for why we dream, I can see equally good reasons for God to use them to talk to us. Anyone for a discussion on non-realist theology? Just kidding - read the article............