LAST NIGHT I DREAMED
By B.C. Manion

Last night I dreamed that I was praying alone just as the night was beginning to fall. Suddenly the room was bright, and there, standing near me, was Jesus. He smiled and said, "Come, sit on the carpet with me."

With a wonderful sense of joy, I did so. The room dissolved away and the carpet rose into the air carrying us swiftly over the land. The stars were bright above, and the silver light of the moon gave a pearly opalescence to the drifting clouds. Far below, I could see the winding river and the twinkling lights of the city. I laughed and sang for sheer joy; it was good to be there with Jesus. My heart began to know something of the gentle pain which loving Him entailed.

I turned to look at Him. My singing ceased suddenly, and I became filled with anxiety, for He was busily engaged in pulling threads out of the carpet. Before long it was only half its original size, and a large hole appeared. Thread after thread drifted away on the night wind, and soon we were being supported by less that of a quarter of the original carpet. Fear began to wrap icy fingers around my heart. Still He continued pulling out the threads: I could bear it no longer and cried out, "Lord! What are you doing? Don't you see that soon we shall have no carpet left?"

He laughed and, linking his arm with mine, said, "My dearest back--seat driver! Why do you doubt? Hold me, keep close to me, and fear nothing even though everything is taken away from you."

As He finished speaking, the last thread from my carpet drifted away.