Woke

 Then Jacob woke from his sleep . . . 

 - From Genesis 28

Jacob's dream is legendary. Even in 2021, it may be hard to find a person living in a Western society, that has not heard the phrase "Jacob's Ladder." There was even a song so titled, by Huey Lewis and News, back in the 1980s. 

The idea is that Jacob happened upon a gateway, or portal, into "Heaven," and accordingly, by drawing so near to the Lord Himself, was forever changed by it. Jacob still had not done much except be kind of a cheat and a scoundrel. But God promised him, in the dream, that the land upon which he is resting, would be his one day, and that "all the nations of the earth would be blessed", through him. 

And all the testimony we have, that this dream actually happened, is Jacob's word. 

How many historical figures list as their chief credential, a "dream" that they once had?

But it's this closeness to another dimension, or to eternity itself, that occurs within the dream, that merits a closer look. Some have suggested that the dream state does, in fact, place you near a realm above and beyond our own. Some dreams are so life-like, it's hard to argue otherwise. 

Eventually, you wake up. This is the boundary from dreamfulness, to being "woke," or back to reality. 

Now think about that for a second. The woke state, compared to the dream state, is where your feet are back firmly planted. You are no longer in the fantasy world of dreams. 

Can a person claim to be "woke" whose objectives include setting up Utopia on earth, in these limited lifespans? 

Or should a "woke" person, instead, be practical, present, attentive to their surroundings and to others? 

When Jacob "awoke," the dream was gone. The angels, the ladder, the Voice of God. The ideal state occurred in the Otherworld of Dreams. But, while woke, Jacob got back into his routine. He worked. He rested. He played. He studied. He had aches and pains. He got hungry and thirsty. He dealt with what life had handed him, right there before him. 

Woke should mean . . . serving the people around you, cheerfully. 

It should not mean . . . stirring up discord because everything's not as perfect as you want it to be. 

WOKE. A concept that should be re-assessed.