Everyone dreams, but can God communicate with people through dreams? Can the dead communicate with the living?
Bible passages answer the first question with a yes. Both Joseph the Patriarch and Joseph, husband of Mary, had the will of God made known to them through dreams. Job 33:14-16 also says that God can speak to people in dreams.
"If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision and will speak unto him in a dream," says Numbers 12:6.
Some religions teach that God once spoke to people in dreams but doesn't anymore.
"There is little need nowadays to revive the laws and canons enacted in past ages against divination through dreams," according to the Catholic Encyclopedia.
Jehovah's Witnesses believe that dreams were more commonly used by God for revelations before Christ came to Earth. Today his teachings are recorded in the Bible to guide people. Jehovah's Witnesses also feel it is a sign of the latter days that some may fall away from the faith by following untruths, such as uninspired dreams.
The Rev. Michael J. Imperiale of the First Presbyterian Church of Salt Lake said his faith has no doctrinal stand on dreams. But, he said, "God can certainly work in our conscious or subconscious lives."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints doesn't rule out the possibility that some dream-based revelations still exist for the faithful.
"Inspired dreams are the fruit of faith, they are not given to apostate peoples," Elder Bruce R. McConkie of the Council of the Twelve wrote in "Mormon Doctrine."
It would also be consistent with LDS doctrine for someone to have a personal revelation in a dream that applied to his or her own life or family but not for that of the entire church. Only the prophet receives revelation for the entire church.
Of course, not all dreams are revelations, but how can one tell the difference? One common theme is that dreams from God are religious in nature. And consistent.
Any revelation through dreams must be in accordance with what God teaches in the scriptures, the Rev. Imperiale said.
"God will not contradict himself," the Rev. Imperiale said.
Joseph Smith, first prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stated in the "History of the Church" that a faithful man will dream about the work he is engaged in. For example, a dream is not of God if a temple worker dreams about missionary work instead.
Wilford Woodruff, fourth president of the LDS Church, said he had some dreams that were revelations. For example, he once dreamed that one of his children had died. He later received a letter telling him the same thing.
"The Lord does communicate some things of importance to the children of men by means of visions and dreams as well as by the records of divine truth. And what is it all for? It is to teach us a principle. We may not see anything take place exactly as we see it in a dream or vision, yet it is intended to teach us a principle."
What do our dreams mean?
Joseph Smith interpreted dreams of church members at times. In general, he said that "to dream of flying signifies prosperity and deliverance from enemies." Swimming in deep water signifies success among many people, he taught.
While the Rev. Imperiale is not certain that God gives us any direct revelation through our dreams, he says it's important for us to understand why we may have a particular type of dream. For example, the Rev. Imperiale said when he has anxiety in dreams, God could be telling him he needs to slow down.
Bishop George H. Niederauer of the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City also sees value in dreams, even if they're not divine revelations. Dreams could move us to do good, and they need not be miraculous to do so, Bishop Niederauer said.
Dreams could motivate us to pray or seek the advice of others, Bishop Niederauer said. Our dreams may not represent a divine intervention, but God could offer us choices through them.
"God can inspire us in any way he likes," Bishop Niederauer said. "We often sell the grace of God short in our lives."
What about messages from the grave?
Bishop Niederauer says there are no Catholic doctrines on deceased persons communicating with the living through dreams.
In a nonreligious context, dreams about deceased people are common and should not be considered signs of paranormal activity, Dr. Charles McPhee writes in his book "Ask the Dream Doctor." McPhee is the former director of the Sleep Apnea Patient Treatment Program at the Sleep Disorders Center of Santa Barbara.
"Dreams about visitations by the deceased often reflect desire for contact with them, and for emotional resolution," he writes.
Sometimes a dream is just a dream.
"The divine intervention in man's dreams is an exceptional occurrence; dreaming, on the contrary, is a most common fact," the Catholic Encyclopedia states.
President Woodruff once said that while God can communicate with man through dreams, some dreams mean nothing.
"A man eats a hot supper when he goes to bed; he gets the nightmare; he is chased by a bear, or he falls over a precipice, and as soon as he strikes the ground he wakes up. Now the Lord had nothing to do with that. A man may go to bed half-worried to death and dream about something that will never take place."
Some dreams may say more about the dreamer than God's will.
Parley P. Pratt, an early LDS apostle, taught that the wicked dream of wicked things — adultery, gluttony and crimes. In contrast, he may have meant too that good people will generally dream about good things.
According to "Reasoning from the Scriptures," a doctrinal book of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the meaning of a dream is in the eye of the beholder.
"Dream Doctor" McPhee has an extensive computer database of dreams of people, and he believes most dreams have symbols. What you dream about usually represents something else.
E-mail: lynn@desnews.com