The other night I had a dream

I dreamed I was walking along the beach with the LORD. Across the sky flashed scenes from my life. For each scene I noticed two sets of footprints in the sand...

Oh, wrong one.

But I did have an interesting dream the other night (and for the record, I'm someone who rarely remembers my dreams, nor finds any reason to interpret them). The day after Peterson wrote this blog entry about Randy Thomas' recent interview with Adam Carolla (as an aside, you can see a video at exgaywatch that was prompted by Peterson's post), I had the following dream...

I am staying at someone's house (someone who is ex-gay) and Randy Thomas is expected as a guest, for something of an ex-gay work/social visit. I am welcome, though, to be there and meet him. It is very bright and sunny, and so I found myself on my back in the middle of the asphalt road leading to the house, smoking a cigarette (as one would do, naturally).

An SUV approaches. The driver smiles at me as he drives around me, not stopping. It is Randy.

I come to the kitchen and stand on the opposite side of a kitchen bar. He and the others are on the other side. I introduce myself to him (both of us having to bend over a bit awkwardly to see each other underneath the cupboards). His face lights up when I introduce myself, and he says, "Christine?! You're Peterson's Christine?" He speaks with me for another minute and is very friendly and warm, shaking my hand repeatedly while we bend over the bar separating us. He turns back to the others.

I am still in the kitchen trying to find something to eat or drink. I call out for someone to try to help me navigate this kitchen. I can't seem to get anyone's attention. I say to them that I need something to eat, and I don't know where anything is, and I don't even know if there's a place nearby where I can get food. I can't even find a glass in the kitchen to get a drink. No one answers me as their own conversations and planning continue.

Cliffsnotes for dream interpretation:

• In the late 90s Randy used to be known for not being at all interested in politics, but interested in ex-gays, and gays, and loving people and creating bridges regardless of disagreement.


• In 1998 he even went so far as to write an open letter to Coral Ridge ministries blasting them for their use of ex-gays for their own anti-gay agenda.


• From all reports he is warm and friendly in person to gays, ex-gays, and ex-ex-gays.


• When Alan Chambers became Executive Director at Exodus in 2001, nobody (including Exodus themselves) seems to deny that Exodus changed significantly. It became an organization that increasingly focused on politics and less on the people they originally sought to help (for more on this, check out Timothy Kinkaid's post on exgaywatch about Exodus' changed priorities).


• Randy once wrote, "This politically fixated speech has to stop and the gospel must be put into action. I want to see the Coral Ridge leaders start serving the gay community instead of fighting them. I want to see them lay down their own agendas and start picking up God's, which is salvation, not the next election. Our future does not lie in Washington D.C.; it lies in the palm of God's hand and I want to bring as many with me as I can."


• Randy now works at Exodus as well, and was in DC in June of 06 with Alan Chambers to lobby for the Federal Marriage Amendment act.


• Oh, and I smoked when I was previously gay-identified, and also for a few years during the beginning of my ex-gay experience.