Another long troubled night, another astonishing dream. This time, I found myself lurking in a primitive cabin inhabited, it seemed, by a big happy family. There were a bunch of kids and a cheerful be-aproned matriarch cooking on an old wood stove what looked to me like a cauldron of soup. Immediately, the scene shifted to a hall or a church basement. There were eight or ten long tables at which a couple of dozen unfamiliar but clearly delineated folks were seated, waiting for their dinner. But first, some singing. An unidentifiable patriotic song, and then, a hymn. I recognized it as a hymn because it included the line, "He died in vain." Still in the midst of the dream, I said to myself, I have to remember this verse, so I took out pen and paper, and wrote down these words: "he died in vain." As I did so, a large, bearded, slightly threatening man accused me of "making fun" of the proceedings. He demanded to inspect what I had written. I showed him my writing and explained to him that I thought "he died in vain" was theologically wrong, because according to the usual Christian interpretation, Jesus did not die "in vain."
End of dream.
In the morning, awake, I did some research to see if "he died in vain" appears in any familiar or remote hymn. Just as I anticipate, no soap. However, I discovered that the most frequently cited use of the phrase comes not from a hymn or from the Bible but from the Gettysburg Address: that "we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain." Why should my dreamatorium think to quote Abraham Lincoln? But why not, especially since there's been a lot of Lincoln talk in our household this last while what with Lynn reading a biography and also Team of Rivals. Then I wondered, could the cabin in the first part of the dream be a reference to Kentucky log cabin in which Lincoln was reputedly born. A long shot, but not impossible. Anyway, it's my dream; I can interpret it as I want.
There mysterious dreams inspire in me an idea for a stunning new technology. I think it would be very helpful if someone would devise a recording device for dreams — so that they could be saved and then played back on the TV screen. It would be fascinating, I think, to see not only the fragments that one remembers but the whole multi-hour experience laid out there in full color and stereophonic sound. What a boon to mankind! What a convenience for psychoanalysts!
I imagine something like an applewatch with an app for recording a month or so of all-nighters. I know I'd buy one.
Impossible, you say? Well, did they not laugh at the Wright brothers?
I think I need to present this idea to Elon Musk or Jeff Bezos. Bill Gates. Someone with imagination and a history of achievement. Someone who would know how to monetize so brilliant a conception. I myself am willing to invest my entire income tax refund, however large it turns out to be.
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