Sage dreamed of a place that sounds heavenly - with a path in a forest and a lake and a city in the distance. He/She felt the dream was about Rudy and heaven.
Sage has prayed for Rudy throughout his illness and asked others to pray as well. Sage wore the Team Rudy bracelets. So many other people prayed for Rudy and wore those bracelets. With all those prayers, you'd think God would surely cure Rudy. So how can it be that Rudy died. Was God not listening to our prayers?
After hearing of Sage's dream and hearing about how upset Sage was at Rudy's death, I was very concerned at how this must seem because I can remember feeling let down by God when I was young. I wrote to Sage's mother and after my message was sent, I decided to include it in a post in case anyone else feels let down. Here's what I wrote (with names and pronouns changed) -
I worry about [Sage]. He/She prayed so hard and must feel his/her prayers didn't work. Rudy's cancer was not beatable. Yet he lived longer than most with his diagnosis. Better yet, he died without much pain. Lung cancer can be a hard death. I was praying for an easy ending and I know Rudy was, too. The pneumonia was peaceful. I don't know if that information will help [Sage], but tell him/her if you think it might. Prayers were indeed answered and God chose the best way to bring him home. If heaven is as wonderful as we believe it is, then the only thing we are sad about is that we will miss Rudy so badly while we are on earth. I feel sure Rudy is watching us all and that he showed [Sage] a glimpse of a wonderful place that most can't see til their life is over. Also, [Sage] described a place where I hope to see Rudy one day and for that I am so grateful. Please give him/her a big hug for me and tell him/her that he/she is forever in my heart.God was listening to us all and He knew what was best. Those of us who feel assured of heaven know Rudy is happy. We can feel the proof in every fiber of our being! We're only sad because we know it may be a while until we can see Rudy again. Maybe, if we are open-minded, we'll get tiny assurances from him. It may be in our dreams at night. It may be that something about Rudy pops into our head, seemingly out of nowhere. It may be a significant song on the radio. I hope you'll share those messages with me, because they really do help me. I miss him terribly.
I'm not much of an artist and I'm even less talented at drawing on a computer, but here's a picture from a dream. It's not from Sage's dream. It's from a very meaningful and unbelievably realistic dream I had a number of years ago. When I first learned of Sage's dream, I didn't catch the part about there being a path. When I went back and re-read the description, I nearly fell over because all of a sudden I realized our dreams were so similar. The main difference was that in my dream, there was a red and white checked tablecloth with a family sitting around it having a picnic. It was on the left side of the path. The family was very happy. I belonged with them, but I couldn't join them. I was only allowed a glimpse - a glimpse of the family, the deeply-shaded path which was in a forest with a very tall canopy, the meadow beyond, with I think a lake just behind the forest and way in the distance, a city (with buildings much nicer than I was able to draw. I think some had rounded tops. The city also seemed lit up even though it was daytime. Maybe Sage and I visited the same place. The family probably wasn't in Sage's dream because they had no doubt finished their picnic. Sage - does this crude drawing resemble what you saw in your dream?
