Mysteries of God are spiritual truths known only by revelation. God reveals His mysteries to those who are obedient to the gospel. Some of God’s mysteries are yet to be revealed….[Dreams are] one way that God reveals His will to men and women on earth. Not all dreams are revelations, however. Inspired dreams are the fruit of faith.”
(The Guide to the Scriptures; Mysteries of God, Dreams)
April 6, 2016
I had felt the spirit working on me all day. As I knelt in prayer that evening before bed I asked that if there was a message that I needed, that I would be open to receive it. I climbed into bed and began to drift off to sleep. In that fleeting moment between sleep and awake I saw a light, like a candle, pass before my closed eyelids. It moved from right to left. Like a magnet, I felt my spirit pulled toward it. My soul seemed to lift right out of my body and follow the light as it moved and once the light passed, my spirit snapped back into its place. I was fully alert now, but I did not dare open my eyes. Again I prayed that I would be prepared for the message I was about to receive. I laid still and waited, but within a few minutes had drifted off to sleep.
Then I had a dream. It was a simple and beautiful dream, deeply woven with symbolism, and yet I still am unsure what it all means. I feel that there are many meanings to it that will be revealed in time.
In my dream I was standing on a stage. I was stage upstage left, away from where the audience sits – although I could see no audience, only blackness beyond the spot light that illuminated the stage. I am not sure if I was actively performing in the production going on or simply watching, but it seemed to be a unique vantage point to just be a spectator. The stage floor was black and there was no scenery. There were only the actors on stage. Maybe I shouldn’t call them actors, but rather dancers. They seemed to be dancing a story, using their bodies as props and scenery. All were dressed in green-grey mottled clothes; the color had the appearance of stone.
Some of the dancers were curled into balls as if stones that lined a path across the stage. I saw others who were lying across this defined path as if they had fallen dead. Marking the path made of human stones and silent figures wound a black cloth. It was one long piece of material and so black it didn’t reflect any of the light shining onto it, and would be completely void of all light except for brilliant sparkling diamonds that shone like stars across the draped ebony cloth. I remember looking closely at the cloth and was amazed at the contrast of the total blackness compared to the tiny spots of light that seemed to shine through it. In fact, I would have to say that they weren’t diamonds at all, but brilliant specks of pure light sprinkled on the black cloth. I wondered at this for only a moment trying to understand what these dancers were trying to portray.
However, my attention was immediately drawn to the young woman at the end of the long black star-studded cloth. The cloth wound like a black river along the path from the front of the stage to the back center, close to where I stood. I could see her back and periphery from where I stood. She was singing the song “Be Thou My Vision” with joyous power while an unseen orchestra accompanied and a violin solo rang above the chorus. She had just lifted the black cloth that had hung on her head and face like a veil, arms stretched high holding the cloth up as she lifted her head and sang. The lights that seemed to be embedded in the cloth appeared twice or three times as numerous as I had seen in the portion that lay on the stage floor.
I noticed as she had raised the cloth above her head, that as solid as it had appeared while on the floor it was actually a delicate and intricately woven black veil, at least the end portion which she held appeared that way. The woman was wearing a white dress – a wedding dress, that came just below mid-calf and the sleeves came to just below her elbows. Her feet were bare and her hair was long and dark.
The spots of light continued to multiply on the black fabric as she sang and it was as if the veil was coming undone as she began to ascend a set of human-made steps, with performers dressed in the stone-colored clothing hunched at differing heights so their backs acted as an ascending staircase. She stepped one foot lightly onto the first person’s back. With arms stretched high above her head, she held the black veil in her hands and gracefully and joyously raised it from off her face. The word “sack cloth” came to my mind. The veil of sorrow she had once been draped in was now being lifted, as it did the veil seemed to thin, almost like a cobweb being stretched as she rose up off the stage onto the steps of the other dancer’s backs.
Anciently, sackcloth was a rough, coarse fabric worn by an individual in deep mourning. It signified that a man or women was enduring intense grief or bitter suffering. I understood that she was the bride and after many trials and tribulations, having lost some that she loved along the path, it was finally time to throw off her veil of sackcloth and mourning. The time of mourning and intense bitter suffering had finally come to an end and at long last she was rising up to meet her bridegroom. The almost tangible joy and relief that it was finally time was overwhelming as she sang out the words and moved eloquently up the steps. I found myself so caught up in her joy that I began to sing with all my might along with her on the final verse in celebration for the long awaited day…
Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.
High King of Heaven, my victory won, May I reach Heaven’s joys, O bright Heaven’s sun! Heart of my own heart, whatever befall, Still be my vision, O ruler of all.
As I was enrapt in the joy of this vision, the song and the beauty and meaning of the words, as well as my own exultant joy, the scene suddenly changed. I found myself standing knee deep in the still eddy of a river. The stark contrast between the joyous noise in the theater and the utter sudden silence was profound. The river was a shallow inlet which led to a larger river and finally the ocean on my right, and to my left were trees with either late summer or early fall leaves on the branches. The sky was bright and clear, the air felt pleasantly cool, and it was perfectly quiet and peaceful, except for the sound of the water moving around my legs and the hushed reverent voices of the other people who were with me.
There were maybe 5 or 6 of us and we were busily and reverently searching the cool water for something. Actually they were pieces of something. We were lifting pieces of a stone statue from the water and trying to put it back together. I looked over at what we had accomplished in our labor thus far. The statue looked to be of a man dressed in a style of clothing from the 16th or 17th century and holding a stack of papers, cradled in one arm.
A gentlemen presiding at this peculiar endeavor was speaking in hushed tones, instructing our small group on how the pieces should fit together. An arm here and a portion of the torso there as we lifted them from the water. We pulled off the weeds and debris that had wrapped around each moss covered piece. However, in the dream I was concerned because this didn’t seem right to me. The statue didn’t look the way I thought it should.
I was struggling to remember how it had looked before, so that I could put it back together as it had been. I looked up thinking to myself that I needed to see the original. I lifted my eyes from the work of reconstruction and saw in the distance the ruined and abandoned buildings of New York City, Manhattan most likely, as it sat right against the shoreline (I’ve never been to New York, but the Chrysler building was unmistakable).
The city was perfectly still and quiet with trees and foliage growing up in between the skyscrapers and birds nesting in glass-less windows. This view wasn’t eerie in anyway, just quiet and empty. In fact, we seemed to be the only people around. I looked out into the water to where I knew the Statue of Liberty should have been standing. She wasn’t there. So I closed my eyes and tried to remember what Lady Liberty looked like. This, apparently was the statue I thought we were trying to recreate (even though our statue was on a much smaller scale, being not much taller than 9 or 10 feet). As I closed my eyes and tried to imagine Lady Liberty, the presiding member of our group came up behind me on my left and spoke in the same reverent and gentle tone, but authoritatively. “It won’t be the same as it was before”, he said. “It will be different, but that’s alright.” I nodded obediently and content with this answer and immediately went back to work assisting in the reconstruction. Then I awoke.
****
This dream has significant meaning for my personal life. I didn’t know it on April 6, 2016 that in about a year I would find myself divorced and becoming a single mother of four at the age of 33. My temple sealing, my marriage of 14 years – a marriage that I had fought fiercely to hold together through more than a decade of struggle, came to an unexpected screeching halt.
Joel 1:8 says, “ ‘Lament like a virgin girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth.’ The prophet is speaking to the more religious and godly part of the people who were as a chaste virgin espoused to Christ, though not yet come, and for whom they were waiting; these are called upon to lament the calamities of the times in doleful strains, like a virgin: girded with sackcloth for the husband of her youth;… as one lately married to a young man she dearly loved, and was excessively fond of, and lived happy with; but, being suddenly snatched away from her by death [physical or spiritual death] puts on her widow’s garments, and mourns not in show only, but in reality; having lost in her youth her young husband, she had the strongest affection for: this is used to express the great lamentation the people are called unto in this time of their distress.” (https://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/joel-1-8.html)
What I didn’t know then was that my time of mourning and grief over the challenges of that marriage and part 1 of my life’s story was coming to an end and that a joyous future, part 2, lay before me. Almost two years to the day from this dream, on April 5, 2018, Marcus Moore, the man God led me to reconnect with after my divorce proposed to me. And almost 1 year to the day from when my first husband told me of his unfaithfulness and asked for a divorce, on May 28, 2017 I was again a bride being married in the holy temple. One year and 3 days exactly.
It was necessary for me to literally and symbolically rebuild my life from the ruins following the devastation of an eternal marriage crumbling and left abandoned – it wasn’t going to be the way that it had been, but it would be alright…it would be better. I have no doubt that angels from both Marcus’ and my family lifelines were sent to orchestrate our meeting and that our union will bless the generations after us. In fact, the title of Part 2 of my life’s story came to me while sitting in a stake conference one day.
My name, Melissa Rose Moore, came into my mind through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost as though being read as scripture. But it was more than just my name, it was the meaning of my name, “…And Melissa rose (as in ascend or rise up) more (as in increase or gain).” And so I will continually strive to do so. In the process I hope that all those who desire to will rise up and as an ancient proverb suggests, “I lift thee and thou lift me, and both ascend together”.
However, this dream also has great significance and symbolism found in scripture. This has led me on a journey of seeking personal revelation for these last days:
“Symbols are the language of feelings, and as such, it is not expected that everyone will perceive them in the same way. Like a beautifully cut diamond, they catch the light and then reflect its splendor in a variety of ways. As viewed at different times and from different positions, what is reflected will differ, yet the diamond and the light remain the same. Thus symbols, like words, gain richness in their variety of meanings and purposes, which range from revealing to concealing great gospel truths” (Bruce R. McConkie, Gospel Symbolism, ix).
As I attempt to unfold my own understandings, dreams, visions, and personal revelation I hope to leave untainted the welcoming reflective light that may diffuse in a variety of ways over the course of my life and that of my children for whomever reads this. I hope that those who read of my experiences and perspective will prayerfully consider how the principles and interpretations presented may be likened to their own lives.
Jesus Christ is symbolized in the scriptures as the Bridegroom and the Church is His symbolic bride. In Revelation 21:2, 9 -11 John gives this visual, “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband…. And there came unto me one of the seven angels…saying, come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of the heaven from God, having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal;”
John saw the celestial city, made of crystal that was wholly prepared and worthy to receive the Lord Jesus Christ (the bridegroom) and His people (His bride) at his second coming. When light passes through a crystal the light is diffused into a rainbow of colors. The rainbow divulges the patterns of light. It diffuses in the exact same order of colors every single time – red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. These patterns, especially repeating patterns should always be considered messages.
The rainbow was the symbol that God had made a promise to Noah after the waters receded. However, that promise involved more than just rain and flood water, “The sign or token of God’s covenant with Noah explains that the covenant includes the promises that the earth will never again be covered with a flood of water, that the Zion of Enoch will return, and that the Lord will come again to dwell on the earth.” (Gen. 9:13-17, JST, Genesis 9:21-25; Appendix). The rainbow is a promise that Christ will fulfill all His promises including “…the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory” (Articles of Faith, 10).
S. Michael Wilcox elaborated on this correlation of crystals, light, and God further “…The angels…reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire…The place where God resides is a great Urim and Thummim. This earth, in its sanctified and immortal state, will be made like unto crystal and will be a Urim and Thummim to the inhabitants who dwell thereon’ (D&C 130:6-9). Urim is the Hebrew plural for light. It literally means ‘lights,’ and light is intrinsically interchangeable with truth. Thummim is the plural for perfection — ‘perfections’” (The Way Back to Heaven: The Parable of the Crystal Stairs, S. Michael Wilcox)“.
Perfect light, perfect truth. I visualize bright white, pure, warmth shining on and around me at this thought. Pure light is all the colors that can be extracted and reflected in light and bound into one great light – one truth. What a beautiful visual it brings. This earth will one day be enveloped in perfect light, being one with the light of the celestial. A place where ALL truth dwells. What a glorious and overwhelming thing to imagine. How can you and I prepare ourselves and the world for this eventuality?
I have found some significant messages in these parallels, inspired research, in dreams, the current state of the world, and my life experiences. Each message seems to be saying that we, me, all of us, must be prepared to meet God. We can only do that by knowing who we are, where we came from, and remain fully committed to where we ultimately want to be.
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