THE PATH OF LIGHT

The following dream is reported by a son from his father, an Episcopal priest who had served briefly in China. The father was in ill health and the dream took place a week before his death. The son plays a key role of witness in this dream:

In the dream my father awakened in his living room. But then the room changed and he was back in his room in the old house in Vermont as a child. Again the room changed: to Connecticut (where he had his first job), to China, to Pennsylvania (where he often visited), to New Jersey, and then back to the living room. In each scene after China, I was present, and in each instance being of a different age in accordance with the time represented. Finally he sees himself lying on the couch back in the living room. I am descending the stairs and the doctor is in the room. The doctor says, 'Oh, he's gone.' Then, as the others fade in the dream, he sees the clock on the mantlepiece; the hands have been moving, but now they stop. As they stop, a window opens behind the mantlepiece clock and a bright light shines through. The opening widens into a door and the light becomes a brilliant path. He walks out on the path of light and disappears.