Yesterday morning I awoke from the strangest dream. That is not all that unusual. I seem to have rather vivid dreams. What was unusual was that a) there was a Mormon arts connection and b) it expressed portions of my subconscious that are very close to my conscious conscious. Usually, I’m just fighting off ninjas or exploring houses, etc.
I don’t remember the first part, but at some point near the end of the dream, I’m all of a sudden on a film set. And then I’m the client and the creative director for the shoot, which is an ad shoot for some consumer product (a cleaning product, I believe). And then when I’m done with the main shoot, I move over to a set that’s like a huge kitchen with one wall but the rest is open and we’re filming some cheesy reaction shots where extras are holding out the product and smiling. And there may have been some cheesy line or actual exclamations of approval. And the extras are family members and members of wards I have lived in. They’re all LDS. And for some reason I walk away from the set, which is nestled up against a hill, and walk up the hill. There is a wide path and alongside it are throngs of Mormons, all watching the goings on below with the filming of the commercial.
And then I see Bill Bennett walking up the path. Yep. That Bill Bennett. He and I are the only ones that are walking to the top of the hill. I follow him. I follow him at a distance, but feel quite anxious to talk to him. Finally, we reach the top of the hill. I follow him into a room (this one also has one wall open to nature, like a movie set) that looks like an LDS cultural hall (complete with stage with curtain — it’s a set within a set). There is a a group of Eastern Orthodox priests there. I think they are working on putting together a play or some sort of performance that will take place on the stage. Bill Bennett starts talking to them.
I walk up to him and interrupt his conversation. I’m incredibly anxious and verklempt but not distraught. It’s a weird feeling. I can’t tell if I’m confronting him or seeking reassurance from him. Maybe both. This is what I ask: “Will works of art be redeemed?” My mind is specifically on the resurrection; I feel all these works of art floating in the back of my mind like spirits. And then I qualify myself: “Not, you know, the stuff that’s really bad (except I didn’t use the word bad. I can’t remember what word I used). But the other kind” (and by that I mean non-didactic, complex, faithful works of Mormon art. Or in other words the stuff I read and write). I pause and try to explain further, but nothing more comes out. I’m still hoping for a response. I’m looking Bill Bennet in the face. He seems like maybe he is going to respond. But I can’t tell for sure. His face is placid. His eyes distant even though he is looking at me.
Then I wake up.
A Motley Vision 