Dreams: "... 'God is Back' ..."

I just barely woke up from a dream in which part of the upcoming LDS General Conference was shot in the corner of my bedroom. There was a simple pulpit set up right next to my armoire and my bookcase full of my movie collection (about 233 movies at the time of this posting), and a rather large camera about fifteen feet away from all of this.

As the conference began, President Thomas S. Monson, who recently succeeded Gordon B. Hinckley as Prophet and leader of the Church on the earth, stepped into my room and approached the pulpit. He then proceeded to give a very President Monson talk, most of the words of which I can't remember, though his mannerisms were certainly consistent with those of the real-life man: calm, soothing, and perhaps a little unnatural -- but nonetheless loving and sincere, with a hint of musicality in his tone and inflection.

Halfway through his talk, President Monson delivered one of his most famous quotes: "If we don't try, we don't do. And if we don't do, then why are we here?" After stating this, he paused, smirked, and turned around to face my movie collection. After searching for something he clearly had noticed before beginning his talk, he pulled out my DVD of "Shenandoah" and flashed it at the camera with a large grin on his face, the look in his eyes broadcasting how well-pleased he is that the member of the Church whose room he's using shares an appreciation for the story he so often references.

The funny thing is that he then turned back around and continued to explore the DVD titles I had, for the sake of his own curiosity as well as in the interest of sharing it with the rest of the millions of the worldwide congregation. He pulled out my box set of "Star Wars" films and, making sure the camera got a good look at it, made an approving comment that had a hint of reminiscing to it, as if the series was an old favorite of his.

After another brief glance, he made a grab at my copy of "X-Men 1.5," which carried a subtitle in my dream that he read aloud in a very "what the..." tone: "'God is Back'?" My only possible response was to just shrug my shoulders at him from off camera and hope he didn't think I was a sacrilege for apparently owning a superhero movie with overt religious subtexts.

The dream concluded with President Monson trying to figure out the organization of my DVD collection and how to replace the ones he'd pulled out, and me whispering to him to just set them on the shelf and I'd take care of them later.

Analysis:
-General Conference is happening again in a little over a week, and it's not uncommon for me to have dreams about it whenever it draws near or has recently passed. One past dream involved JKC and I taking seat on the stand, with he and President Faust playing practical jokes on me in front of countless attendees.

-President Monson has been the subject of many church headlines as of late, as he really did recently replace Gordon B. Hinckley as the President of the Church. Good for my dreams for being consistent with current events.

-President Monson is known for quoting poetry, C.S. Lewis and Dickens (and other classic literature), hymns, and theatrical works -- including the above quote from "Shenandoah."

-My DVD collection has been on my mind as of late because I've been planning a trip to Philly to see Amanda, whose parents were so kind as to accept a shipment of my DVD cases in helping me move out to the East Coast. I've also been loading movies onto my iPod lately.

-"X-Men 1.5" is a specific DVD release of the original "X-Men" film, loaded with more special features than the first release. It doesn't have a subtitle -- I'm not sure what "God is Back" is even supposed to mean, but it sounds like it might have made for an interesting storyline. Maybe Wolverine goes Pentecostal?

Conclusion:
-President Monson would approve of my diverse collection of movies. (I hope!)