The wounded sea turtle

Preface:

• During a period of time (early 2000’s) when I was wondering which part of my brain was affected, or damaged, in such a way as to exude symptoms equivalent to schizophrenia, I had a dream including a sea turtle, which was missing it’s right front flipper. 
• Almost since waking from this dream, which I will describe below, I have felt that the profile of a turtle, with it’s domed shell and folded back flippers, resembled the profile of a human brain.  
• Schizophrenia is associated with a diminishment, in size, of the temporal lobes.

The wounded sea turtle:

• A dream of the night (early 2000s).

• In the dream I could see myself kneeling alongside a green sea turtle of approximately 100lbs. in weight.
• The sea turtle was missing it’s right front flipper, leaving a stump which was infected.
• In my right hand was a Swiss Army knife with the blade open.
• In this dream my heart was troubled because I knew that I was to perform an excision of the infected flesh of the sea turtle’s flipper stump.
• Then Jesus suddenly entered my awareness in this dream, He was kneeling beside me saying, “Use the knife”.

Upon awaking:

• I awoke thinking that the blade of the Swiss Army knife was to be analogous to my conscience (but see below). The infection…the voices. 

My thoughts: 

• 7-14-18 Sa. 4:29pm: After I got out of the Navy my father sent me a Swiss Army knife for Christmas. It was the sharpest knife I had ever had. I used to think it must be as sharp as a scalpel. After I had this dream I reflected that, so, my earthly father had given me a Swiss Army knife, and now my heavenly Father has given me one also. (The fact that it was a Swiss Army knife confirmed to me that the dream was a gift from God, the “Father of lights”, our Heavenly Father.
• The Sea Turtle is my brain/flesh likened by Jesus, in my particular case, to this animal, as Jacob likened several of his sons, to various animals in Gen. 49:9ff).
• And I’m  understanding that my brain has temporal lobe damage (a sea turtle flipper resembles a temporal lobe) and the wound infected is an invasion of foreign entities (like germs infecting a wound)…”the voices.” 
• The wound may have been caused by: spiritual predation; psychological trauma; or physical harm. Any one of these, or any combination of the three, could have happened from the bus wreck that I was in in 1978′ near Athens Greece. 
• It is important to note here that the Sea Turtle of the dream, was a young adult in size, this is important to note, because I, a sailor, was a young adult at the time of the bus accident.
• Myself…in the dream, is the “spirit man”, holding the Sword of the Spirit¹ (the blade of the Swiss Army knife, sharpest of all my knives) in my right hand .
• The blade of the Swiss Army Knife, that Jesus told me to use, is the “Word of God”…”the Sword of the Spirit, sharper than any two-edged sword”² that, in the dream, I understood was to be used, to excise the infection from the wound. The Word of God would remove it.

¹ And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Ephesians 6:17 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/eph.6.17.NASB1995

² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12 NASB1995
https://bible.com/bible/100/heb.4.12.NASB1995

7-14-18 Dr. 10:32am: today’s Our Daily Bread with Scott was a teaching about the word of God healing us, the word which is sharper than any two edge sword…

7-14-18 Sa. From ODB reading at 10:04am call: Scott’s NIV Study Bible (life application vers.)  Note on He. 4:12: “With the incisiveness of a surgeons knife, God’s word reveals who we are and, who we are not. It penetrates to the core of our moral and spiritual life. It discerns what is in us, both good and evil. The demands of God’s Word require decisions. We must not only listen to the word but we must also let it shape our lives.”

So, I’m thinking the Swiss Army Knife in the dream was the word of God that I could use to excise the infection and get healing, spiritually and maybe even for the brain as, it is plastic (that is, it changes  (somewhat) in structure according to it’s environment etc.)

Today’s Our Daily Bread: (referenced above)

Hiding Our Hurts July 14, 2018

Read: Hebrews 4:12–13 Bible in a Year: Psalms 10–12; Acts 19:1–20

The word of God . . . judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.—Hebrews 4:12

“I was guest-speaking in a local church and my topic was an honest story about presenting our brokenness before God and receiving the healing He wants to give. Before closing in prayer, the pastor stood in the center aisle, looked deeply into the eyes of his gathered congregants, and said, “As your pastor I have the privilege of seeing you midweek and hearing your heart-breaking stories of brokenness. Then in our weekend worship services, I have the pain of watching you hide your hurt away.”

“My heart ached at the hidden hurts God came to heal. The writer of Hebrews describes the Word of God as alive and active. Many have understood this “word” to be the Bible, but it’s even more than that. Jesus is the living Word of God. He evaluates our thoughts and attitudes—and loves us still.”

“Jesus died to give us access to God’s presence, all the time. And while we all know it’s not wise to share everything with everyone, we also know that God intends His church be a place where we can live unapologetically as broken and forgiven followers of Christ. It’s to be a place where we “carry each other’s burdens” (Galatians 6:2).

“What are you hiding from others today? And how are you trying to hide from God as well? God sees us through Jesus. And He still loves us. Will we let Him?” —Elisa Morgan

“Who will you prayerfully consider letting help you carry your burdens?”

“God sees us with the eyes of a Father.”

“INSIGHT: Hebrews 4:12-13 has long been interpreted as referring to the Bible itself. And it’s certainly true that God’s Word is “alive and active.” But when we consider that in John 1:1-14 Jesus Himself is called the Word, we gain a fuller comprehension of how this Word can judge the “thoughts and attitudes of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).”

“As we become aware of God’s intimate knowledge of our hearts and motives, we might find that awareness intimidating. Yet this knowledge isn’t intended to drive us from God’s presence but rather to draw us to Him. In this same context of Hebrews 4, the writer points to Jesus, our “great high priest who has ascended into heaven” (v. 14). We may draw close to Him because He can “empathize with our weaknesses” (v. 15) and has Himself made the way for us to “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence” (v. 16).”

“As we learn to be increasingly open and honest with God, who knows every hidden corner of our hearts, we also gain confidence to be transparent with each other.”

Tim Gustafson

A Biblical  precedence of human/animal comparison:

• In “The blessings of Jacob”, Genesis 49:1-27, Jacob describes what type of animal some of his sons have a similtude to. It has occurred to me this last year or so that in this dream the use of the sea turtle was intended not not only to answer my ponderings about which part of my brain was affected, the temporal lobe, but also to tell me something about myself, that is to say, that I share some characteristics with sea turtles, (not exactly the animal I would pick for myself by the way) such as a naturally defensive shell. And, my having a natural shell for defense could explain (partially) why the demons haven’t easily overun me, though they definitely have done damage.(thus the severed right flipper of the turtle, which is my damaged temporal lobe (the temporal lobe looks a bit like a turtle flipper).

4-7-19 Su. 12:52pm: 

• “The superior temporal gyrus comprises the primary auditory cortex, while nearby temporal regions function in higher level auditory processing, including speech and language. … The medial temporal lobe comprises the hippocampus and is thought be involved in the formation and propagation of memory.Oct 31, 2020”
• https://library.neura.edu.au › tempor…
• Temporal lobe – NeuRA Library

4-7-19 Su. 10:18am: below is from today’s email verse art from, Faithlife…

• Note the Sea Turtle with a star at bottom right, 
• the turtle with the star gives glory to the Lamb. Amen!

How to minister:

• Was wondering what a minister’s tone and demeanor should be for those of this kind of suffering…
• And the Sea Turtle dream came to mind…where Jesus knelt beside me (He was lowly and gentle).
• And He instructed me to, “use the knife.” (the surgically sharp blade (Word of God))…
• to excise the infection (deadly sin).
• He drew near; He was lowly; He was gentle; He gave life saving instruction without condemnation; He cared; He helped; He loved.