While in Humansville, Missouri I had a dream from the Lord. In the dream, I was a young man entering college. The campus had a large house, old and beautiful. The front-facing grounds were well-kept and the entrance looked immaculate. Once inside, I had to choose a campus group, and within the groups from the various clubs. There were the sororities, the jocks, music, arts, etc. They were all competing for growth and membership, explaining why their groups offered the greater college experience. Students could only choose one, and once there, they could not get involved in another. For example, those in the sororities could not play sports, those in band could not join the arts department, etc. I chose to join the journalism department so that I could experience more through observation and reporting.
I soon learned that any school camaraderie was for show. Not only was their school spirit for the other groups and clubs pretend, but within each department the clubs were also at odds with one another. The football club was against the other sports clubs. The various sororities were trying to out-party the other, etc. Each saw themselves as the true way to grow, enhance, and learn from the school. The others were, to them, at best a distraction, at worse purposely existing (in the minds of those passing judgment and spreading rumors) purposely destroying the school. I found this deeply troubling.
I talked to the journalist department about the power we had running the school newspaper. We could write stories for the later encouraging students to get along and work together. I was told I didn’t understand the importance of the journalist department. I was told we would “win” by continuing to drive a wedge between the groups and bringing people to the truth and safety of the journalism department. I saw that the school was an afterthought. The true reason each club or group existed was merely to grow their own group and give power to the organization and their leaders. What was worse, when students didn’t push the club agenda were cast out. Some begged and confronted until they were allowed back in. Some went to other clubs. Some seemed to just disappear, assumed to have left the school.
As I worked my investigation, writing the story I hoped would help begin the process of changing things for the better, I got a better understanding of what was happening at the school. Everyone was very open to talking to me, as they all had an agenda and wanted their story published. Eventually, the man running the journalism club discovered when I was writing. To stop me from publishing the story, he pushed me off a balcony. Thankfully, I landed safely in water, thinking he wasn’t trying to kill me afterall. But the water was the so filthy and dirty, and I quickly got out. Looking up, I saw the school from another angle. All the beauty was gone. The people were only maintaining the upkeep for the visible parts of the school. Underneath, it was falling apart. Because of the filth and the lack of care all sorts is venomous creatures were learning about. I realized the water had alligators and that these were eating the students that were pushed off as I had been or had fallen due to the weakened infrastructure were being eaten. This was why students were disappearing. I tried to warn the school and the students but one cared and those that showed any interest merely used this information try to place blame on the other clubs. As I ran through school, trying wake people up, to warn them of what was happening, I kept finding structural weaknesses and vulnerabilities that appeared to ready to give way at any moment. And waiting below were the alligators and other venomous creatures anxious to devour.
I eventually began building a new building, few came to watch, discourage, or mock. Most ignored it. I printed the story and stood my ground, handing it out. Some left the school after reading it, not thinking it was worthy of saving. A few came to see how they could help and using the small structure I had put together as a base of operations, we got to work. But we refused to start a new club. Instead we worked on networking. Our focus was on encouraging people to join multiple clubs and to get people from the various clubs to work together to fix the school. The greater our success, the more creatures left, no longer able to thrive or find food. At the same time, the more evident our success was the more we were attacked by the various clubs, their club presidents pushing their members to speak out against us, even try to sabotage our progress and destroy our headquarters.
Eventually it was rumored that the president would be retiring to inspect the clubs. All the various clubs assumed the school president was coming to dismantle the other clubs and praise them for their services to the school. We merely kept up our efforts, and began making ready a report for the school president of our activities. The dream ended abruptly as I woke up, feeling the need to write it down so I could share it.
