The Rule of St. Benedict: Chapter 18 pt. 3
When working with dreams, one is often led to reflect upon what aspects of oneself are depicted in each character within the dream. It has been posited that dreams, unencumbered by our wakeful, conscious thoughts, are an ideal venue for the unconscious mind to express itself. It does so by projecting the thoughts and emotions it contains into the images and stories we experience as dreams. So, in the course of dream work, it is appropriate to unpack through reflection what might be going on in my unconscious that would express itself in this way or that through a dream.
The Psalms are similar to dreams in that they too are a venue through which the unconscious seeks to be expressed. Just as I ask myself how the threatening creature from my dream relates to my unconscious fears, I inquire within to find where "the wicked" or "the enemy" resides among my repressed emotions and thoughts. In this way, even the imprecatory Psalms can be a powerful tool in the process of inner transformation, bringing me from a place of needing to point the finger at evil "out there" and away from me, to a place of compassion that comes from facing the evil within.
Br. Chad
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