As with the other parts of my vision/ and dream of being in the Egyptian desert, I recalled the following:

In another flash…I was standing in front of a wall of glass shelves. I understood that I was in some sort of a high-end gift shop. At my eye level I saw a beautiful small gold cup on the glass shelf in front of me. The gold cup was ornate with the engraving of patterns like vines covered with leaves. The cup was solid and bold. It wasn’t dainty like it was made from blown glass atop a stem. But it seemed much more solid as if it were made of a golden earthen material and created from a potter’s wheel. It was well formed. There was no handle attached. I knew it was costly and valuable. It was beautiful! In fact it was the most beautiful thing on the shelf and so I was immediately drawn to it. I knew it was something outside of my budget and certainly something I could never afford. But as I looked upon this cup, I was almost entranced by the exquisite design and the quality of such a thing. It looked as if it were a treasure, and certainly it was something that only the most wealthy could obtain or purchase! As I stood there marveling at it, the thought came to me that I should pick up this beautiful piece of craftsmanship and look at it even closer so that I could behold its utmost beauty and exquisite craftsmanship. Even so, I was terribly fearful that I might accidentally drop it

and then incur the responsibility of its ruin. My curiosity and desire got the best of me, and so I carefully extended my arm toward the glass shelf and towards the treasure that sat upon it.

As I wrapped my fingers around the middle of the cup, it felt strange in my grasp. I slowly raised it a few inches above the shelf and brought it towards me. While completing this motion, I immediately became confused. There was no weight to this cup! It was as if I had lifted a piece of styrofoam! In the utter confusion of my senses, I turned the cup over to reveal the opposing side. There on the bottom of the cup was a paper sticker that had imprinted upon it in red ink: “made in china.” The metallic gold gleam was sprayed from an aerosol can! I could now see small “blobs” of dripping gold paint around the base of the cup! Inside the brim, was a tiny streak of white plastic that peeked through the sparse gold spray! It was barely noticeable until held at a very close range. I placed the cup back onto the glass shelf where I had found it. This cup was worthless, and held absolutely no value at all. I had been deceived!!! And yet, from a distance it seemed so appealing. It was then that I understood the want and the desire of that cup was the old and normal way of life that was so comfortable. It seemed so real, and yet of no real value or worth. I had been taken to a shop in Egypt. I had become used to Egypt, its ways, rules and social norms. I became comfortable in its routines. I had clung to the ways. Visiting that gift shop gave me the insight to visualize and understand the false gifts of that place. But now I had come to understand that I was actually on an appointed journey into the future of the promised land ahead. And so I awoke to the clock ticking and the fan humming. As I moved my still sleepy torso to the side of the bed and placed my feet on the floor, I realized the magnitude of blessing of the journey now. And so I press on.