Chocolate Dreams

A few nights ago, I had a dream that never quite made it into my conscious waking mind. In it, I saw a globe with 3 or maybe 4 spots marked for activity. The only one I can remember is the last one: somewhere near the coast of China. But I know as each spot was marked, activity was accomplished there, resulting in the giving of a marvelous piece of chocolate. The chocolate was cylindrical in shape, with the two ends of solid chocolate and the middle section softer, with a crispy filling. It was wrapped in bright and colorful metalic paper. After each red dot showed a "mission accomplished" mark, a piece of chocolate was given. I woke regretting that I could remember no more than this. Partly, I wished I could remember the first few places marked for activity; but mostly I remember wishing I could remember the sensory impact of that chocolate. It had that hyper-reality quality that comes with these types of dreams, so the taste of it was literally divine. (smile) But I had a sense of God telling me that this dream wasn't really for my conscious mind at all, that sometimes a road must be made, a channel dug in the mind that is for later travel. So I appreciated what little I did get over in the conscious arena.
That was a couple of nights ago. Now today, I see this in the Saturday morning online news:

FOUNTAIN VALLEY, Calif. - As a chocolatier to the rich and famous, Martucci Angiano has posed with many celebrities — but on Thursday she held in her hand a figure that dazzles her more than any Hollywood star.
Workers at Angiano's gourmet chocolate company, Bodega Chocolates, discovered under a vat a 2-inch-tall column of chocolate drippings that they believe bears a striking resemblance to the Virgin Mary.
Since the discovery Monday, Angiano's employees have spent much of their time hovering over the tiny figure, praying and placing rose petals and candles around it.
"I was raised to believe in the Virgin Mary, but this still gives me the chills," Angiano said as she balanced the dark brown figure in her hand. "Everyone should see this."
Kitchen worker Cruz Jacinto was the first to spot the lump of melted chocolate when she began her shift Monday cleaning up drippings that had accumulated under a large vat of dark chocolate.
Chocolate drippings usually harden in thin, flat strips on wax paper, but Jacinto said she froze when she noticed the unusual shape of this cast-off: It looked just like the Virgin Mary on the prayer card she always carries in her right pocket.
"When I come in, the first thing I do is look at the clock, but this time I didn't look at the clock. My eyes went directly to the chocolate," said Jacinto, dressed in a hair net and apron as she paused from her work. "I thought, 'Am I the only one who can see this? I picked it up and I felt emotion just come over me. For me, it was a sign."
The chocolate, on display for most of the week in the front of the company gift shop, now rests in a plastic case in a back room and is brought out only for curious visitors.
The stack of hardened confection has a wide base and tapers gently toward a rounded top, giving the appearance of a female figure with her head tilted slightly to the right. The dark brown melting chocolate hardened into subtle layers that resemble the folds of a gown and a flowing veil.
A tiny white circle, about the size of a pencil eraser, sits in the upper center of the creation, just above a slight ridge that runs across it. Cruz says the white speck is the head of the Baby Jesus as he is held in Mary's folded arms.
For Jacinto, the discovery came just in time. Raising a son on her own, she has struggled with marital problems for months and says she was about to lose her faith.
"I have big problems right now, personally, and lately I've been saying that God doesn't exist," she said, pulling the dog-eared prayer card out of her pocket. "This has given me renewed faith."

I'm seeing under the water line on this iceberg again, I guess.