CNN iReport

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. Joel 2:28

On my voyage in search of the Spirit of ´76, for a time, I washed dishes for $1/hr at Suzanne´s Kitchen on the Boardwalk in Venice Beach, California. I had a free place to stay half a block from the Ocean, and I was invited to party more than I could accept.

Waking every morning to witness the sun rise, I took a one task job at the Sea & Shore Restaurant to set up the patio tables & chairs on the beach at 7am. For doing just that, I got a full breakfast, and for the rest of the day, apart from working at Suzanne´s, I could sit on the patio meeting and greeting with unlimited free coffee until closing at 4am. The bonus was, as a Canadian, it was my 1st Winter in the Sun.

One morning I woke up from a dream remembering the vivid images. I was a small child, perhaps 6 or 7, wearing a General´s uniform. The cap covered my ears. The sleeves extended way beyond my hands. The greatcoat and sword crumpled up on the floor.

I was standing at the bottom of a great stairway, and at the top, crowned and enthroned was the Pope with all the attendant pomp and ceremony. He got up from the throne, and coming down the stairs, said to me, ¨Here are the Keys.¨

¨You´re giving me the Keys?¨ He answered, ¨Yes.¨
¨You´re giving me the Keys to the Kingdom?¨ He answered, ¨Yes.¨
¨You´re giving me the Keys to the Vatican and the Treasury of the Vatican?¨ The Pope answered, ¨It´s all yours, and you can do what you want with it.¨

I said, ¨If it´s all mine, let´s order Champagne for the world, and go uptown Saturday night.¨ Then I woke up.

I´m still a subsistence worker just managing from pay to pay, no 3 month reserve. An unexpected van breakdown or traffic fine/tax puts me in the hole. That last part of the dream has not come true - yet. The first part did come true in the real world.

Two years later I was an activist in Ottawa, Canada´a capital. I got myself into the position so I could directly hand letters to Prime Minister Trudeau as he entered or left the House of Commons.

Late at night on August 3rd 1978, I happened to be near the Langevin Block as Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's limousine and RCMP security detail pulled up. As Trudeau got out of the car, I said, "Peter, feed the sheep." Passing by, he shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Alright! Alright! I'll feed the sheep" and rushed up the stairs to his Office. (Pierre is Peter in French)

Three days later Pope Paul VI, successor to the Apostle Peter, to whom Jesus first spoke those words in John 21:15-25, died.

The world rejoiced with with the election of the Cardinal from Venice, Italy, who became Pope John Paul I. He was relatively young and vibrant with a happy smile and appeared healthy.

Popes were crowned and enthroned like kings up to the election of Pope Paul VI. Pope John Paul I changed all that by coming down from the throne after 1000 years of Catholic tradition and popes have not been crowned and enthroned since then.

The world, to this very day, has not perceived and understood this important and significant Spiritual symbol of a shift in power and sign of Christ coming closer to the common people.

A month after the election of John Paul I, I was moved by the Spirit to convey a new message to Pierre Trudeau. Calling his personal secretary, Cecile Viau, and recounting the previous months Papal events, I left the same message Jesus said to the Apostle Peter a second time, "Peter, feed the sheep."

To my surprise, three days later the new Pope died.

On October 13, 1978, Prime Minister Trudeau made an appearance at Glebe Collegiate Institute in Ottawa to speak to the children prior to what the media called a ¨mini-election¨ of 15 federal ridings. Standing at the main entrance as he arrived, I said to the Prime Minister, "Peter, look at the Spirit of the 13. Feed the lambs." (see image, iReport, Republican National Convention)

Three days later I was in the Prime Minister's Suite of a downtown hotel watching election returns with the Independent Candidate for Ottawa Centre and other friends. Those returns were interrupted with news of the election of Pope John Paul II. Trudeau lost 13 of the 15 by-election seats up for grabs. Trudeau's election was scheduled. The election of the Pope was not.

Ray Joseph Cormier

Ottawa-Hull

Canada