One night the hyena had a dream. She was in a beautiful forest. Large trees with green foliage spread their shade on all sides. Flowers with an exquisite scent decorated the place. Soft music made the place as beautiful as a paradise. But it was not this natural beauty that so impressed our hyena. What caught his attention was that there were deer, antelopes and other animals everywhere. In his dream the hyena killed and feasted copiously, but there was still game on all sides. It was enough to want to eat. Then she was hungry again. She killed and ate. It was not even necessary to stock up, since the game was there, close by, in great quantity and within reach of her teeth. What a feast, what animation, what happiness!

But after a few moments, the hyena woke up from her sleep. She rubbed her eyes and sat up. Her bed made a creaking sound. She felt her belly! Ah, what had she just seen in such numbers? The hyena had to admit that it was only a dream!

Last night she had hunted all night without finding anything, not even a little something to stretch her jaws. She had gone to bed like that. And now this dream had woken up her appetite!

"Oh, dreams, there's nothing so deceptive, she thought. But... Ah, ah! I've got a great idea, I've got it, I've got it! My dream will no longer be just a dream. All that I saw in my dream tonight, well, I, the hyena, will have it. All I have to do is want to eat! And... I would like to eat! I'll go and find the one who can make dreams come true. He is over there behind the river. I will go to him and ask him to make all my dreams come true the next day!

The hyena leapt to her feet and went to the one who can make dreams come true.

- Majesty," she said, "I have come to you for help! I want you to make sure that when I have a dream, I see it come true the very next day.

- Well," replied the one who can make dreams come true, "have you thought it through? Are you sure of your request?

- No problem! said the hyena, I want my dreams to come true from now on!

- Well, says the one who can make dreams come true, it will be so. All your dreams will come true the next day. Go and count on my word! Your next dreams will be true.

The hyena took leave of the one-who-can-make-dreams-true, and returned home! It was not necessary to wait for nightfall. The hyena was so impatient that it seemed to her that the sun was not going fast enough.

- Why is the sun dragging on like this today," she growled. I'll have to say something to them up there, won't I!

The hours passed very slowly for the hyena.

She wandered through the bush in no fixed direction. Sometimes she stopped to see by her shadow what time it might be: 10 o'clock... 11 a.m. and then 12 a.m., the hyena was still wandering. Luckily she found a dead ox that a Fulani had taken from his herd. The hyena did not hesitate. She ate while waiting for the dream she would have tonight, which would be fully realised the next morning! So she took her time to finish off her dead ox and then thanked providence for thinking of her. Now that I have eaten well, let's go down to the river and give it a few good sips of water. Then we'll just have to wait for the night. After drinking, the hyena went quietly home.

Slowly the sun was declining on the horizon, colouring the savannah with its pink rays. The noise gradually stopped. Soon it would be evening with its coolness and light winds. And then it would be the cold night of the dry season, when only the hunters walk, the night when it is good to sleep and dream too.

Before his usual time that night, the hyena went to bed, covered himself and fell asleep, hoping to have a dream, if possible like the first one, the one of the previous night. In the middle of the night and in her sleep the hyena dreamed! In her dream she was in a strange forest. The forest was dark and sinister. Everything in it inspired fear and death. The cries of ferocious animals could be heard everywhere. In this forest of woe, the hyena was also tied up. Yes, she was tied with a big chain to a big tree. Some time later, ferocious animals appeared from all sides and attacked our hyena. She screamed and screamed even louder for help, but it was no use. The animals were tearing at her hair and would soon make her their best meal of the day. The hyena struggled to defend herself as best she could. She struggled so hard that she rolled over and fell out of bed. She woke up from her sleep and opened her eyes. The hyena sat down at the foot of her bed. After a few minutes, she realised that it was only a dream, fortunately. She wasn't really in those sinister woods, cornered by those ferocious beasts that were trying to kill her. All in all, she had had a bad time. The hyena wanted to go back to sleep, but the fear of having another dream kept her awake until the morning.

When she woke up, the hyena remembered what she had asked the one who could make dreams come true. So she got up with a start and ran out! What if what she dreamed came true, then that would be the end of her. She ran at full speed to the one who can make dreams come true. She had to get there. Soon enough, that is, before her dream started to come true. So she ran and ran, thinking that any moment now it would happen, that the savannah would be a forest, that big trees would hold her back and that any moment ferocious beasts would come out. But this was not the case, fortunately, she arrived safe and sound at the home of the one who can make dreams come true.

- Hello, O you who can make dreams come true," said the hyena, hurrying and trembling, "I made a request of you, you remember it well, don't you? I asked you to make all my dreams true. Well, now make them not so. I want that when I dream, it is not so, that none of my dreams, whether good or bad, come true!

He-who-can-make-dreams-true looked at the hyena and said, "Well, now you understand why I asked you if you had thought carefully before making your first request. When you had the opportunity to dominate others, to kill and eat them, you wanted your dream to come true. Now that others dominate you, you change your mind. It will be as you ask, but know that not everything in life will be a dream! The hyena went off into the woods.

I concluded that we all have dreams in life. We dream of dominating others, of having lots of money, of being successful, of being very important, of being admired by others. What about all these dreams? If some of our dreams are realised at the cost of many sacrifices, others remain and remain mere dreams until the day we die. Yes, at death, all our dreams end and give way to certain realities. The reality of meeting God, the reality of God's judgment, the reality of discovering our sins in the face of God's holiness.

Truly, truly, I say to you," Jesus said, "whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life; he will not come into judgment again, but has passed from death to life" (John 5:24). If God's judgement is not a dream, neither are his forgiveness and his saving love. We must no longer confuse dreams with realities!