Peace from Blessed Sleep

To the People of God,

I’ve been thinking about the idea of sleep. Maybe it is because I am a night owl. I’ve always been a night owl. In fact, so I have been told, my parents would find me asleep lying next to my plastic tricycle in the mornings because I would get up in the middle of the night. Even in college my best time to feel focused and productive were into the wee hours of the morning. All night-ers – NO! So, sometimes mornings are a very real struggle. I know you know what I mean because I am sure there are a few of you who understand this very real predicament.

Now I know there are many side effects and health consequences when one does not sleep well. The Cleveland Clinic suggests many ways in which lack of sleep impacts the body beyond the “stress, weight gain and forgetfulness”(see link: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/happens-body-dont-get-enough-sleep).

Sleeping is a body’s way to recalibrate. To reset, if you will. And we know that there are many health benefits when it comes to sleep. The Sleep Foundation identifies eight reasons how sleep is helpful (see link: https://www.sleepfoundation.org/how-sleep-works/benefitsof-sleep). We all know how we feel after a good night’s sleep, that we are in a “great” emotional and physical place to meet the world.

As my thoughts wandered through the week, I asked myself, “What did God Do?” In the Genesis creation stories, we most famously know that God rested on the Sabbath (Genesis Ch. 1 &2). He looked around and said to himself, “It is good, now rest.” He also instructed Moses that the Sabbath was to be kept. (Exodus 16:23-26.) For many today, the Sabbath is still a day of rest. Growing up I remember many Sunday afternoons lying on the floor in the living room reading the Sunday paper, and falling asleep warmed by fire crackling in the fireplace.

What did Jesus do to refresh?” In the Gospels, we read of Jesus taking time away. He removed himself from the constant demands of the crowd (Mark 4:35–36). We know that he was sleeping before he calmed the storm on Lake Galilee (Luke 8:23). He also prayed. He went into the wilderness for forty days and nights (Matthew 4, Mark 1, Luke 4) and we know that he prayed before specific events, like in the Garden of Gethsemane before he is arrested (John 18).

Having good sleep habits is a good thing! Walking away from the stresses of life is too, for instance, maybe metaphorically placing our life stressors in a box on the top shelf of a bookcase for a time. Centering prayer is another way to refresh, to refocus, to push the reset button.

What are your ways to reset, to refocus, and to refresh?

Blessings,

Rev. Anne+