Skip to main content

Thankful For An Interrupted Night's Sleep?


At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws (Psalm 119:62).
 

            Some people think it traumatic if they have to get up in the middle of the night. Some even keep their eyes closed as they walk to the bathroom, for fear of waking themselves so much that they don't fall asleep immediately when they climb into bed. Some people like the notion of falling asleep while praying and consider it a special time of "pillow talk."  I don't know if monks or nuns still follow the Benedictine rule to the extent that they get up in the middle of the night for a prayer time so that their minds are returning to thoughts of God.
            I was always taught that it's best to have 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep each night. I also noticed that when my sleep was interrupted, the problem was made worse if I stressed out over not getting sleep. Then, quite a few years ago, I started waking up around midnight. I would get up, make a mug of decaf coffee and check the obituaries in the Wilkes-Barre (PA) newspaper. My parents families lived in the area for more than a century, so it was a chance to track down dead relatives and their survivors. I found that this time of wakefulness didn't seem to really bother me unless I got into a debate with someone. That habit disappeared last year sometime.
            Not too long ago, I read something about biphastic or polyphastic sleep. Instead of trying to sleep for 8 uninterrupted hours, one  sleeps for a few hours, then gets up for a short time and does something worthwhile before returning to bed for another round of sleep. The sleep/wake alternation takes place so that the person still gets the needed sleep, just not all at one time.
            What  if, instead of whining at God that we need to get up in X hours and we need our sleep, we were a little more like the psalm-singer and the monks? What if we spent the time we're awake thanking God for His righteous laws and contemplating them on our beds? That would be a change of pace for me. The past several nights I've been saying grace in the middle of the night, but it's not asking God to show me His grace, and it's not asking blessing on food, it's "Grace, lie down," and "Grace, what is your problem?" and "No, Grace, go to sleep." Perhaps tonight I'll add to that a "Thanks, Grace, for giving me the chance to contemplate morality and to thank God for His wisdom in how He designed the universe."

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Virgin?

           Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)           This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 1:18)           But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.”            “How will this be,” Mary asked the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more