Your Nightly Renewal
I will lie down and sleep in peace, for You alone, O Lord make me dwell in safety. (Psalm 4:8)
My wife is a nurse, and one winter, when she worked in a nursing home, she was snowed into the facility. She worked three days and two nights without leaving. She took sleeping breaks on a mat on the floor. Working shift work allowed her to get used to long periods without sleep and then catching up later. I’ve never been able to put off getting sleep. First, I get crabby, then foggy, then my motor skills deteriorate. Finally, I just sleep just before passing out. Each of us has a different tolerance to sleep deprivation. Getting little sleep should not be a badge of honor or something we laud as a virtue. Sleep renews us, strengthens us, and makes us more generous.
Erin Blakemore offered an article in the Washington Post entitled, “Too little sleep makes people less generous, the report suggests.” The study suggested, “After sleep deprivation, over three-quarters of participants in a study had less of a desire to help others.” Sleep is a sacred act because it prepares us to be better prepared to follow a Christ-like abundant life. Blakemore continues, “The scans showed that areas of the brain associated with social cognition-our thought processes related to other people-were less active with sleep deprivation.” Between 2001 and 2016, a study also found that the morning after the loss of one hour due to daylight savings time, charitable donations dropped 10%.
These two and several other studies have surmised that “If you’re not getting enough sleep, it doesn’t just hurt your own well-being, it hurts the well-being of your entire social circle, including strangers.” However, Blakemore offers hope when she states, “Unlike personality traits, sleep can be modified-and both getting enough and helping others do the same might make for a better world.” Because getting more sleep makes us kinder and more generous, sleep is a sacred act.
Today, think about how those around you feel about sleep. Is sleep valued, or is it treated as a necessary nuisance? Do you and those around you brag about sleeping fewer hours and getting by, or are you proud of getting at least eight hours of uninterrupted sleep? Pray for God to bless you with the vision to see sleep as a vital and sacred act. Pray for God to give you the wisdom to prepare yourselves for each night’s sleep. Each morning, give thanks for the previous night’s rest. Honor and value your nightly renewal because it is life-giving.