“Taking a nap may be the most spiritual thing you do.”
That was the quote that I remember hearing at one time. I am frustrated because I cannot remember if it was something I heard in a sermon or lecture or if it was something I read in a book. Either way, the point is that I did not have this original thought.
Last night, I did something I have not done in years – went to sleep early and got a good, long, full night’s sleep. I woke up this morning without yawning and without hitting the snooze button five times. I feel good. I feel focused.
I normally do not sleep that much. I usually stay up pretty late and I usually wake up fairly early. I seem to function really well despite my lack of sleep. I normally think that is another reason why I am doing exactly what God wired me to do (ministry). However, I understand that my sleeping patterns are normally not the most healthy of habits. I wish I was more self-disciplined when it comes to sleep.
After my long, hard night of sleep I began to remember the earlier quote. I began to ponder, “Is sleep spiritual?” Why did God create us with the natural need for eight hours of down-time each day? God put us down here for a limited number of years; and approximately one-third of that valuable time is spent dreaming rather than producing.
If sleeping is spiritual, we are not very good at it. According to the National Sleep Foundation (by the way, very interesting website), the average adult sleeps 6 hours and 58 minutes per night during a normal work week. Compare this to 100 years ago – before Thomas Edison’s marvelous invention – when the average adult slept about nine hours a night. Indeed, we are a nation of people who are chronically sleep deprived. Sleep specialists recommend that we need eight to ten hours of sleep nightly. I do not do well with that recommendation. Do you?
More importantly than the physical effects of sleep, what about the spiritual effects of sleep? The person who made the sleep being spiritual quote explained that when we go to sleep, we complete surrender all control and place our unfiltered trust in God’s hands. The idea is that God will take care of you and the world while you sleep and that you trust that he will wake you up. This makes sleep spiritual.
Lauren Winner, a writer for Catalyst, explains that “to sleep, long and soundly, is to place our trust in Him without whom we labor in vain.”
So what do you think? Is sleep spiritual?
I think sleep is spiritual. I dream a lot about my family members that have passed on and I can feel God wrap me in his arms and help me sleep. Sound crazy?
Even your spirit needs a rest. Have you ever been low on spirit, when you’re sleep deprived? There is so much that our brains do when we sleep. I think it gives spirit and unconscious mind time to mingle, rest, play, relax, and of course, to trust. Sometimes, there are things the Lord will reviel to you, only in your sleep.
My sleep time is 5 hours. And as for sleep being spiritual, i dont know. I can understand that is one way God can talk to you, but what about nightmares. When Tori was little she use to have night terrors every night that it really scared Michael and I. Now she may have one or two a month. There is nothing spiritual about that.
Brian, that quote is from the Messy Spirituality book. Glad you’re back to having more time to blog.
I think yes! Definitely.I woke up this morning after going to bed at 2 AM and was a nasty grouch…..took a nap in class, woke up and truly felt renewed and replenished. (we were watching a movie in class)
I can also say that many of my dreams are comforting, especially if i get to “talk” to someone i haven’t seen in a while, or even my grandma who died 4 years ago.
I dont know about the nightmares part….sometimes i think mine are warning me against something or symbolizing something i shouldn’t have done… but that’s just me.
Rob Bell actually has some interesting things to say about sleep and rest in general. If you haven’t heard the “everything’s spiritual” message he talks a great deal about toward the end of the message.
I was way wrong about the quote being from that book. sorry, it was actually in the only other book I have ready entirely through
Thanks everybody for your thoughts. It is definitely a topic worth exploring and thinking about.
Steven – where can you find that message? His personal website?