I don't get enough sleep. In the
overall scheme of things, I don't think that is a big deal. There is always one
more thing to do, right? I want to get the most out of each day so I keep
going.
Getting enough sleep, it turns
out, is a big deal! In her September 22nd TIME
article on the power of sleep, Alice Park explains how our brain -as we sleep-
begins to cleanse itself of toxins and repair circuits that have been worked
hard. "The brain also runs checks on itself to ensure that the exquisite
balance of hormones, enzymes and proteins isn't too far off kilter," Park
writes. "And all the while, cleaners follow in close pursuit to sweep out
the toxic detritus that the brain doesn't need and which can cause
all kinds of problems if it builds up."
Sleep, scientists are
discovering, is "nature's panacea, more powerful than any drug in its
ability to restore and rejuvenate the human brain and body." The trouble
is that "sleep works only if we get enough of it." Up to 70 million
of us are not getting enough sleep, and the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention see this as a public-health epidemic.
Sleep is the only time the brain
"has a chance to catch its breath." And chronic sleep deprivation is
a stress on the body, according to Dr. Peter Liu, professor of medicine at
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
"Catching up sleep" on
the weekends may undo some of the damage to the brain, after a week of sleeping
only five or six hours a night, but it doesn't repair all the damage.
Alice Park talks about the
importance of getting to bed and waking up at a predictable, regular time each
day. She also talks about getting as much exposure to natural light as we can
each day, daily exercise, and avoiding too much time in front of
a TV or computer screen before going to bed.
As I read the article, I kept
thinking about how important Sabbath is for our lives. God stopped on the 7th
day of creation, and God knows that all sorts of damage gets done to our souls,
bodies and relationships when we refuse to stop each week for worship and play.
Making the decision to leave Sunday free for God, fellowship, worship, play,
and just hanging out with the people we love most is a decision for health. God
uses the Sabbath to heal what is broken, and the acts of prayer, worship and fellowship
have a way of carrying away the toxins that have built up in our head and
heart.
My Grandpa Owen, a devout
Presbyterian, would combine spirituality and sleep by regularly sleeping
through the sermons at Wallace Street Presbyterian. He told me, when I was very
young, that if you couldn't sleep in church the world would have gotten to a
terrible place. (I thought that was much funnier before seminary than I do
today...J) The sermons weren't that bad, but now I realize he would wake up at
4:30 every day, be one of the first officials in the State House each day, and
last to leave at night. My Grandpa was tired...sleep-deprived!
The psalmist says this in Psalm
27: "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating
the bread of anxious toil; for (God) gives sleep to (God's) beloved."
Jesus, in Matthew 11:28, teaches
us something deep and true: "Come to me, all you that are weary and are
carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest."
Sometimes our bodies are trying
to teach us something. Our need for sleep, I believe, points us back to the
deeper need for a life rhythm that includes Sabbath.
See you Sunday! (And if you need
to close your eyes awhile during the sermon...I'll try not to bother you.)
God is good!
In Christ and for Christ,
Mark Fenstermacher
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