Years ago, a friend told me he didn’t like to sleep.  A college student at the time, sleep was one of my priorities, and I couldn’t understand (at first) why he, a peer, would say such a thing.  He reasoned that, in sleeping, he might miss something. Point taken.

In a way, I believe my friend’s thought is akin to our observation that an infant or toddler is “fighting sleep.”  On the one hand, what’s to fight? On the other, they don’t want to surrender to unconsciousness. They want to live.

People are doing just that, surrendering to unconsciousness, all the time.  In others words, they are not fully awake. Consequently, they miss a lot. Life has a tendency to become routine, and the monotony lulls us into neverland.  We settle in where we are, find that our needs are met (if not fulfilled) and decide to live it out on that point. Safety has been achieved. Now, it’s time to guard our rest, cease rolling and gather moss while time, the world and everybody else marches on.  

Life teaches us that we don’t achieve all our dreams.  Try, try again, and you will still come up short many (maybe even most) times.  The temptation becomes not to try. We then become like wild animals that have learned the meaning of fences.  Best to vegetate and rest in the shade. Some will call this wisdom and maturity, but don’t you miss the wind in your hair?  I believe that it is best to keep trying whatever the outcome. As long as I am trying, I know that I am alive.

Sleeping, have you ever wondered if the dream were real?  I have actually had dreams in which I asked myself if I were waking or sleeping.  Sometimes, we rest in a sort of limbo between two worlds. I believe this can happen to us in a larger sense if our lives become mundane.  We’re not really asleep, and we’re not really awake. We are lost somewhere in between. No matter how we got there, we are there, and it’s a sure bet we’re not making much progress on any front.  It’s a lot more fun to play the game than to watch from the bench.

God meant for us to rest, but we ought not be addicted to rest.  Rather, we need the appropriate amount of down time so that we may continue to live.  No rest will cause us to break under the strain of life, but too much inactivity might make us seize up.  I don’t feel particularly well if I’m deprived of or have overindulged in sleep. Someone once told me that small engines using an oil and gas mixture are made to run.  If they sit too long, they gum up. You and I are the same.

Don’t sleep your life away.  You will miss much you would, otherwise, enjoy.  And keep trying. Don’t become bitter when things don’t work out.  I struggle on this point sometimes, but I know it’s true. Frustration is a common experience, and you will be able to lift others who are sinking if you stay evergreen.

We weren’t meant to live the way we do.  The whole creation was affected by the fall.  It is God’s will that the whole creation also be affected by the cross.

Sterl