The Cracked Acorn: Sleep

It was five years ago when I wrote about my Dad that I had confided to him that while working underneath my car that I would sometimes take a short nap. He told me that he had been doing that for years. It took me by surprise that I was already doing what I thought of an older person’s habit. I now find that naps overtake me at inconvenient times when I am trying to watch an interesting television program.

I have returned to the fascinating arena of sleep. Medical experts on the subject find that we have always needed sleep. It’s the prime ingredient for the healthy recipe of a long life. Americans are finding it harder and harder to squeeze eight hours of “downtime” into their lives. One out of three suffers chronic reasons denying them adequate rest. It can be shown that close to fifty percent of the drivers in the morning and evening commutes have not prepared themselves for this daily stress test and face the possibility of causing or being part of a serious accident. High auto and medical insurance rates are the indicators that show we as a nation are not admitting that we need to heed what the Lord has said in the Scriptures.

Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain, you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat – for HE grants sleep to those HE loves. Psalm 127:1,2

Then you will go on your way in safety, and your foot will not stumble; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Proverb 5:23,24

The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether he eats little or much, but the abundance of a rich man permits him no sleep. Ecclesiastes 5:12

Note: how the Lord uses the word “sleep” in I Thessalonians 5:1,6

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be alert and self-controlled. (I understand this to mean metaphorically that we are not to “sleeping” by worldly standards but to stay conscious of the fact the Lord may return for those He has given sweet restful physical sleep.)

How much sleep do we need? Margaret Thatcher was notorious for existing three to four hours a night, and she wasn’t exactly an underachiever. Many would be proud to have her level of achievement.

We cannot live without sleep. “There’s an account of a coast-to-coast airplane crew who put the plane on autopilot and then all fell asleep. The plane, loaded with passengers, overshot the destination and was a hundred miles out to sea before air traffic control was able to wake them over the radio.” from UNDERSTANDING HUMAN LIMITS IN A WORLD THAT NEVER SLEEPS by Martin Moore-Ede.

So if you are building up a sleep debt, here are a few tips. Try them – could save your life and others with you: Avoid energy drinks, caffeine with loads of sugar, try to sleep in a noise-free place, avoid strenuous exercise late in the evening, cut out stress and worries – if possible, have a light snack before bedtime, some say to keep the television and radio out of the bedroom and try to avoid long naps during the day.