Sleep gets a bad rap. People who sleep a lot are seen as lazy, not on the ball, not willing or able to work hard. Even in the Gospels, we get the sleeping bridesmaids not ready for the groom’s arrival, and then the sleeping disciples in the garden of Gethsemane. That strikes me as a little off-base, since someone who is sleep-deprived is far more likely to make mistakes, lack awareness and be unproductive than someone who is well rested. And yes, by “someone,” I mean me. I don’t think I have ever been as sleep deprived as I was in the months after my first child was born. She was, to put it charitably, not a good sleeper. People often ask the parents of young children when they started sleeping through the night; I’m not sure she ever has, and she’s in her mid-20s. At the time, I was working for a suburban daily newspaper, with hours that moved between day shifts and night shifts more or less randomly. I think there might have been close to a full year when I never got to sleep more than four hours straight. I know there was more than one occasion when I pulled into a parking space and fell asleep before I got out of the car. My other kids slept better, or at least not as badly, and now the only times I’m woken up several times in a night are when someone (usually the dog) is sick, or my glucose monitor isn’t working right. Now that I have a baseline of getting reasonable sleep, I can tell that I don’t feel quite right for days afterward. On the other hand, I haven’t yet lost the ability to fall asleep just about anywhere within a matter of minutes. Which is a good thing. According to the National Institutes of Health, sleep deficiency can contribute to reduced cognition, interfering with school, work and social functioning. It also is linked to chronic health problems, including heart disease, kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, stroke, obesity and depression. And despite the incidents of sleepers being scolded in the Gospel, we know Jesus slept; he was sleeping in the Gospel of Matthew when, after a long day of healing people and casting out demons, a storm came up on the sea and scared the disciples, who woke Jesus up to calm the tempest. So let that be an example to all of us. Had a long, hard day at work or school or taking care of the family? Go to bed. Get some sleep. Let your brain and your body rest and heal. And wake up in the morning and thank God for the gift of sleep.
About the Author Michelle Martin is staff writer at Chicago Catholic. Contact her at [email protected].