In the Middle of the Night

Contemplation and prayer often happen best in the middle of the night, surrounded by shadows and stillness.  Private, uninterrupted night-moments also offer the best time to get off the productivity treadmill and just be.  Still.  Or else dream a little, and invite the creative juices to rain down without worrying about catching and directing them through a mental downspout.  Just let them come. Down.  And trickle away.

In the middle of the night, I appreciate being separated from everything that usually demands attention – - except my soul.  It’s the difference between responsibly facing the important, and soulfully nurturing the essential.  There is no schedule in the middle of the night, so time doesn’t matter. I’m free.  The world sleeps while I celebrate solitary thought-rambling. No one knows or cares what I do or think.

While sleep obviously is the nighttime goal, I’ve learned not to resist sleeplessness, but rather to invite it to come out and play.  Acceptance opens the door to calmness or productivity or God-awareness that hide in preoccupations during light hours.  Imagination climbs mountains it couldn’t during the day because of inevitable rocks and bushes in the path.  And after a stint of fully engaged wakefulness, I usually don’t have to work to get back to sleep. The Sandman comes, finds tensions diffused, and carries me away.  In fact, t’s 2:00 a.m. and he just showed up.  Goodnight!