HomedotMagisDiscernmentSpiritual Practices: Napping

Spiritual Practices: Napping

I’m all for finding God in the silence. For me this means taking lots of naps, especially during the winter with its protracted darkness and chill.

Never mind that I also nap during the summer to escape sunlight that has become entirely too fierce. Truth to tell, I often feel called to nap throughout the day regardless of season.  And yes, I believe that I am, at times, called to nap.

These naps are different from ones I take because I’m so sleepy that I cannot keep my eyes open another moment. Or, maybe not.

Maybe sleepiness is, paradoxically, a wake-up call?  Dreams don’t even have to enter into the subliminal picture. In fact, it’s often more illuminating if they don’t.

Meredith Gould
Meredith Gould
Meredith Gould, PhD, is the author of seven books, including The Catholic Home: Celebrations and Traditions for Holidays, Feast Days, and Every Day, Why Is There a Menorah on the Altar? Jewish Roots of Christian Worship, and The Word Made Fresh: Communicating Church and Faith Today. She serves on the team at The Virtual Abbey and founded the Twitter chat for church social media (#chsocm).

1 COMMENT

  1. Ah, the nap and spirituality! Sometimes, when I haven’t taken time for silence and I finally do, I will doze off simply from the exhaustion of being “busy.” One afternoon, after a particularly hectic stretch of several days, I went to the Perpetual Adoration chapel in our parish. There was only one other person in the chapel at the time. I settled into prayer and felt myself finally relaxing…so much so that I fell asleep! When I awoke, I thought “what must the other guy be thinking!” I looked over…and he was asleep, too!

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