Pillows on the Boat

Resting in times of hardship and uneasiness

Good morning! Have you ever fallen asleep on the floor?

Over the course of the past several months, I have been slowly mastering the art of being able to fall asleep anywhere.

My roommates and I love having movie nights in the living room, and there have been half a dozen occasions where it’s late (10 pm), we’re in the middle of a movie, and I’m sitting on the couch or lying down on the carpet and I fall dead asleep.

The movie’s still going, conversations about the movie are being had, and there are all sorts of random background noise, and yet, because I’m a deep sleeper, I become impervious/immune to the environment around me.

Now just imagine that ability to fall asleep anywhere being used in the middle of a crisis. There’s a story in the New Testament where Jesus and the disciples were crossing a body of water, and Jesus, exhausted from the previous day(s), simply lied down on a pillow in the boat and fell right to sleep.

There was all sorts of commotion going on, especially since the disciples thought for sure they were going to die, and yet Jesus slept; that sort of stoic response is so wonderful.

Listen, you may not be a deep sleeper, but you can practice falling asleep in less-than-desirable places. If you can teach your body to fall asleep in unconventional places (i.e.. the living room floor’s carpet), you might just be able to also train your soul to have rest in times of hardship and uneasiness.

Take a nap on the floor. Sleep on the couch for a couple of nights. Maybe even try sleeping in your car (I have yet to try that). As your body gets accustomed to falling asleep in unconventional places, perhaps you’ll learn to let your soul get some rest even when not everything is perfectly made ready for your enjoyment, inasmuch as not every place to sleep is your comfortable bed.

God bless you, have a great day!