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It is said that Thomas Edison hoped his invention of the electric light bulb would free man from the need to waste so much time in sleep. Numerous medical reports seem to indicate that, in America at least, the famous inventor has gotten his wish. Medical reports indicate that many of us are sleep-deprived. This is thought to be the cause of inefficiency at work as well as of illness and accidents.

In many ways it might seem that the Scriptures share Thomas Edison's view of sleep. "Let us not sleep as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober" (I Thes 5). Sleep is opposed to vigilance and is thus a weakness or at least a lack of attention to be overcome. The Lord Himself ends a number of His parables with an exhortation to "take heed, watch!" With Holy Week drawing near we can also be reminded of the disedifying example of the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane who could not watch with the Lord and heard his rebuke, "Are you still sleeping and taking your rest?"

But, of course, this is not the whole story. While they find fault with sleep that is too much or at inappropriate times, the Biblical writers recognize another, positive side as well. No less than we, they understand the cycle of rest and activity to be a natural and necessary part of human life. "I lie down and sleep; I wake again, for the Lord sustains me" (Ps 3). There is nothing holy about pathological sleep deprivation, and St. Benedict in his Rule makes adequate provision for necessary rest.

Beyond this natural level, the Scriptures can associate very positive spiritual values with this somewhat mysterious state. Just as a healthy body needs to be maintained by regular and sufficient sleep, so our spiritual life must be balanced by a form of holy slumber. It might not be as odd as it first sounds to make it a Lenten discipline to get more sleep in this sacred sense (and in the physical sense too , if that is needed).

A blessed and sound sleep can be a sign of trust and complete reliance on God. He Himself "will neither slumber nor sleep" (Ps 121) so that we can rest secure in His keeping. Fr. Arthur often said, "sleep is the best medicine," and it is a bit of his wisdom I have often shared. Just as a lack of sleep can make us susceptible to sickness and prone to carelessness and accidents, so a lack of peaceful reliance on God's grace can make life an exhausting, frustrating, and meaningless struggle. "It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil; for "he gives to his beloved sleep" (Ps 127). At times it is good to recognize our own powerlessness in crisis situations and to put things in perspective. "Let go and let God," as the saying has it.

In the story of the stilling of the storm at sea the Gospel writers note that our Lord was asleep in the boat. This would seem a difficult feat to pull off, but the Gospel writers seem purposefully to draw the strongest possible contrast between our Lord's perfect confidence in His Father's love and care and the frantic and ineffectual struggling of the disciples. How often in our own lives have we struggled seemingly alone during some crisis until finally we hear the rebuke of the Lord that is reassuring at the same time, "Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?" Life's obstacles can help us remember who is really in charge and to be strong only in Him. "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a child quieted at its mother's breast" (Ps 131).

Sleep is not only a passive image in the Scriptures. It can also signify an active relationship to God. The night can be a time of increased rather than decreased attention and openness to Him. "My soul yearns for you in the night, my spirit within me earnestly seeks you" (Is 26). Sleep is often associated with the visitation of God through dreams and visions. Awaking from them the recipient has new insight into the intentions of God and perhaps also a new direction in life. Such sleep renews strength and courage, fortifying the individual in his commitment and service. We are likely to dismiss such events as "just a dream;" but the Biblical mind does not draw such a precise or arbitrary line between visions and reality. Visions can have a very real influence in personal lives and can also change the course of human history.

The examples in the Bible are numerous. As the sun sets a deep sleep falls upon Abraham and, although still childless, he is assured of his descendants' great destiny. While sleeping on a rock Jacob sees the mysterious ladder reaching up to heaven and is confirmed in his journey and promised that through his seed all the families of the earth will be blessed. The Patriarch Joseph dreams dreams and interpretes dreams, while in the New Testament his namesake, Joseph the husband of Mary, is guided and directed by God through dreams. The Wise Men know not to return to King Herod after being warned in a dream. On Pentecost Sunday the Apostle Peter interprets the outpouring of the Holy Spirit using the words of the Prophet Joel: "your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams."

Sleep can thus be a metaphor for opening ourselves more completely to the leading and direction of God. "I slept, but my heart was awake" (Song 5). In this state of increased receptiveness we can come to a new level of understanding and of obedience.

Sleep is also a common metaphor for death. But when the Bible uses this image to speak of the death of believers it is more than just a euphemism. There is a real correspondence between the two: as sleep cannot be considered apart from awaking, so the death of the Christian cannot be understood apart from the awakening in the resurrection. "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awake him out of sleep" (John 11). Just as natural sleep is not an end in itself, but leads forward and prepares for an awakening, so we believe the more mysterious sleep of death leads us forward through the night and into a greater day. For us the state of sleep takes for granted the great and commanding cry that will awaken us from it. "Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light" (Eph 5).

The final office of the liturgical day is Compline. It could be described as an elaborate bedtime prayer. "In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety" (Ps 4). But it is also a daily preparation for the sleep of death and a prayer made in solidarity with all those who have already fallen asleep in the Lord. With them we are still united in Christ "who died for us so that whether we wake or sleep we might live with him" (I Thes 5). The night, of whatever form, need hold no fear.

Perhaps this Lent and the coming celebration of the Lord's Pasch can be a time to cure spiritual insomnia. Sleep. Find rest and healing by casting more of your cares onto God. Sleep. Be open to the visitation of God, to clearer vision and resolute obedience. Sleep. Do not live in the fear of death, but in unconquerable hope and joy.

Sincerely,

Fr. Richard G. Herbel

News & Notes
The end of November Fr. Thomas McElwey arrived to begin a stay as a long term guest and to consider a possible vocation here. He has for many years been associated with us in the Fellowship of St. Augustine and made annual retreats. In January he was the cause of some excitement when he slipped on the ice and broke his hip. He has made a speedy recovery, however, and is slowly assuming more duties and responsibilities.

The evening of December 29th the Chant Choir led a Solemn Vespers for the Fifth Day of Christmas. The traditional order of Vespers included some elements of the popular lessons and carols service. We are grateful to the organist, Daniel Susan, who also provided a pre-service recital.

Now that the building of the new church no longer monopolizes so much time and money, we have been turning our attention to overdue maintenance in the Retreat House. A small improvement was made in February with a new couch and chairs for the sitting area in the common room.

The Congregation of the Servants of Christ-St. Augustine's House-is an ecumenical Christian community whose life of discipleship is inspired and shaped by the Holy Rule of St. Benedict. We are affiliated with the Lutheran tradition, understood as a movement within and for the one holy catholic and apostolic Church of Jesus Christ.

We are committed to the growth of the permanent resident community, to the pursuit of ecumenical understanding, and to the provision of retreats for members of the Fellowship of St. Augustine and others. We seek to serve the whole Church by our life of prayer and by the use of our facilities.

A one-volume edition of our daily prayer books has been reprinted and is again available. It contains the basic elements of all the offices along with the schema of psalms used. It is offered upon request to anyone with an interest in the conduct of our daily prayer, but a donation of $10 or so to cover costs would be appreciated.

Building News

As soon as there is a break in the rather cold winter we have had this year we hope construction can begin on site for the bell tower. Already the process has begun off site with the fabrication of the iron framework. We are grateful to our neighbor Pat Bell who is offering his services for this stage of construction. It would be wonderful if the tower were completed in time for it to ring out the joy of Easter, but that possibility seems remote at the present time.

The principle on the building loan continues to be whittled down. Individuals, churches, or other groups are invited to sponsor the chapel by paying the mortgage for a month. Please contact us for more information.

Holy Saturday
The strangest day in the Christian Year is undoubtedly Holy Saturday, the day when God Himself slept in the tomb. At the end of his devotional book Death on a Friday Afternoon Fr. Richard John Neuhaus offers these thoughts.

Holy Saturday…is the sound of perfect silence. Yesterday's mockery, the good thief's prayer, the cry of dereliction-all that is past now. Mary has dried her tears, and the whole creation is still, waiting for what will happen next.

Some say that on Holy Saturday Jesus went to hell in triumph, to free the souls long imprisoned there. Others say he descended into a death deeper than death, to embrace in his love even the damned. We do not know. One day I expect he will tell us all about it. When we are able to understand what we cannot now even understand why we cannot understand. Meanwhile, if we keep very still, there steals upon the silence a song of Easter that was always there. On the long mourners bench of the eternal pity, we raise our heads, blink away our tears and exchange looks that dare to question, "Could it be?" But of course. That is what it was about. That is what it is all about. O felix culpa! "O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!"

To prodigal children lost in a distant land, to disciples who forsook him and fled, to a thief who believed or maybe took pity and pretended to believe, to those who did not know that what they did they did to God, to the whole bedraggled company of humankind he had abandoned heaven to join, he says: "Come. Everything is ready now. In your fears and your laughter, in your friendships and farewells, in your loves and losses, in what you have been able to do and in what you know you will never get done, come follow me. We are going home to the waiting Father."

Gifts are gratefully acknowledged in memory of CHARLENE JOY AUSTIN DOROTHY M. BEST ARLENE M. GAGO ALBERT R. HERBEL CHARLES A. HERBEL RAYMOND KATTER ELMER F. KRAUSS ARTHUR CARL KREINHEDER JOHN and IRMA PAVELKA ROLAND SCHROEDER