The Gentle Sleep

I often think about some lines Mrs. Evans had us memorize in English Lit class back in high school.  She introduced me to all sorts of stuff I had never dreamed of reading and some of it has lingered in my mind after all these years. One of those things remembered comes from Samuel Taylor Coleridge who wrote in "The Rime of  the Ancient Mariner,"  "Sleep, O Sleep, it is a gentle thing, beloved from pole to pole.  To Mary Queen the praise be given, she sent the gentle sleep from Heaven which slid into my soul."  Most of us have a different sleep experience than did the Ancient Mariner, but surely we count it as one of the great blessings of our life.  And our soul.     

It is obvious that it brings to us the blessing of restored strength and energy for the life that stretches before us.  It is not a waste of time as some workaholics might believe, but something necessary for the work entrusted to us.   But, even more so is it a time for exploring the things which are stirring inside of us through our dream life.  While some of our dreaming may seem more on the strange side, the dreams we have are more likely to reflect some of the unresolved issues which seem to defy understanding and resolution by our conscious mind.    

We do not often think of our dreams as blessings given to us by the Creator God.  When we were created, we were put together in such a way that a dream life becomes an inherent blessing.  Many of the Biblical stories place heavy emphasis on the reality of  dreams while sleeping.  As we grow older and move toward a more contemplative heart, we begin to understand that our dreams can be a way that God is speaking to us, leading us, and helping us move forward into what He has put in our path.  Some say that when we sleep the sleep of the night, the sub-conscious pushes the conscious aside and gives the Spirit more access to roam and care for the soul.