Do you ever have trouble sleeping? For years, I have had a tendency to awaken during the night, only then to have great difficulty getting back to sleep. I find I am not alone. For some, there are episodic occurrences of nighttime wakefulness: a new infant in the home, an illness of a loved one that requires around the clock care, a situation that evokes deep stress. Others have occupational wakefulness. They have jobs that have them awake when others are sleeping. And of course, there are those of us who for reasons we cannot easily explain develop our own forms of an unwelcome insomnia. In the early church, there was a belief that the early hours of the morning, especially from we consider to be 3:00-4:00, was a time alive with spiritual activity. Evil could be active in that period, but deep prayer allowed for a healing and blessed experience of the divine. This connects with prayer language in the psalms which read, “My eyes are awake before the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your promise.”
The Gospel passage for the morning is what we call the Beatitudes, which offer virtues (poor in spirit, meek, mournful) that, contrary to conventional wisdom, are marks of the divine presence. Some have suggested, however, that these beatitudes also teach us that we have the divinely given capacity to lift up every day, overlooked graces, and to name them as them blessed. So for Sunday, we’ll note one of those, the struggle to stay asleep, and title the sermon, “Blessed are the Insomniacs”. The biblical texts are Psalm 134, which will be read by Eleanor Lahr, and Matthew 5: 1-11, to be read by Eric Metzler. The Chancel Choir, accompanied by Ilze Akerbergs, will lead us musically. We’ll sing hymns, pray, and have a moment for children.
If you have been a part of the St. Mark’s community for years, or if you are just discovering us, we look forward to connecting with you on Sunday. To join the 10:30 service online, visit www.smumc.church, and click on the Live Stream banner.