Yesterday afternoon I took quite a lovely long nap instead of reading my assignment. I've come to regard naps as a spiritual practice, particularly those that overtake me on Sunday at 3 p.m. after a busy week and a full Sunday morning. I acknowledge the nap as a spiritual practice of leadership, or at least as a consequence of leadership.
Of course, one of the twentieth century’s great leaders, Winston Churchill, was famous for his naps, in case we need a role model--not that we need justification for naps.
Napping is also one of my most authentic Sabbath practices as a Christian I suspect.
It’s something that can happen even on those Sundays where I haven’t been playing a leadership role at church on Sunday mornings. In those semesters where I don’t have a lot of theology to read (history or ethics also work well), I miss that Spirit-led drifting off on Sunday afternoons after too many late nights of staying up to finish “just one more thing.” Drifting off while reading a mystery, science fiction or fantasy doesn’t have the same spiritual feel. :-) Leave the computer now and head to your couch or recliner with a good, but thin, book of theology. It will refresh your spirit, if you actually get any reading done, or even more, if you just nap.
Why a thin book of theology? It doesn’t wake you up when it hits your chest or the floor. I won’t make public recommendations for authors beyond that.
Happy napping.
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