A Prayer for Winter Sleep
by Rev. Debra McKnight

Oh My God

I am tired.

I am tired, all day I think of how naps are wasted on the young.

I am tired and I need another shot of caffeine before I snap.

God God I am tired.

I am tired

until I go to sleep

and then, Good God, I am awake!

Save me from my active mind, dancing with wonder and pulsing with anxiety,

save me from remembering the non-essential

and checking my tone on an email 10 hours old,

from mindless scrolling and the occasional midnight Google search.

Save me from the pace that simply can’t be sustained,

even with precarious amounts of caffeine and apps to up my productivity.

Save me from begrudging the toddlers for living the dream

when I could just eat my vegetables, drink more water and put myself to bed on time.

Most of all Good God, save my from myself.

The Gospel of Winter weaves a story that honors the still and slow;

the harvest is over and the flowering of spring depends on this season of rest.

Winter sings of deep roots woven far beneath the snow.

She hums with hibernation’s pulse,

She quiets the noise, the neon and the florescent buzz, if we let Her,

in the most tender blanket of moon light.

Good God, open our eyes, ears and hearts!

It is winter; time to go slow and steady across the snow.

It is winter; time to take rest with the bear and dawn our warmest coat with the reindeer.

It is winter; time too wonder with each crystal flake finding its way to our tongue.

It is winter; time to let the quite curve of evening unwind all that is tight and achy,

time to mend what is torn and broken in our body and mind,

time to rest in the long hours of winter’s brilliant nights

so that we may be fully awake,

once again.

May it be so, Amen.