Practices From the Inside Out: Napping Our Way Through Advent

Napping Our Way Through Advent

Advent is unique, and has particular lessons for us, each year. This year in particular, I believe, calls for napping our way through Advent.

In my liturgical church, the first season of each liturgical year is Advent. It is a season of anticipation and preparation. Advent is about taking time to find the sacred in the everyday.

One of the challenges of Advent each year is finding the time to start the year well by anticipating and celebrating the deep sacredness all around us.

Advent is countercultural. It calls our attention to reflection at exactly the time everyone is rushing headlong into the “holidays.”

This year we may feel like giving up, or tempted to resolve to do better next year.

Advent reminds us that it is important to find time today. The moments each week, each day, each hour are filled with the deeply sacred. If we do not find time now, today, it may be gone and we will miss the opportunity.

This season is a reminder of what really matters. We need to stop and breathe, to appreciate the present moment.

Advent reminds us it is the deeper sacred meaning which makes the holidays, our work, and everything else important.

Our Advent stories are about people who take time to breathe. They find ways to listen to themselves, to other people, to the world, to what is sacred all around them.

Some of us adopt new Advent practices and try to work our way toward greater understanding. There are many things we can do, each with its own rules and traditions, to practice Advent.

This year, in particular, I am developing a new practice for Advent. This is a year for napping our way through Advent.

Napping Our Way Through Advent This Year

It has been a particularly challenging year for many of us. Some of us have lost people we loved, jobs we loved, plans and dreams we loved. Most of us have spent more time alone this year than any other year we can remember.

It has been a struggle f9r many of us to get as far as we already have. We have wrestled with fear and anxiety, pain and loss, loneliness and regret. Many of us have been working our way down a dark path, not knowing what will come next, one step at a time.

This year has worn us out, draining us of energy and inspiration.

We do not need a new set of rules or tasks to perform. Many of us are not looking for more things to do. Right now our focus is on surviving the challenges of the next few weeks. We are not sure what Christmas will be like while we stay at home, protecting ourselves and the people we love.

What we need right now, more than anything else, are ways to get some rest.

I believe napping our way through Advent is an excellent way for us to prepare and anticipate this year.

This is not the year for us to push ourselves, or the people we love, to be stronger or better. We have done well to make it through the sadness and obstacles of the year so far. The practice we need to develop now is napping our way through Advent.

My own practice of Advent napping is linked to other practices I am developing. Taking a nap fits particularly well with reading and reflecting. Lying down to consider my next steps, or read a few pages, often inspires me to begin a good nap.

Contemplatively Napping Our Way Through Advent

Napping is not something we are pressured to squeeze into our calendars. We practice contemplative napping to avoid being squeezed.

Our first step in building a new practice is scheduling our time well. Like any other practice, we need to decide how much time we are willing to spend. We hope to find restoration, not push aside something else we would like to do.

It is also good for us to recognize we will probably spend some time resting. Part of the time we schedule for napping our way through Advent is relaxing in bed.

How we nap is another essential aspect of building our practice. If we incorporate reading into our napping practice, we look for books which spark reflection and contemplation of other topics.

Like with other practices, part of the value of napping our way through Advent is appreciating why it is important to us. When we decide to adopt a specific practice it is important to be able to explain why we chose it.

It is one thing to explain why I adopt a certain prayer practice or behavioral discipline. We may have more challenges telling other people why we are napping our way through Advent.

As We Begin Napping Our Way Through Advent

Napping our way through Advent is the kind of practice people sometimes say they would love to try. The challenge is often they feel a little guilty or ashamed to devote their time to it.

Like with other disciplines, we do not need to spend all day, every day practicing. We can begin slowly and build our strength.

This year, in particular, is a tremendous opportunity for us to develop this contemplative practice. For many of us, the last nine months have been difficult ones. We have been immersed in spiritual struggles and effort.

Napping our way through Advent may be a practice which helps us apply the lessons we have learned this year in everyday life.

Even as we put our time and effort into what we do, we will find an oasis of rest.

It may be a challenge for some of us. With a little experience, napping our way through Advent can become one of our favorite spiritual practices.

When will we begin napping our way through Advent this year?

How will napping our way through Advent help us anticipate and prepare for what comes next?

[Image by kadams54]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and coach in Southern California. He has served as an assistant district attorney, an associate university professor, and is a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com and his email address is StrategicMonk@gmail.com.