“Beauty Before Bed”

         Writer and artist Jan Richardson explains that she likes to have something beautiful to see or experience before she goes to sleep. She writes, “Of late I have taken to going through my old Selvedge magazines. Just before entering sleep each night, I’ll pick up an issue and take in a few pages, visiting with something beautiful as I prepare for sleep.” She goes on to say that having something beautiful before going to bed is for her like a benediction, a blessing, on the day and for the late hours to come. She defines it as a prayer of bringing beauty to meet the evil that is likely making its way into the world and that the beauty becomes a means of confrontation to this evil with hope and transformation and healing. “Something beautiful before bed,” she calls her intention and I have come to value that expression.

I have tried for a long time to be intentional about what I think about, watch, or reflect upon before going to sleep every night. Some evenings I’m better at this than others. Some nights I make time to read something uplifting or secure a few minutes to write in a gratitude journal a couple of entries of those things from the day for which I am grateful. At the very least, before dropping off to sleep, I try to be conscious and consider the events of the day, try and be attentive to the things I did that I regret, those words I said or thoughts I had that were not grounded in love. I try to be aware of those things that require forgiveness and those things for which I need to make amends and then I try to be intentional to let them go.



If I’m being honest, however, a lot of nights, especially lately when the news of wars and gun violence fill our screens and minds, I am not intentional at all about my going to sleep rituals. I have discovered that it’s way too easy to sit down in front of the television after dinner and then, before I know it, hours have passed and I suddenly realize it’s bed time or that I can’t hold my eyes open any longer and I stumble into the bathroom, brush my teeth, comb my hair, wash my face, and then crawl into bed without a clear or meditative thought in my head. When I do that, it turns out that the last thing I heard or witnessed before ending my day was the final fifteen minutes of the latest news report. War and senseless shootings are rarely considered something beautiful.

It takes discipline to be mindful about the choices we make whether we’re talking about the food we eat, the relationships we foster, or the things we want to bring into our minds and spirits. It takes concerted effort to pay attention to what is important, what is valued. It takes commitment to make healthy, life-affirming choices in our relationships, our work, and in our day to day activities. And it takes the same kind of commitment and discipline to end our day in mindfulness, attentiveness, with peace and in beauty.

I have never seen a copy of Selvedge Magazine that the author Jan Richardson wrote about, the one she reads before going to bed. However, I do have a few images that are important to me, the images that I would call life-affirming and peace-producing. So, yesterday in an attempt to try and be more intentional about what I see before sleeping, I took a photo album and placed it next to my bed. Just before dropping off to sleep I looked over the pictures of friends and family members and the many recorded celebrations and vacations and places of natural wonder that have inspired and comforted me. I flipped the pages and yawned, my eyes heavy from a busy day, and then put the album back on the table beside me.

Beauty before bed, I thought just before turning out the light. What a wonderful way to let go and say good night.

 You are the Light of the World.

With Love,

Lynne

Service of Lament, Thursdays at Noon

First Presbyterian Church Chapel (Park on North side of Church)

215 Locust Street NE

Albuquerque, NM 87102