Very, very good; I'm shocked at how well you do know me. But, as they say on some hilarious late, late show: Close, but no banana.
One of my favourite pastimes is (drum roll, please) having a nap. Did you get it? A nap. N-A-P. If I had my way, I would have a nap everyday, but somehow that strikes me as impossible in a classroom of students. I thought about having one as a I drove home from work each day, but when would I talk on my cell, clip my nails, and finish off my lunch? (Just kidding, officer.)
There are many benefits with napping. When I nap, I don't work. If I am prostrate on my bed (a creative way of saying 'nap,' Horace), I don't really have a care in the world. And when I am resting, I feel like I am re-loading for the rest of the day.
Some people can't drink coffee or have a nap anytime after 4:00 PM, or else it will keep them awake all night. I can drink a mug of coffee just before I go to bed, and I even have a nap right after supper – with no problem falling asleep five hours later. I draw the line Sunday morning: I will not drink coffee before church; it makes me toss and turn throughout the whole service.
I'm not sure if we could mandate regular naps beyond pre-school, but I would like try. I think we could get a lot more done in our classrooms if everyone crashed just after lunch. Wait a minute: They do crash just after lunch! Periods five and six are probably the toughest two periods to teach all day. You ought to hear all the snoring, wheezing, and bellowing. And that's just the staffroom (just kidding)!
However, come to think of it, that may not be a bad idea. Teachers could get caught up on their mountains of marking, students could get caught on the sleep they missed the night before (so they can stay up even later the next night), and it would represent a really nice break in the middle of the day.
No matter what side of the history of Israel you come down on (and I trust it is the right one), they had a special symbol of their relationship with Jehovah. It involved something called the Sabbath. It was introduced to them after they left Egypt (go watch "The Ten Commandments," for further details). In short, it was a break from everything once a week, a rest or cessation from all forms of labour. It was the seventh day of the week, the one we call Saturday.
I suggest we introduce our own form of sabbath rest, but not along religiously legalistic grounds. Whether it is a weekly sabbath, when there would be a stopping or at least a slowing down of all activity (actually we used to call that Sunday, didn't we?), or better, a daily sabbath (I'll call it a nap), I think it's worth looking into.
There's a time to go, to pause, and to stop – even traffic lights know that. I think – seriously now, people – that we need to take more time to pause, maybe even stop, on a regular basis. There is nothing really sensible about rushing here and there, living in the fast lane, caught up and wound up continuously, and wolfing down adrenalin liquids masquerading as cool drinks. No, I think pausing now and then, putting one's feet up, and pacing oneself on a regular basis is a wise choice.
So here's to the joy of napping. Fifteen minutes of a sabbath break everyday would be one of the greatest pleasures that I can imagine. A nap a day keeps the stress away, or at least makes it look manageable.
And I promise that fifteen minutes for me won't be when I am driving home. I need that time for marking my papers.
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