Insomnia, from which I occasionally suffer, can be great when working on sermons or catching up on a variety of letters and notes that need to be processed. It's also good for catching that deer that's eating my rhubarb.
But around early afternoon, it can be a bit of a drag. Rather, I can be a bit of a drag by early afternoon. Insomnia usually causes word-retrieval issues, spontaneous bursts of laughter at nothing in particular, and a certain impatience with common foibles. Yesterday afternoon, after only three and a half hours of sleep the night before, I stifled a potentially debilitating giggle when a white colleague spoke of the importance of racial diversity while standing before a white-only crowd. Professionally, it's best not to notice absurdity.
A partial list of well-known insomniacs includes Benjamin Franklin, Cary Grant, Catherine The Great, Charles Dickens, Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Napoleon, and Marcel Proust. There are others, but I think their condition was created less by nature and more by pharmaceuticals. Marilyn Monroe, Judy Garland, and Vincent Van Gogh [he treated his mattress and pillow with poisonous camphor in order to induce sleep] come immediately to mind.
The most bizarre treatment for insomnia must have been Groucho Marx's, as he would spend the night randomly calling strangers on the phone and insulting them. I haven't tried that one yet.
One of Christian history's insomniacs, as well as a sufferer of migraine headaches [specifically, scintillating scotoma] was Julian of Norwich, whose feast day will be celebrated today. Appropriately, I'm writing this in the middle of the night because, well, it's three in the morning and I can't sleep. What better time to write of Dame Julian?
Actually, I should ask what better time to link to an article about Dame Julian, one of which may be found here. Suffice it to say that she was one of the great mystics of the Anglican tradition and her story evocative of that portion of spirituality of which we seem rarely to speak these days. Given the volume of literature that has been produced about her and her visions, especially since the mid-20th century, it may be safe to say that she is the greatest of Anglican mystics.
Lord God, in your compassion you granted to the Lady Julian many revelations of your nurturing and sustaining love: Move our hearts, like hers, to seek you above all things, for in giving us yourself you give us all; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.