Daylight Saving Time — here we go! Some deep thinkers probably thought they were helping to make life simpler and more productive with the two times a year time adjustment, but I tend to disagree with their plan. Sleep is much too complicated without having to move our clocks’ hands two times a year.

Sometimes when I can’t fall asleep quickly I think about the miracle of sleep. Every breathing creature (as far as I know) must have sleep. Even if we tried to skip sleep, our trying couldn’t last long. The body runs out of energy and must be recharged. Scientists believe that sleep helps the body heal itself, gives your heart a break and activates the immune system.

Most humans need 7-9 hours per night which equates to sleeping one-third of your life. That fact helps sell quality mattresses. If that much time is spent asleep, don’t settle for an uncomfortable bed.

I recall a few college nights when I stayed up into the wee hours, cramming what I should have been learning months earlier. I was ignoring the fact that my body needed the usual, necessary sleep time, and that I couldn’t ever “catch up” with what I had lost in sleep.

Years ago I went through a phase of not being able to fall asleep until I had spent an hour or longer trying to go to sleep. I finally discovered that screen time on a TV, computer, or phone can stimulate the brain, making it difficult to fall asleep. That discovery identified the culprit. I had been doing a lot of typing on my computer before going to bed. No more lit screens for me before bedtime.

I found some interesting sleep facts. Human infants need approximately 16 hours of sleep a day. A full-grown tiger needs the same amount! Elephants sleep less than any other animal — only three hours a day. The koala wins the title of the sleepiest animal in the world, spending 18 to 22 hours in the snooze zone.

It’s amazing to me that when I fall asleep, most nights I don’t know or remember a thing for that seven to eight hours of sleep. It’s almost like I drift into a coma. Somewhere around my usual wake-up time, my eyes pop open with body recharged and strength to begin a new day.

It dawned on me recently that God gives sleep — He created my body to close my eyes to rest a portion of every 24 hours. Then it’s my Creator that wakes me each morning. Even without an alarm clock, I would open my eyes with no assistance of my own.

I’ve meditated on Isaiah 50:4 in recent days —“He awakens me each morning; He awakens my ear to listen like those being instructed.” What little thought I have given to the miracle of sleep AND waking — and then there is “listening.” That’s another unique level that so many of us believers never fully practice.

Letters to Camille Anding may be sent to P.O. Box 551, Brookhaven, MS 39602.