Rest, My Soul

One of the most precious gems of spiritual guidance I have received was from a female priest who knew that my family was going through a tumultuous time. When she asked about my prayer life, the look on my face told her all she needed to know. “You are so exhausted, when you try to pray, you just probably fall asleep.” Yes, I nodded. “Then let sleep be your prayer.” That advice led to some of my most intimate experiences of God, moments of complete surrender, when I would imagine myself as a held child, releasing my cares and embracing peace in the form of sleep. 

The mother and child imagery in Psalm 131 reminds me of this beautiful spiritual practice of letting sleep be your prayer. The psalmist–believed by some commentators to be a woman–approaches God in humility and tender intimacy, her soul as calm and quiet as a “weaned child” in her mother’s arms. In biblical times, a mother might nurse her child for three years or more, a time of complete dependence and, in turn, deep connection. Abrupt weaning can be physically and emotionally traumatic, so mothers are advised to wean gently and gradually, providing extra attention and closeness to comfort the child and maintain his sense of trust and emotional security. The image of a weaned child with his mother is one of authentic intimacy, no longer based on dependence but instead stemming from a loving relationship and nurtured trust. Psalm 131 invites us to imagine our own souls as weaned children (weaned from the things of this world that provide false comfort), resting calm and quiet in the embrace of our Divine mother.

Monica Coakley is an Assisting Priest at Luminous Parish in Franklin, TN and also provides pastoral care to men on Tennessee’s death row.  She lives with her family on a small farm and hoards books and yarn.