It is a generally accepted belief that every individual requires a certain amount of sleep each night. Whether one has engaged in a strenuous physical activity or not, the material body and consciousness call for rest.

It is recorded that Christ Jesus told his disciples to take their rest after their unsuccessful attempts to watch with him in the garden of Gethsemane. And it is also related that the Master slept during a storm while he was being transported by his disciples across a lake.

The Christian Scientist does not ignore the material body, but takes proper care of it, providing it with food and rest. He is alert not to let himself be governed by the generally accepted beliefs about material existence, including the need for bodily and mental rest, but he exercises dominion over the false claims of the carnal mind.

In Christian Science we learn that a material body is not one's actual identity. It is an erroneous concept of the true body, or identity, which is eternal, spiritual, and indestructible. This spiritual body, or identity, is not subject to birth, growth, death, or dissolution. It never grows weary, but reflects the perfect health, unlimited strength, and eternal freshness of its creator, divine Mind, or Spirit.

As the Christian Scientist gains an increasing understanding of the perfect, unchanging, and indestructible nature of the spiritual universe and of his true body, or identity, his concept of a material body will gradually change, and the result will be better health, strength, endurance, spontaneity, and daily restfulness.

Thus it is that we succeed, step by step, in fulfilling the Apostle Paul's injunction, when he says that we should put off the old man (the material sense of man) and put on the new man (the spiritual concept of man) through a change of consciousness from the material to the spiritual.

In the mere act of sleep there is no actual rest or relief from weariness, pain, grief, or suffering. It is the carnal or mortal mind which says, "I am tired, sick, weary, in pain, or suffering from grief." It is the erroneous beliefs of this counterfeit mind which need to be corrected. To seek relief from these discordant beliefs in sleep or bodily rest is merely to extend the suffering or put off its effects for a brief period.

Real rest and release from human discords come through, spiritual alertness and the understanding of man's true nature as the idea of Spirit. Our work, therefore, is to maintain the fact of man's inseparable unity with God, divine Mind, and to know that He maintains His creation continuously in a state of restful activity and joyous fulfillment of divine purpose.

For a number of years I believed that my body required at least eight hours of repose in sleep. It was always difficult for me to arouse myself in the morning, regardless of the number of hours I had spent in repose. Then I began to see that my need was to gain the true sense of body and rest which Christian Science presents.

I learned to obey the request of our Leader, Mary Baker Eddy, that Christian Scientists give attention each day to the following statement in "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures" (p. 442): "Christian Scientists, be a law to yourselves that mental malpractice cannot harm you either when asleep or when awake." Recognizing and quietly maintaining that my true identity is always completely and consciously at rest and poised in divine Love, I could see that no suggestion of the carnal mind can interfere with the harmony of the day or the night hours.

In the morning on awakening, I would turn to divine Mind and acknowledge that its omnipotence, omnipresence, and omniaction were governing me and all. Immediately I would arise without effort and go about the events of the day with gratitude for God's loving care. And in the subsequent years, the number of hours of repose in sleep has been considerably shortened with no ill effects.

In Science and Health we read (pp. 519, 520): "God rests in action. Imparting has not impoverished, can never impoverish, the divine Mind. No exhaustion follows the action of this Mind, according to the apprehension of divine Science. The highest and sweetest rest, even from a human standpoint, is in holy work."

An important point, then, to impress upon one's thought is not that one should have a specified number of hours of sleep, but that he should maintain the true sense of identity and rest and cease to look to the body or to the carnal mind to make rules for him to follow.

If one feels a sense of weariness during the day or when he is preparing to retire at night, he should turn in quiet trust and confidence to God. He should know that whether he appears to be asleep or awake, he actually dwells in divine Love, in Spirit, as its eternally conscious, harmonious, and perfect idea.

A few clear statements of truth regarding man and his relationship to God, a comforting Psalm or other passages from the Bible, a hymn of gratitude, often bring the calm which results in refreshing and peaceful rest for mind and body.

In his admonition to men, the writer of Proverbs advises them to gain wisdom and understanding (3:23, 24). "Then," he says, "shalt thou walk in thy way safely, and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid: yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be sweet."

Harold Molter