I don’t have trouble sleeping anymore. Maybe that’s not a very novel statement, but it seems to me that there are a lot of people that could benefit from a good, sound night’s sleep — parents with young children I’m talking to you — so I’ll let you in on the secret of how. In the history of Christianity, and especially amongst the Desert Fathers, it seems that the ascetic practice was to deprive oneself of sleep, which does have its merits as a practice of self-discipline, but I’ve found that for me, 8½ hours of sleep (7 if I’m really active) makes me more focused, more motivated, and less prone to irritation, which are all qualities I’m trying to cultivate on my spiritual journey. That’s not to say that I never deprive myself of sleep, I just try to do so deliberately — more on that next Advent or Lent…