Blessed are You, Adonai, who removes sleep from eyes and slumber from my eyelids." (Prayer immediately following the morning Blessings)
This prayer makes no sense coming at this point in the Siddur (prayer book)! We have already been up for a while, we have wrapped ourselves in Talis and Tefillin, said a lot of prayers already, so it makes no logical sense to say this!! Yet, as I realized a long time ago, this prayer is so important. It makes me realize that there is a higher logic and higher truth. While my eyes are open, sometimes I sleep walk through the day. Sometimes my eyelids are so heavy with what I want that I fail to see what is. This is a "wake up" call to my Soul, to remind me that I have to stay alert to the Call of God and the call of my spirit. I acknowledge that without God's help, I will fall asleep during the day and become "Indifferent to the Sublime Wonder of living" as Rabbi Heschel teaches.
1) What are the ways I go to sleep' during the day?
2) How am I letting my eyelids get too heavy with my own desires/inauthentic needs?
3) Where do I go to 'wake up' my soul/spirit?