Last night I slept on top of the EMU hill, a pastime generally forbidden to students, but allowed under a certain set of circumstances. Every Tuesday night, a group of students chooses to forego the relative comforts of a dorm room and climb to the hilltop to spend the night in sleeping bags.
These Tuesday gatherings are known as “Prayerfully Sleeping”, a weekly event intended to stimulate thought and conversation on the plight of refugees in our world.
I must admit, a large portion of my enthusiasm for trudging up the hill lies in the appeal of spending a night under the stars. However, last night we watched a film entitled Invisible Children, which explores the lives of Ugandan children. These kids sleep on city streets because they are safer there than they would be in their isolated villages.
As I prepared for sleep that night in the company of about 10 other classmates, I tried to imagine what it would be like to be sleeping among hundreds of children, many of them strangers, and all living in some degree of fear.
'awake long enough to be awed'
The night was beautiful, cool but not cold, and a gentle breeze was blowing. Although the sky was cloudy when I first fell asleep, I awoke at 4 to a cloudless, star-filled expanse of sky. Coming from Atlanta, sleeping under the stars is a bit of a novelty to me, so I stayed awake long enough to be awed before I drifted off again.
When I woke up a few hours later, I was able to enjoy a beautiful sunrise over the mountains before going back to my room to shower before my first class. It was a far cry from the first night I spent Prayerfully Sleeping.
Three weeks ago, it rained from 1:30 in the morning until 7 and I woke up to a soaking sleeping bag. Today I’ve caught myself yawning many times and thinking longingly of my bed.
Was a night spent in solidarity with people I’ve never met worth it? I have no doubt that the experience was worth it, and I know where I’ll be next Tuesday night.
