Rise and Shine!
One of the fastest ways to be discharged from the military is having a non-disclosed medical issue. Individuals who decide to enter the armed forces report to their closest Military Entrance Processing Station (MEPS). At MEPS, medical personnel will evaluate recruits on their mental and physical fitness to join a military branch. This process involves an in-depth medical evaluation, checking eyesight, joints, cardiac functions, and any possible motor issues. However, there is one area that they can’t check and can go unnoticed until a recruit arrives at their basic training station. This condition affects about 3% of adults, but it is far more prevalent in children, affecting about 17%. So what is the reason for immediate discharge? Somnambulism knew as sleepwalking. Most people grow out of this condition as they grow, but it is easy to see why it is detrimental to the armed services. It would be unfortunate and dangerous for an individual to sleepwalk in a combat environment. And although it might not even seem like a big deal in civilian life, it would have dire consequences on the battlefield. Therefore, once an individual is diagnosed with somnambulism, they are immediately discharged from service.
Before this diagnosis, a person might not even know they sleepwalk. However, cramming 60 people into an open bay barracks and physically exhausting the recruits leads to the right circumstances for this disorder to be noticed. Monitoring sleeping habits was one of the duties of the nightshift of Charge of Quarters (CQ) to see if anyone was waking up and wandering around.
Sleepwalking in the military makes me think of two verses regarding our Christian walk. The first comes from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, the infamous log and speck passage.
Matthew 7:3-5
“Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”
We can only notice these circumstances when we live in an intimate community with each other. You must know someone well to see a speck in their eye. Like sleepwalking, you must be in a tight-knit group before someone else can notice something like this. A hermit living alone in the mountains might never know they have a problem like sleepwalking. However, we all have specks or even logs, and living in proximity to others can address these hidden obstacles. Unfortunately, many people want to avoid this scrutiny and would rather not know or hide that they have internal struggles. This leads me to my second thought about sleepwalking.
Ephesians 5:8-16
“Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), 10 and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret. 13 But when anything is exposed by the light, it becomes visible, 14 for anything that becomes visible is light. Therefore it says, “Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” 15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.”
This passage instructs us to walk as children of light, meaning we don’t choose to bury or avoid our issues. Instead, we want to expose them to the light. We don’t purposely hide our hang-ups, but we want to use our time wisely to bring Christ to the world. And we cannot do that if we are living halfway in secret. So, I urge you today to Rise and Shine!