The Hug

The Hug

It was your birthday, we had drunk and dined

Half of the night with our old friend

Who'd showed us in the end

To a bed I reached in one drunk stride.

Already I lay snug,

And drowsy with the wine dozed on one side.

I dozed, I slept. My sleep broke on a hug,

Suddenly, from behind,

In which the full lengths of our bodies pressed:

Your instep to my heel,

My shoulder-blades against your chest.

It was not sex, but I could feel

The whole strength of your body set,

Or braced, to mine,

And locking me to you

As if we were still twenty-two

When our grand passion had not yet

Become familial.

My quick sleep had deleted all

Of intervening time and place.

I only knew

The stay of your secure firm dry embrace.

THOM GUNN

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ

Holy Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Saint John 21:1-19. 

Jesus revealed himself again to his disciples at the Sea of Tiberias. He revealed himself in this way. Together were Simon Peter, Thomas called Didymus, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, Zebedee's sons, and two others of his disciples.

Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We also will come with you." So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing. When it was already dawn, Jesus was standing on the shore; but the disciples did not realize that it was Jesus. 

Jesus said to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" They answered him, "No."  So he said to them, "Cast the net over the right side of the boat and you will find something." So they cast it, and were not able to pull it in because of the number of fish.

So the disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, "It is the Lord." When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he tucked in his garment, for he was lightly clad, and jumped into the sea. 

The other disciples came in the boat, for they were not far from shore, only about a hundred yards, dragging the net with the fish.  When they climbed out on shore, they saw a charcoal fire with fish on it and bread. Jesus said to them, "Bring some of the fish you just caught." 

So Simon Peter went over and dragged the net ashore full of one hundred fifty-three large fish. Even though there were so many, the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come, have breakfast." And none of the disciples dared to ask him, "Who are you?" because they realized it was the Lord.

Jesus came over and took the bread and gave it to them, and in like manner the fish.  This was now the third time Jesus was revealed to his disciples after being raised from the dead.

When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Feed my lambs."

He then said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He said to him, "Tend my sheep."  He said to him the third time, "Simon, son of John, do you love me?" Peter was distressed that he had said to him a third time, "Do you love me?" and he said to him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you." (Jesus) said to him, "Feed my sheep. 

Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." He said this signifying by what kind of death he would glorify God. And when he had said this, he said to him, "Follow me." 

Legs

Of well-fed babies activate
Digestive juices, yet I'm no cannibal.
It is my metaphysical teeth that wait
Impatiently to prove those goodies edible.
The pink or creamy bonelessness, as soft
As dough or mashed potato, does not show
A hint of how each pair of limbs will grow.
Schoolboys' are badged with scabs and starred with scars,
Their sisters', in white ankle-socks, possess
No calves as yet. They will, and when they do
Another kind of hunger will distress
Quite painfully, but pleasurably too.
Those lovely double stalks of girls give me
So much delight: the brown expensive ones,
Like fine twin creatures of rare pedigree,
Seem independent of their owners, so
Much themselves are they. Even the plain
Or downright ugly, the veined and cruelly blotched
That look like marble badly stained, I've watched
With pity and revulsion, yet something more -
A wonder at the variousness of things
Which share a name: the podgy oatmeal knees
Beneath the kilt, the muscled double weapons above boots,
Eloquence of dancers', suffering of chars',
The wiry goatish, the long and smooth as milk -
The joy when these embrace like arms and cling!
O human legs, whose strangenesses I sing,
You more than please, though pleasure you have brought me,
And there are often times when you transport me.

VERNON SCANNELL

Sleep Clock

There is an underlying mechanism, called the sleep clock, which consists of a number of variables in your body that tell it when to feel tired, and when to feel awake. It also controls how deep you sleep, and how long you sleep.

Circadian rhythm

The first, and most important part of your sleep clock is your body temperature rhythm. It’s also known as a circadian rhythm.

Contrary to what most of us are taught in grade 5 science class, our body temperature doesn't stay at a constant 98.6º Fahrenheit (37º Celsius). Our body temperature actually has a specific rhythm to it. It rises and drops as the hours of the day progress. The difference in body temperature is about 3º Fahrenheit (2º Celsius). This periodic rise and drop in body temperature tells our mind when to feel tired and when to feel more awake. As body temperature rises, we tend to feel more awake and our brain waves are usually higher. As body temperature drops, we tend to feel more lethargic, tired, and lazy - this is a big cue for our minds to lower brain waves and enter Stage 1 sleep.

There is a slight “drop” of body temperature during the mid afternoon. This is a usual mid-afternoon body temperature slump. You may have noticed, at some point in your life, that you usually feel an urge to sleep or take a nap during the afternoon. This is completely natural, and sometimes the pressure to sleep during the afternoon is as strong as the pressure at night! (Although most of us chose a drug of choice such as caffeine to combat this body slump).

Because of the demands our society puts on us, such as work, children, and social life, most of us can't sleep at this time. As we'll explore later on, nature actually intended for us to have a nap at this time - we'll talk about the science of naps in detail.

Generally, body temperature begins to rise in the early morning hours, drops sometime during the afternoon, then begins to rise until the early hours of the evening. It's at this time that we have “peak performance” body temperature, most people are most active during the early evening hours, this is where body temperature is the highest. Afterwards, body temperature drops and reaches its lowest point at around 4 am.

If your body temperature rhythm is too flat (doesn't rise or drop low enough), or if it's messed up in any other way, chances are you will experience sleep difficulties. It will be difficult for you to sleep deeply.

It's because of the body temperature rhythm that most of us feel sleepy, at precisely the same time every night. It's also why some people can wake up without an alarm clock at precisely the same time every morning. Usually, your body temperature rhythm will follow the same pattern regardless of when you fall asleep. For instance if you've been waking up at 7 AM all your life, this means your body temperature begins to rise at this time. It won't matter if you fall asleep at 11 PM, 12 AM, or 1 AM, your body temperature will rise at 7 AM, and you will feel sleepy at the same time you always did the next day. Unless you take the proper actions to optimize your body temperature, it will usually return to the same pattern.

This is the primary reason why jet lag happens. When you travel really quickly across several time zones, your body may be in a different time zone, but your temperature rhythm is still following the pattern it did before! So if you normally live in Florida, and you take a flight to California; if it's 8 PM in California, your body will still think it's 11 PM, based on your temperature rhythm. As you see, your temperature rhythm really acts as an internal “clock”. Your body temperature rhythm can adjust to a new time zone, or a new sleeping pattern, and this may take from a few days to up to several weeks! This is why trans-continental jet lag is so severe for some people.

Your body temperature rhythm is perhaps the most important concept to grasp about your inner sleep clock. It has a huge impact on how you sleep, and how you function during the day. So what affects your body temperature rhythm? And how could someone possibly “damage” their body temperature rhythm?