It's 3:30 a.m.  Been lying awake for half an hour now.  Sleep is an elusive notion.  Not contending with my frequent friend, insomnia, tonight.  Have the added benefit of living in Cameroon.  You see, while noise pollution laws are on the books (surely put there under the influence of some Western nation or another) they are rarely, if ever enforced.  And so we have the opportunity of enjoying all special events right along with the neighbors.  These include paying the bride price, the rare birthday party, weddings, funerals, death celebrations, and other events.  One must have music.  Lots of music.  Very loud music.  No, you're not thinking LOUD enough!  Music that rumbles through the night.  Penetrates closed shutters and equally tightly closed windows.  Music that is several notches too loud inside our bedroom.  Music that shakes the fillings out of our teeth.  Music that begins around 8 p.m. and will continue unabated until 5 or 6 a.m.  Music that makes us pray that our guests here at Shiloh, a spiritual retreat center, are finding a way to sleep in-spite of it all.

The really good news is that special events do not occur every Friday night.  Not even every month.  They come along without warning at infrequent intervals, for which we are grateful.  And yes, we have actually learned how to snatch a handful of hours of sleep in-spite of the noise.  It's just now, during the wee hours of the morning, when we must find creative ways to get back to sleep.  Listening to a sermon is a good idea.  That way, even if our bodies are not renewed with adequate sleep, at least our souls are refreshed.