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December 19, 2009 - Sleeping On A Bed Of Nails

by Father Edward L. Beck, C.P.

We’ve been hearing a lot about Stockholm in recent weeks. That’s where Tiger Wood’s wife is apparently looking to flee from her philandering spouse. Back to her home and far away from the glare of smashed Escalades and marital dreams. She may find a new craze sweeping her Nordic homeland since she was last there. The Nail Bed. Yep, the Swedes are now sleeping on nails and loving it. And the Christmas season is expected to convert even more pinch-loving sleepers. The bed’s a more moderate take on the Hindu wood and iron model. The Swedish one has instead small, hard plastic disks with sharp spikes. But, still, one person says that after lying on the mat you’re back looks like somebody picked at you with a fork. I can’t help but wonder what hazards rolling over must invite. Now, in spiritual circles this might not come as too much of a surprise. After all, we’re used to hair shirts and spiked chains as traditional vehicles of self-mortification. And the nails? Well, Christ endured them in a far more brutal fashion, right? But you have to wonder, what’s gotten into the more secular Swedes? Some are claiming that the bed cures everything from schizophrenia to migraines. Though most report salubrious effects on more common ailments such as sleep problems and dandruff. Now don’t ask me what nails have to do with flaky scalps. But I wonder if the nail bed isn’t tapping into a more suspicious spiritual notion that HARD IS BETTER. One yoga instructor said that it was quite painful at first but that after the adrenaline rush, you relax and feel nice again. Maybe there’s something to that, the relief after the pain. But still, I think that I’ll stick with my feather bed and high thread count sheets. There’s more than enough pain in life AWAKE if you ask me. Now, as for Tiger Woods, he might take a cue from his wife’s homeland craze. After all, sleeping on a bed of nails may be an improvement on the dog house he’s currently sleeping in.

To watch Father Beck give the above Reflection, click here.