4. That the notion commonly and conscientiously received by very
excellent people, that wakeful nights can and should be spent in prayer,
religious meditation, and general spiritual growth, is all they know
about it. Hours of the extremest bodily and mental exhaustion, when
every nerve is quivering as if laid bare, and the surface of the brain
burning and whirling to agony, with the reins of control let loose on
every rebellious and every senseless thought, are not the times most
likely to be chosen for the purest communion with God. To be sure. King
David "remembered Him upon his bed, and meditated upon Him in the
night-watches." Keturah does not undertake to contradict Scripture, but
she has come to the conclusion that David was either a _very_ good man,
or he didn't lie awake very often.
But, over and above all, _haec fabula docet_:
5. That people who can sleep when they want to should keep Thanksgiving
every day in the year.