shift work

there are many new studies that suggest that working the night shift can adversely affect the health of nurses and other individuals who work in the dark hours of the night. while working nights obviously interrupts normal sleep patterns (which genious figured that one out, right?), the lack of sleep and interruption in circadian rhythms can make us dislike our jobs, at increased risk for depression, and is a "probable carcinogen," which places it in the same category as asbestos and cigarettes. one article i viewed stated that the effects of night shift on a body were the same as smoking a pack of cigarettes per day. now, i am not sure i believe that, but they do relate the increased risk of cancer to the disruption of melatonin secretion. anyway, all of this is to say that night shift can take a toll on the body.

do you know what i realized the other day? because i work night shift, i have seen more sunrises than most. it is so difficult to get up early enough to watch a sunrise, but i am able to see them while at work or driving home. here in the mountians, they are quite beautiful. the other morning, while the moon was just past full, it was still up as the sun was rising. i could not see the sun from my back porch, but you can see it shining on the mountain, as well as the moon in the sky on its way down. i realized that if i did not work night shift, i would miss many of God's gifts and visual displays of His Creation.



3 When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, 4 what is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? -Psalm 8: 3-4