I wonder how well you are sleeping at the moment? I only enquire because last night I woke up in the middle of the night and I couldn’t, for some reason, get back to sleep.

As I lay there all I could hear was, to borrow the title of a famous song, the ‘Sound of Silence’.

Not a car drove past. Not even the number 26 night bus that trundles through Port Seton on an hourly basis.

Was it the silence that was keeping me awake? Or was it the fact that, by this time, my mind was racing ahead to the things that I had to do the next day?

In these recent months, one of the most common things to hear people say is that their sleeping pattern isn’t what it once was.

I even Googled it and came across an article from a popular news website in which those interviewed recounted how the events of recent months had affected their ability to sleep.

It seems that much of this has been caused by the changes to our daily routine.

As we have been spending more time at home than usual, we’re not expending the same energy as we do when times are more ‘normal’.

Even sunny days, when we would normally go out and soak up the sun, are often spent inside the coolness of our homes.

And, if we are honest, we probably need to add into the mix a certain measure of anxiety.

It is not easy to hear even the improving facts and figures that are circulated each day, nor to be reminded that, whilst things might be looking up, such a situation relies on our continued responsible behaviour.

As I lay awake, which included thinking about what I would put into this column that you are now reading, I was reminded of the Psalmist in the Old Testament who confesses that sometimes he too lies awake at night, his mind buzzing around from here to there.

So, what does he do when he cannot sleep?

Psalm 63 and verse 6: “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.”

He turns his attention to God. Something worth considering as we too doze on and off in the wee small hours.