When the Night Does Not Cool
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“He makes the dawn break; He makes the night for rest.” —The Qur’an 6:96
Nearly one hundred million Americans have experienced heat advisories during this recent heat wave.1 In many cities, nighttime temperatures have stayed close to 80 degrees. The air that used to cool us after sunset now keeps the heat around us.
Across much of the United States, nighttime temperatures are going up faster than daytime ones. Since 1975, the average summer nighttime low in the lower 48 states has risen more than the average daytime high. This is one of the clearest signs of a warming climate.
The risks go beyond just affecting our sleep. Plants collect energy from sunlight, but they also breathe. When nights stay warm, this breathing speeds up. They use more of the sugars they made during the day just to keep going.2 That leaves less for their roots, fruit, and seeds.
Animals in hot places depend on the coolness of night. Foxes, owls, bats, rodents, insects, and others hide underground, in trees, or under shelter until it gets cooler. Darkness lets them hunt, find food, drink, travel, and mate.3 As nights get warmer, their time to live and thrive shrinks.
Wildfires used to calm down after sunset when it got cooler and more humid. Now, they often keep burning all night. This is more than just a change in the weather. We are seeing an old boundary fade away.
The cultural critic Jonathan Crary has written about the rise of a “24/7” world, where the economy runs on nonstop production, consumption, watching, and being available. In this world, every hour is used for business. Stores stay open. Markets keep trading. Servers handle transactions. Screens tempt us with one more purchase, one more email, one more show, or one more argument. Sleep turns into a problem because people who are sleeping don’t produce or consume much.
Nature has always pushed back against this nonstop way of living. Darkness stops things. Winter stops things. Empty fields stop things. Migration, pregnancy, shedding, hibernation, and sleep all slow down productivity. Life thrives because of these cycles of giving and taking.
But our society is built on avoiding these natural pauses. We take from the soil without giving it time to heal. We use water faster than it can be replaced. We expect people to work hard and see tiredness as a weakness. We burn old forests and ancient life so our machines can keep running without pause. Now, even the night is getting warmer.
The Qur’an says that God “makes the night for rest.” In Jewish teaching, Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel called the Sabbath “a palace in time.”4 Both traditions show that sacredness is not just in what we create or achieve. Holiness is also found in taking a break.
This goes beyond simple self-care. If the Sabbath only helps us recover for another week of hard work, nothing really changes. True sacred rest stops the cycle. It says a worker is more than what she produces, land is more than what it gives, an animal is more than a resource, and darkness matters even if no one can profit from it.
Of course, not everyone has the same chance to rest. Some people sleep in air-conditioned homes, while others pick crops, deliver packages, guard prisons, fix power lines, or stay awake worrying if they can pay for another night of cooling. Areas with fewer trees get hotter. Often, those who did the least to cause climate change are the ones who suffer the most.
Our tired minds are part of this same system of taking without giving back. Many of us feel like we can never fully disconnect. News and politics reach us on our phones before we even get out of bed. Work interrupts our grief. Quiet moments are filled with alerts. We stay emotionally on edge long after we can do anything about it.
Over time, we lose the inner calm we need for reflection, kindness, and creativity.
Warmer nights reveal the emptiness in a world that sees every limit as something to beat. But those limits are still there. People break down. Crops die. Animals lose the time they need to survive. Fires keep burning after dark.
Night has never been just empty hours. It has always been a safe space built into the rhythm of the Earth.
What will happen to us if that safe space disappears? And who might we become if we choose to protect it?
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where in your life have you become so accustomed to strain that you no longer recognize your need for recovery?
Who in your community is least protected from extreme heat, exhaustion, or economic insecurity?
What do the needs of plants and animals teach you about the limits shared by all living beings?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For The Cool of Evening
Holy One, You formed a world of movement and rest, sunlight and shadow, labor and renewal. We pray for every being waiting for the heat to break: the elder beside an open window, the worker beneath the afternoon sun, the fox hidden in its den, the field spending its strength through the night. Cool the fever of our planet and the fever within our spirits. Teach us to honor the limits of every body. Make us attentive to those denied shelter and rest. Guide us toward ways of living that allow the Earth and all her creatures to breathe again. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Receiving the Night
Tonight, step outside after sunset. Leave your phone indoors. Notice whether the air has cooled and where the day’s heat remains…in the pavement, the walls, the soil, or your own body.
Listen for the beings beginning their nighttime lives. Look at the trees and plants resting in the darkness. Take several slow breaths and allow yourself to belong to this community of creatures.
Then consider one practical way you could offer relief during this season: checking on a neighbor, putting out clean water for wildlife where appropriate, supporting a local cooling center, advocating for worker heat protections, planting a shade tree, or reducing unnecessary energy use.
Let the night remind you that rest is a gift meant to be shared.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
My team and I launched a new experiment we are calling “The Commons.” It’s an online space centered around communities of practice: groups of people who share a common concern, set of problems, or passion for a topic, and deepen their knowledge and expertise by interacting on an ongoing basis. Join the community here.
August 18 - September 1, 2026, 12:30-1:30pmET - Book Club in The Commons - FREE - We are reading our next book, “I Eat The Stars” by Sarah Wilson. We will meet each Tuesday for 6 weeks. It’s such great fun. I hope you will be a part. All are welcome! RSVP HERE.
August 20, 2026, 7-8:45pm ET - I will be joining Jackie Sussman for an online session on practicing eidetics as a part of our “Reclaiming the Power of Imagination” monthly series. Eidetic Imagery is a powerful tool for pastors, denominational leaders, coaches, and spiritual directors working with others, and for individuals seeking deeper integration and healing in their own lives. Jackie is a psychotherapist, author, and leading expert in Eidetic Image Psychology, and has spent over forty years helping leaders and individuals unlock creativity, uncover hidden strengths, and move through limiting patterns. During this session, she will lead a live Eidetic process shaped by mythic imagery, offering a direct experience of the work. REGISTER HERE.
September 8, 2026, 12:30 - 1:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT with NY Times Best-Selling author and journalist, Sarah Wilson!!! Sarah has just published her latest book I Eat The Stars: How to Live Fully and Beautifully in a Collapsing World. Join us for this one hour conversation where we will talk with Sarah about how we face collapse, how we find beauty and who we can become in these challenging times. Scholarships are available. REGISTER HERE.
September 8, 2026, 7-9pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - I’ll be hosting a powerful online gathering on The Black Madonna: Sacred Wisdom for a World in Crisis with Matthew Fox, Alessandra Belloni, and Christena Cleveland. We will explore the Black Madonna as a symbol of resilience, liberation, sacred feminine wisdom, and healing in a fractured world through conversation, story, music, and spiritual reflection. If you feel drawn toward a deeper encounter with the Divine Feminine and the ancient traditions that continue to nourish movements for justice and wholeness, I hope you’ll join us. Learn more and REGISTER HERE.
September 14, 7-8:30pm ET ONLINE EVENT - I’m delighted to share that Dr. Margaret Wheatley is releasing a newly updated edition of her beloved book Perseverance: A Companion for the Journey this October. Written for those committed to serving the world with compassion in difficult times, the book offers daily wisdom and practical guidance for navigating grief, anger, exhaustion, and uncertainty while remaining rooted in love, courage, and presence. Meg and I will be in conversation to explore what perseverance looks like in this moment of history and how we can sustain ourselves for the long work ahead. I hope you’ll join us for what promises to be a deeply meaningful conversation. REGISTER HERE.
October 6, 2026 - 7-8:30pm ET, ONLINE EVENT - Matthew Fox and I are teaming up again to launch a series called Journeying with the Mystics. The mystics have always emerged in times of uncertainty. They appear when old certainties are crumbling, when institutions no longer provide easy answers, and when people find themselves longing for a deeper experience of the Sacred. Join us for an 18-session exploration of the teachings of St. John of the Cross, Thomas Merton, Hildegard of Bingen, Kabir and Rumi, Meister Eckhart and more. This is more than a lecture series. It is an invitation into a living spiritual journey. REGISTER for the first session HERE!
October 18-21, 2026 - PREACH! 2026 Conference- I’ll be co-hosting PREACH in Minneapolis with Church Anew, a new gathering for preachers, storytellers, worship leaders, and spiritual communicators navigating what it means to speak with clarity, compassion, and courage in a changing world. If you’ve sensed that the preaching moment has changed and are longing for thoughtful community and renewed imagination for this work, I hope you’ll join us.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
I’m delighted to celebrate the upcoming release of Wisdom Church: Abundant Life for Aging Congregations by my colleague, Rev. Dr. Anna Hall. Rather than seeing aging congregations as communities in decline, Anna invites us to recognize them as communities rich with wisdom, purpose, and possibility. Her book offers a hopeful vision for moving beyond anxiety about the future and embracing the unique gifts of older adults as beloved children of God. If your congregation is navigating these questions, this is a resource well worth reading. You can preorder the Kindle edition now, with delivery on August 17: https://www.amazon.com/Wisdom-Church-Abundant-Aging-Congregations-ebook/dp/B0HBXGYTWC
Every Monday, 12pm ET - ONLINE WRITING GROUP - My dear friend, Meryl Marshall-Daniels, is leading a writing group open to all. This is a simple and spacious writing circle for people who want time to listen inwardly and put words on the page without overthinking, performing, or polishing. Meryl offers a prompt designed to invite reflection, imagination, and attunement to what is already alive within you. The practice honors writing as a way of listening, of letting images, memories, questions, and insights surface in their own time. Learn more here.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
https://apnews.com/article/db329527d454636ca0140b14c17358f3
https://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publication/?seqNo115=416396
https://home.nps.gov/crmo/learn/nature/animals.htm
Abraham Joshua Heschel, The Sabbath: Its Meaning for Modern Man (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005), 15.
Good morning, Rev. Cameron and thank you for reminding us that rest is just as essential as work. What does Jesus say? "For the night cometh when no one can work." Perhaps a slight tense change is in order: "For the night cometh when no one SHOULD work." Have a restful day.