Thursday, 29 March 2007

Procrastination Prayers

Tonight, as I am putting Tiernan to bed, we read books as do every night. And then we said prayers. We say the standard bedtime children's prayer, or at least a version of it.
The version I learned as a child, was:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take."

Tiernan was given a prayer duck by his Pop Pop when he was an infant. It is a plush duck, that when squeezed plays a recorded prayer. At first, I thought the Prayer Duck (The thing isn't offically called Prayer Duck, but we called it Prayer Duck and it stuck) was a bit creepy, but I came to accept and enjoy it as a way for a child to learn to say prayers. It is never to early to develop a spiritual child.
However, the Prayer Duck says a different version of the old Nightly standby. Prayer Duck says:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
The angels watch me through the night, until I wake in morning light."

Which I gotta say is much more happier outlook on life, than the one I was taught. Not so much death and soul taking, more watching and waking.
Now, Reagan also has a prayer toy. We haven't started saying prayers at night, but we will incorporate that into the bedtime routine in the next couple of months. And Reagan's prayer doll says yet another version of the old standby. Prayer Girl, for lack of a better name, says:

"Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep.
The angels watch me through the night, and keep me in the blessed sight."

Also, a much more rosier goodnight thought.
My problem with the new prayers, is that every time I say them with Tiernan, I say my death and soul taking version. I have to go back and resay the prayers, because the boy looks at me funny. And I don't want to scare him.
After we say the formal old standby prayer, we thank God for all the good things that we did that day, and ask him to look after everybody in the family.
At this point, Tiernan has seized the opportunity to extend his awake time, by naming everyone he's ever met. His friend Sam, and his brother Ryan, and their mommy. And his cousins Mark and Anthony. And his other cousins Patrick and Brendan, and all his classmates, Jasime, Jazzie, Joseph, Kevash, Martina, and Logan. And the guys that were at the house today removing the tree stumps in the back yard, and the little girl we met at the mall and her mommy, and the lady who sold us Reagan's new sneakers, etc....
I am not saying all these people don't need to be prayed for, but CSI is on at 9 p.m.

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