Prayers for kids, if you must, but not this one

6 thoughts on “Prayers for kids, if you must, but not this one”

  1. Ewww, you are right- never thought about just not saying the prayer – it is creepy. Scary to a kid and creepy. I never learned that one as a child thankfully.
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    Maybe they got smart and phased it out before you came along.

  2. I sing Shape Note (Sacred Harp) music – the old-time hymns that were and are still sung in this country from the 1700s on. It’s being revived even among us northerners. Anyone, one of the things I’ve noticed is how many of the hymns that are geared for young people are equally horrifying. I put this in perspective by remembering that these hymns were often written in the 1700-1800s when life was hard, disease was prevalent, and 1 in 5 children died before he/she was 5 years old. Death, and early death at that, was a reality then as it still is in many parts of the world. I wonder if children at the time such hymns and the above prayer were as traumatized by them as we are now? I suspect perhaps not as much as we were – maybe it was a comfort to know that the Lord would take care of one’s soul and guide the soul to God’s care and love.
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    Looking back, I’m not sure I even thought about what the words meant when I was a kid. It was just one of those little rote memorized things you repeat because someone taught you to. But then, that’s how religion indoctrinates each new generation. As the song says, “you’ve got to be carefully taught.”

  3. The better version of the prayer is…Now I lay me down to sleep I pray the lord my soul to keep, May angels watch me through the night and keep me in their blessed sight.
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    Thank you! I hadn’t heard that, and it’s SO much better!

  4. At the end of the day
    I’m grateful to the Lord.

    Should I not see another day,
    the Lord has taken me away.
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    Another good alternative. Thanks.

  5. We said a prayer my mom made up, that thanked God for the day, asked for blessings for each person we named and those we forgot to name, and for sweet dreams.

    When praying with our girls, we ask for sweet dreams and a good night’s sleep.

    Amen.

... and that's my two cents