Day 143: More than a Slogan: A Good Night Prayer and Blessing from Childhood that Comes Back Unbidden 76 Years Later

My maternal grandparents bought the PRAYERS FOR CHILDREN, Little Golden Book for me when I was two.  My parents read one or more prayers with me every evening. One of those prayers has sustained me and comforted me at many times of adult conflict in my life. That prayer that pops up or oozes out of my sub-conscious mind over and over through the years is the classic:

“Now I lay me down to sleep, 

I pray Dear Lord (God-making it an Interfaith prayer) my soul to keep.

If I should die before I wake,

I pray Dear Lord (God) my soul to take.”

https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/prayers-for-children-50th-anniversary-edition/7902095/?mkwid=ssmjRSB4w%7cdc&pcrid=70112859672&pkw=&pmt=&plc=

I am continuing to remember and contemplate the affirmations, slogans, and in this case prayers that became pockets of strength for living a happy and contented life.