So I’ll throw out into cyberspace a piece of my personal life, something I have always meant to share with the world. It’s the prayer that I wrote for my children to say at bedtime. I was quite disgruntled with the one I learned as a young Catholic. It goes like this, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take.”
First of all, I’m doing to DIE in my sleep? Then, I’m actually asking for someone to take my SOUL? I didn’t really understand that as a small child. It just sounded scary. And I think it gave my sister a lifelong fear of death.
So I felt that I could improve upon the old prayer, keeping just the first line, which seemed accurate enough. I wanted it to be meaningful to a child. I wrote the new prayer in 1996, while pregnant with my daughter, Natalie, then added the last few lines in 2002, when I was putting it to music and illustrating it for my son, Brian’s, second birthday. I wrote a tune for it that has a six-note range, in keeping with my vocal range! If you want the copy of the music and illustration, write to me. I’ll make Robert put it up on the Internet if enough people do. But for now, here are the words, the part I care about the most.
My Prayer
Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray that God watch over me.
Help me be strong, help me be good,
Help me treat others the way I should.
I thank You for the things I have:
The bread on my table, my mom and dad.
Watch over me, help me to see,
So many good things can start with me.
I'd enjoy seeing the music for your prayer. Hope your music life gets better quickly!
The prayer you wrote is beautiful. I especially like the last line. Please have Robert post the melody and picture.
I think that you'll feel better when you return to the violin. It will be like returning to an old love.
Best wishes,
Pauline
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