You either have to laugh or cry. I am laughing. When you were a kid what prayer did you pray at bedtime?

Comedian Bill Cosby really made me laugh when he used the night time prayer that many parents teach their children as part of his comedy act. Let me see if I can say this right.

Bill: When I was a kid I was taught to pray before going to bed.
“Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake…” Oh no, I’m not going to sleep tonight.

It went something like that. I laughed so hard I cried because I never understood why anyone wanted to face the prospect of death. When you are eight years old you do not want to think about death. It comes as a thief in the night… along with those monsters that hide under the bed and grab your arms if you do not keep them safely tucked under the covers.

My wife was telling me when she prayed that prayer it came out something like this.
Ifahshodye. All one word which I am sure was her minds way of simply not understanding the concept that death could come while she was asleep. One must wonder what the people who taught their children this prayer was thinking. Was it supposed to be comforting? I suppose they thought so but the average eight year old would probably disagree.

We wanted to think we were going to live forever. Well, I still like the thought. But today I know these old bones are simply going to wear out so I am looking forward to a new body... one that will not know pain. That is my faith.

As a child I preferred songs like “Jesus loves the little children” or “Jesus loves me.” My mother’s favorite gospel song was, “The meeting in the air.” I trust I will meet her there. For those of you who do not know this song it goes something like this.

“There is going to be a meeting in the air in the sweet, sweet bye and bye. I am going to meet you… to meet you over there in that land beyond the sky. Such singing you will hear… never heard by mortal ear, shall be glorious I do declare… and God’s own son will be the leading on in that meeting in the air.”

That is uplifting and it gives hope. But, “If I should die before I wake?” I still think that is not the prayer for an eight year old. I wonder… what do you teach your kids?