Since children today, more than ever before, need comfort and security in their lives, nothing -- no thing -- is more important than to have girls and boys engage in prayer.
All children, even the youngest child, can learn God is always there for them -- at anytime -- from the moment they wake up in the morning, throughout the day as they engage in play outside and inside the home, as they share mealtimes, right up until they are tucked in bed to fall asleep at night, and even after that -- through dream.
Children must know they can pray about whatever is on their minds. Whether they are happy, sad, angry, frightened or deeply concerned over something, they can quickly learn to turn to prayer.
Youth today grow up in an oft-time tough world. They are confronted with a great deal of negative news via our media -- from radio and television to a variety of technological devices. Prayer can become a comforting time when all of the world problems can be turned off, when children can feel calm and at peace.
We can teach children that prayer is a way of saying 'thank you' for the multitude of everyday things they experience in life -- for friends, for the beauty of nature, for siblings, parents, grandparents, for the food we eat.
They can also learn that prayers need not be long. A simple 4-6-8-10- line verse can say a great deal which is why so many prayers for the young are in poetic format.
Hear My Prayer, is a book for today's youth. It contains simple, easy-to-read, easy-to-remember selections to involve boys and girls in everyday activities. In collecting the verse I wanted to emphasize the innocence of childhood. Spending time with very young children certainly brings out pure and simple thoughts such as:
BUSY
Dear God:
You now how busy
I must be today,
If I forget you,
Please
Do not forget me.
Sorting through hundreds of prayers, I couldn't find one connecting children with grandparents, people who are of utmost importance in children's lives. My own sister, grandmother to six, reminded me of this omission while I was compiling Hear My Prayer. I could not resist writing:
YOUR TOUCH
Dear Lord,
You touch us all--
Doctors, nurses,
Firefighters,
Teachers, crossing guards,
Window washers, writers.
Yet always remember
To give your touch
To Grandma and Grandpa
Who I love so much.
A favorite verse of mine, as well as a beloved one for many, written eons ago by an anonymous writer, says so much about linking children and prayer together:
ALL THOSE I LOVE
God bless all those that I love.
God bless all those that love me.
God bless all those
That love those I love.
And all those that love those
That love me.
Prayer is the mighty voice of children. Let them be heard.
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Katherine Marshall: From Fes with Love: Bridging Cultural Divides with Music, Art, and Dialogue
Kate Fridkis: Interfaith Families: Can You Be Jewish and Christian at the Same Time?
Valerie Tarico: Losing Your Religion? How to Talk to Your Kids
Because our increasingly plutocratic society won't be. The surplus population needs to be kept docile; so let 'em eat prayers...
At first I tried to convince him otherwise. He had attended Cathoilic schools for most of his life and we attended mass together consistently. His mother was a strong Catholic who adorned the house with many icons and also regularly attended mass. So, there was no reason for him to dispute that there was a god; only his own reasoning.
His strength of resolve in this matter finally convinced me. I'm all the better for it.
Lesson learned: Sometimes chldren are better at discerning a scam than adults and rather than trying to train them in our myths and superstitions, we should learn from them.
"All children, even the youngest child, can learn God is always there for them -- at anytime -- from the moment they wake up in the morning, throughout the day as they engage in play outside and inside the home, as they share mealtimes, right up until they are tucked in bed to fall asleep at night, and even after that -- through dream."
Telling children this is deceitful, especially as they are unlikely to reason or rationalize why it is that their friend died of leukemia or an accident, when God is meant to be "there for them." Perhaps when they get older and they hear on the news that 27 million children die on the planet every year, they might ask the question - but are likely to be fed pathetic platitudes by their parents, pastors or teachers about how "God wanted them to be with him," (Suffer little children to come unto me) or some such nonsense.
As Delilah above says, you could end up crippling them. Conditioning children into believing myths about something for which there is not a shred of evidence, is the same as brainwashing.
Syntax said: "That is so exactly what it means to love God."
Hardly a Damascene moment for me there.
Syntax, a day or so ago you suggested I should try harder to join the intellectuals amongst us. I fear you must try harder yourself.
This is hardly an intellectual assertion. EstablishiÂng blind faith and fear and distrust of reality is not good advice. Some reality should be feared and distrusted, but much can be rejoiced in, and looked forward to. It's real and tangible as opposed to loving a sky fairy who only exists in a flawed book and inside your head.
I have to disagree with you, on pretty much every point you are attempting to make. In most part because that is something a child is taught. Yes you can claim that
"All children, even the youngest child, can learn God is always there for them -- at anytime -- from the moment they wake up in the morning, throughout the day as they engage in play outside and inside the home, as they share mealtimes, right up until they are tucked in bed to fall asleep at night, and even after that -- through dream."
Yet who is responsible for teaching them this? Someone who was taught that exact same thing as a child, who learned it from their parents who were possibly forced to learn it out of life or death, who had been chosen to go and teach it by a King, who learned it from a Book, that was written by a somebody, who learned it from an angel, or a bush or a star, and thus continuing on until the someone teaches them about individuality and free will.
Free Will, Love,& Reason should be taught long before personal "beliefs" should be given to an innocent minded child.
Therefore laying the foundation from which a child has the inalienable right to choose, for themselves. Then so be it if they choose to pray, to a God/ Goddess, Luck, Murphy, Karma, Science, etc.
Free Will and Choice.
"establishing justice" of the constitution is the right action and righteousness Christ, Buddha, Krishna taught us all. It cannot be eaten, but it is the bread we must live on.
Frankly, I believe God answered many of my childhood prayers. I think a prayer can be something as simple as, God, please help me or please be my friend.
But it will confuse, frustrate and make hard a life of simply Being which is far more important than the Rich trickling down crumbs to the worker. Leaving him all the debt, low wages and lack of work for all the sweat and genius he provides to industry to feed his family and shelter them.
But the children are the future and I pray for a happy, healthy, friendly and spiritual life for them. No one of academic, work or entrepreneurial achievement without reward for their effort.
Today my prayers go out for those in Cairo who want decent lives.
This should not be referred to as learning.
This is the WORD and should be taught, but nicely and warmly is fine, but picking up the Cross for righteousness is the DEED of right action is like "establishing justice" of the Constitution itself.
Many are told and even read over what that means. Then twist the words for CASH and Profit creating misery and unhappiness of injustice and non-righteousness
But prayer works! I know. I pray to a bag of flour. I kneel before my cupboard and ask it for help. I don't worship it, of course, that would be silly. It's just a bag of flour.
But it answers my prayers. If I ask for money to help pay the bills I will get an answer. If the answer is yes, I get money from somewhere - a customer pays me or I get more work. If the answer is maybe or wait it may take a while, but I get the money. If the answer is no, then I get nothing. Isn't that how it works for you?
For every old grandma in an intensive care ward who recovers when prayed for, there are a hundred who just die no matter how much you pray. Every airline passenger on 9/11 was praying - but it didn't do them much good, did it? The "other" prayers for destruction won the day.
When you're feeling completely helpless in the face of adversity, and there seems to be not one thing that you can do to ameliorate the situation, prayer can make you feel as if you're actually doing something constructive. But the rate of success isn't very good.
Isn't that how it works for you?
But one must judge the tree by the fruit it bares. Not intellectual discussions, but practice of Prayer and spiritual practices
Yet, they do not teach DEED and GRACE which is what all should know. Not saying GOD the father, son and holy ghost and preaching and eye for an eye of the Old Testament instead of the WORD of GOD as taught by Christ in the "red letters" and Romans of the New Testament.