September 2010

One of those things we care a lot about here at Guideposts is praying for others.

Do you have a bedtime prayer? Throughout my childhood I said the one below (and the words are probably my own variation on the original). Here some other bedtime prayers to make for a good, peaceful sleep.

Jesus, tender shepherd, hear me,
Bless this little lamb tonight.
Through the darkness be down near me,
Keep me safe till morning light.
—Mary Duncan

“Give to everyone who begs from you…” Luke 6:30. There are some daily Bible verses I read and I wonder, “How am I ever going to do that?” Can’t I get some special dispensation?

This one popped up on my computer and I thought, “Okay, let me try.” That evening as I rushed to choir rehearsal, I passed a beggar sitting on the floor of the subway station. An older man with a cap on ground. Not a cent in it. “Try, Rick, just try,” I told myself. I dug into my pocket. “What do you need?” I asked the guy tentatively.

Not for nothing are these five prayers considered classics. They’ve been sung, prayed, memorized, memorialized, anthologized, read, pondered over and treasured for centuries. 

There’s a long wooden table that’s been a home for my prayers for over 25 years now. It’s in our conference room at Guideposts and on Monday mornings a group of us in the New York office gather around it and read prayer requests sent  in from the web and by mail. 

Worried about what happens to your kids’ faith when away at college? My youngest is back in school and I’m not fretting about his spiritual growth even if he is on an “anything goes” sort of campus that forgot its church affiliation years ago.

First of all, there’s always exam time. Face the experience of a really grueling final in something like orgo chemistry—for me it was economics—and you’ll discover prayer. Real fast.