When I was a child, my mother or father said prayers with me every night. Most of the time it was the Lord’s Prayer. As I got older I added more personal, more extemporaneous flourishes to the prayer. But nighttime is no longer my most creative time. I can fall asleep in mid-sentence and wake up in the morning with the feeling I’ve left something undone.
Today a friend suggested a short nightly inventory. ”Name three things you are grateful for and one thing you need to work on.” It sounds like a good plan. I’ll try it for a while. If I still fall asleep, I’ll go back to my default: “Goodnight, God.” It’s what I say to my other friends and loved ones at the end of the day. It’s probably okay with God, too.
