As a child, my parents would make me have my "quiet time" with God every morning. Quiet times meant that I was to sit on their bed and read from my Bible and my "God and Me" ( a book that had exercises and notes for each day to make Bible reading fun). After the Bible reading, was praying.
Every morning, my mother would come and lug me out of bed with a glass of milk (ugh!) and after I finished brushing my teeth (which she said, would wake me up) I had to go for my quiet time. Now, this was fun if the story I was reading from the Bible was fun. And usually, the God and Me excecise would also be fun. But I hated the thought that after my quiet time, I had to get ready and go to school!!! Horrible school! Where they would ask me for my homework, which I obviously did not complete!
And so, clever me, devised this plan. I began to make my praying time my dreaming time. Come on, how can a child resist slipping into dreamland when she has her eyes closed, head bowed and is dreading the rest of the day! Amma of course would call out my name every now and then and i'd respond "I'm praying Ma!". My poor mom! I bet she knew what I was up to, but was torn between wanting to reprimand me and not making me resent my Quiet Times!
But it makes me think.... Praying, is talking to God. When our mind wanders, won't it be like speaking to someone and then when we switch topics, won't it be frustrating? I wonder how God feels even now, when my mind wanders away as I talk to him!
What do you think?
Every morning, my mother would come and lug me out of bed with a glass of milk (ugh!) and after I finished brushing my teeth (which she said, would wake me up) I had to go for my quiet time. Now, this was fun if the story I was reading from the Bible was fun. And usually, the God and Me excecise would also be fun. But I hated the thought that after my quiet time, I had to get ready and go to school!!! Horrible school! Where they would ask me for my homework, which I obviously did not complete!
And so, clever me, devised this plan. I began to make my praying time my dreaming time. Come on, how can a child resist slipping into dreamland when she has her eyes closed, head bowed and is dreading the rest of the day! Amma of course would call out my name every now and then and i'd respond "I'm praying Ma!". My poor mom! I bet she knew what I was up to, but was torn between wanting to reprimand me and not making me resent my Quiet Times!
But it makes me think.... Praying, is talking to God. When our mind wanders, won't it be like speaking to someone and then when we switch topics, won't it be frustrating? I wonder how God feels even now, when my mind wanders away as I talk to him!
What do you think?
Whenever we used to visit my aunt, she would make us say prayers at bedtime, thanking God for whatever he had given us during the day...Your post brings back all those lovely memories, and of course, the ways in which I would cheat, for eg, by thinking of something else altogether...like you. Childhood is such a guilt-free time, we can find justifications for all kinds of mischief.
ReplyDeleteLoved the inspiring Empowerment post also!
Praying is to calm down oneself where no thoughts occurs.
ReplyDeletedepends where you mind wanders to.. but otherwise i think God might want us to wander a little bit
ReplyDelete