VESPERS

Vespers  – A.A. Milne

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

God bless Mummy. I know that’s right.
Wasn’t it fun in the bath tonight?
The cold’s so cold, and the hot’s so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy – I quite forgot.

If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny’s dressing-gown on the door.
It’s a beautiful blue, but it hasn’t a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.

Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I’m there at all.

Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said “Bless Daddy,” so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember it. God bless Me.

Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers. (1)

                     A Prayer To Follow This Reading

Father, the innocence of this child creates a longing inside of me. The world now is growing to be such a cold and lonely place, and that is happening at the same time as when Faith in You,  among the multitudes, is declining.

Father I remember, like Christopher Robin, kneeling to pray, at the foot of my bed. On some bitterly cold winter evenings my ‘Amen’ became unshackled from the ending of my prayers and shivered its way to the heels of my first uttered petition. Then, when I eagerly surrendered to the inviting fortress of the warm snuggly blankets, I felt so entirely secure, I soon drifted off to sleep reassured that You were holding me in Your Arms. Thank You, Father, for that memory that comes back from somewhere to strengthen and to sustain me now!

In this empty and often lonely cyberspace age, the truly amazing thing I notice, since the years so quickly have fled, is: ” If I open my fingers a little bit more, I  see You  beside me, as in  days of yore!”  You haven’t changed one bit .hank You, Father. for keeping my memory green! And so may it be until the end. Grant that in that hour, I will see You still beside me, and as I drift off to sleep, Please, be there to assure me still that: ” When the morning wakens, then will I arise, pure and fresh and sinless in Your Holy eyes! ” AMEN.

HYMN:                Now The Day Is Over

https://youtu.be/sWR2vVXZE5A

 

                           EDITORIAL NOTES

1. VESPERS Poem, by A.A. Milne

https://allpoetry.com/poem/8518995-Vespers-by-A.A.-Milne

2. Prayer   Franklin D. Curtis

3.Photo   unknown