Father-Mother God,
Loving me,—
Guard me when I sleep;
Guide my little feet
Up to Thee.
(Mary Baker Eddy, Poems, p. 69)
From the earliest time I can remember, I recited this prayer I learned in Sunday School to myself every night before I went to sleep. It was very comforting because no matter how many mistakes I’d made that day, this prayer made me feel deep down that God still loved me and was always there smiling, guiding and guarding me.
I loved Sunday School, especially when my teacher explained that God is Love and that God is infinite. Infinite! That means everywhere forever and ever. So Love is everywhere forever and ever.
On warm, sweet days, I’d get up early and run outside to check on all the flowers in my mom and dad’s flower garden. I’d greet the big chestnut tree and the apple tree and the dandelions and black-eyed Susans growing in the lot next door. I’d flop down on the softest patch of green grass and gaze up at the sky. How beautifully blue it was! It was an infinite blue. That meant it went up forever and ever. I’d picture myself rising up and up into that infinite space, feeling God’s love surround me as high as I could rise. In that infinite blue, I felt God loving all forever and ever.
But at night, when I was tucked into bed, troubles might tumble into my thinking. People I loved could be mad or sad or scared. Then it was hard for me to sleep. So I would remember the morning. As I pictured the big sky behind my closed eyes, I would turn each mad, sad, or scared thought into a little gray cloud. Then I’d carefully place a patch of the infinite blue sky over it, and poof—one by one—gone! All that was left was a clear blue sky filled with infinite Love. I’d heave a sigh, say my prayer, and smile, sure that everyone was loved, guarded, and guided. Then I’d turn over and fall sound asleep.
