The last word in the class I taught recently was a prayer for children. I thought that would be a fine way to end, since school was beginning soon. I used a prayer often found in the Children's Defense Fund material by Ina Hughes. Here's a sampling--it is rather long:
We pray for children
who bring us sticky kisses and fistfuls of dandelions,
who hug us in a hurry and forget their lunch money.
We pray for children
who never get dessert,
who have no safe blanket to drag behind them,
who watch their parents watch them die,
who can't find any bread to steal,
who don't have any rooms to clean up,
whose pictures aren't on anybody's dresser,
and whose monsters are real.
You can find the complete prayer by googling Ina Hughes. There are several versions available. The line that really gets me except for the death one is those who don't have pictures on anybody's dresser. Wow!
And that dear readers is my bibliography on "Glimpsing God in Children's Literature." Of course, there are many others, but there was just not enough time to cover them all.
We must keep praying for children as they go through the school day--they are our hope and future. Pray for the teachers too--they are so important to the lives we live now and in the future.
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