...comfort, as on the ripples of my subconscious bobbed the most frightening of nighttime childhood prayers: And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. But outside, in my concrete garden, it was different somehow. I found that I could talk to God,...

...The fact is that life is a close call. Every day of our existence is characterized by close calls. "If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take;" we innocently prayed it when we were little tykes. And we did so for a very clear reason: nothing...

...sleep has the shape of the final passage, and, indeed, death frequently has been called by this name. "If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take" bears testament to our awareness that even the familiar liminalities of everyday life resonate...

...words she'd stitched thereon: Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. I thought it unfair of the Lord to be taking my soul before I even got to sleep, never mind reached my...

...governess demanded that he kneel by his bed each night where he had to say a prayer he found repugnant: If I die before I wake I pray the Lord my soul to take . . . With Gardner's departure, he stopped praying altogether, leaving a belief vacuum. By his...

...taught us. You know it— "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." I didn't want to repeat that in front of my mom; but I didn't want her to tell my dad and get him involved,...

...off you. I rode easy on my amazing bike, and without thinking I said, "Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. And if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take." And then I said out loud, "I said that for Luis." We knew this: Mr. and Mrs. Jeff Greene drove...

...and say 'amen,' I shall thrust." Tears pour from her eyes as she says, "Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord my soul to keep, and if I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.. . Please, Lord, save my friends. . . Ah — Amen. " She closes her eyes and waits for the thrust,...

...reciting a nursery rhyme she said to me at bedtime when I was a child: Now I lay me down to sleep . . . I pray the Lord my soul to keep . . . And if I die before I wake . . . I pray the Lord my soul to take . . . "Grams?" I called to her. "Grams? Where are you?" "I'm here, Abby-gabby. Come on; you'll...

...reciting prayers. One child said, for example, "They taught me the Lord's Prayer, and they taught me, 'If I die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take.' I pray that every night. In the morning, I say, 'Thank you God for waking my whole family up for another...