Hello, God!

When I was a little girl, before going to bed one night, my mother taught me how to pray. She said that praying is like saying hello to God, like talking to your best friend. “Tell him what you feel in your heart,” she urged me.

I went down on my knees, clasped my hands, and closed my eyes. But I could’t find the right words to say. So my mother made me repeat this prayer after her:

             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. Amen. 

I loved it. It was like talking and singing to God at the same time. From then on, this was my prayer at bedtime. 

But there were other times when I wanted very much to pray. Like when I lied to my teacher or when my best friend was rude to me. I wanted to tell God about my feelings. So I would close my eyes and say, “Hello, God!” then I’d stop. I didn’t know what else to say after that.

One day, our neighbor’s house burst into flames. People were jumping out of their houses. Shaking with fear, I said the only prayer I knew by heart. “Now I lay me down to sleep . . .” My elder cousin laughed—so loud the whole town might have heard. 

I wished then that I had more prayers to say exactly how I felt. 

(The above is an excerpt of my letter to readers in the first Hello, God! book. Knowing that children can’t pray on their own, I wrote for them these prayers with the same rhythm as my first-ever prayer. Hello, God!, a series of three books, was birthed by grace—artwork by my friend, Ggie A. Bernabe, and published by Hiyas.)  

These books are available in any book store at P120.00 each.