Let Us Pray

I'm not an overly pious person. In fact, I frequently forget to say my prayers at home but I do manage to keep God in my thoughts and know that He has been there for me my whole life. We do go to Mass each Sunday but these days, I'm not as focused because I spend the whole time trying to keep Aaron inside and quiet.

What has surprised me the most is Aaron's enthusiasm for prayer. We hear the Muslim prayers over the loud speaker five times a day here and Aaron knows what it is. Of course, he doesn't know the difference in the religions but he got the idea that whenever he hears the prayers, he should also pray. So, I taught him that we pray by putting our hands together and bowing our heads.

He's seems to have even taken it one step further now. Yesterday, he was sitting outside in the garden with my mother when he suddenly put his feet together, and asked her to do the same. Then he asked her to stand up and put her hands together as he had. She asked him why and he said 'Pray'. Then he closed his eyes and started 'praying' except it was all his made up words.

He's been doing this during his morning walks around the neighborhood too. He makes Richard and my mother line up against the side of the road and then he says 'Pray'. And they comply because he's so earnest about it.

Whenever I forget to say the little prayer before putting him to sleep. He reminds me. He is SO CUTE when he is 'praying'. Eyes, squeezed shut, hands pressed together and his little mouth mumbling.

I feel that instead of me teaching him about prayer, he is actually reminding me of what I need to be doing more of. Hopefully, I'll be able to nurture his enthusiasm into a lifelong relationship with God. Sometimes, I get the impression that people who are born Catholic (like I am) tend to grow lazy (and also question the rules/rituals/positions of the church) as they grow older. I want Aaron to be like me and just maintain the simple relationship with God without getting side tracked by debates on whether a religion as old, as large and as corporation-like as Catholicism is worth his time, respect and obedience.