I awoke in the night with the following line ringing in my ears. "Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares! Christopher Robin is saying his prayers." It was completely out of the blue. It must be many, many years since I heard those words. It moved me profoundly. When I googled them first thing this morning, I remembered they were part of the poem 'Vespers' by A A Milne. I found myself weeping. Fear was very much a part of my early years and I thought the safest place to be was in bed with the covers pulled tightly over my head. Apparently Christopher Robin was mocked because of his father’s poem. How very sad is that; and such a poignant illustration of how fallen our world is. Unfortunately I don't remember ever kneeling by my bed to pray at a very early age, or to have either parent praying for me. Probably the majority of children share my experience. But I was also challenged as to the quality of my own prayer life.

“Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.

 God bless Mummy. I know that’s right.
Wasn’t it fun in the bath to-night?
The cold’s so cold, and the hot’s so hot.
Oh! God bless Daddy – I quite forgot.

 If I open my fingers a little bit more,
I can see Nanny’s dressing-gown on the door.
It’s a beautiful blue, but it hasn’t a hood.
Oh! God bless Nanny and make her good.

 Mine has a hood, and I lie in bed,
And pull the hood right over my head,
And I shut my eyes, and I curl up small,
And nobody knows that I’m there at all.

 Oh! Thank you, God, for a lovely day.
And what was the other I had to say?
I said 'Bless Daddy', so what can it be?
Oh! Now I remember it. God bless me.

 Little Boy kneels at the foot of the bed,
Droops on the little hands little gold head.
Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares!
Christopher Robin is saying his prayers.”

The words "Hush! Hush! Whisper who dares! Christopher Robin is saying his prayers" brought home to me how important prayer is and that it is something that shouldn't be interrupted by another human being. It is a precious time of intimacy between a child of God and their good, good Father who loves them dearly and treasures their company. The words also made me realise that we can interrupt another's enjoyment by giving a running commentary when the person we are with just wants us to keep quiet. I watched "Surf's Up 2" with my youngest grandson and couldn't refrain from trying to tell jokes. He kept telling me to shush and got understandably frustrated with me. He had come over to sit on my lap when the film started and of course what he really wanted was to share his enjoyment with me and to be snuggled up. The Bible tells us to "let our words be few". There is great wisdom in that. It is also an indication of our love and respect for the one we are with. For many of us it isn't easy, but in every such circumstance it is honouring to do what is best for others and not what we want for ourselves.