EIL Intercultural Learning

We pray for children
who love to laugh and be tickled,
who stomp in puddles wearing new wellies,
who enjoy a sweet from grandma's special jar,
who sit on father's knee and listen to a story.

We pray for those
who stare blankly at a confused world,
who never play 'pirates' or 'donkey' or 'count potatoes',
who never skip or have fun...
too captured by the hurt and pain around them.

We pray for the children who bring us sticky kisses
and put their sticky chocolate fingers everywhere,
whose home is full of toys
who own a dog, a pony, a hamster;
who hug in a hurry and never know which clothes to wear.

We pray for those who never get ice cream,
who have no cuddly toy to comfort them:
who watch their parents die in grimy, airless rooms;
whose relatives discard them...
whose monsters are real.

We pray for teenagers
who spend all their allowance before Tuesday
and get more to go clubbing on Thursday,
who pick at their food to keep slim
and throw a tantrum if things don't go their way,
whose rooms are a mess-only the mirror is clear.

WE pray for those who go to bed hungry,
who sleep on a rush mat on a draughty floor,
but whose real nightmares come in the daytime..
who will eat anything, who communicate little,
who live and move but have no being.

We pray for those who don't know which choice to make
and for those who have none:
for those who can try again
and for those who don't get a second chance:
for those we smother...
and for those who will grab the hand of anyone kind enough to offer it.
We pray, dear Lord, for children.

-Adapted from Ina J Hughes